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Construction on a water line extension from Catskill to South Cairo is expected to begin soon, bringing clean drinking water to residents affected by contamination from the American Thermostat Superfund site.
The project, which received federal approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last February, has secured $5 million in funding through the EPA's Superfund program as part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding will cover the costs of extending Catskill's water line to the affected areas in South Cairo.
"We have the water line out to South Cairo now that we will extend to Country Estates Mobile Home Park because that is a Superfund site with the contaminant business that was close by years ago," explained Joseph Kozloski, Village of Catskill Board of Trustees Vice President, according to the Daily Gazette.
The project will be completed in two phases. Phase one, estimated to cost about $650,000, will extend the water line to the Country Estates Mobile Home Park. Phase two, with a price tag of approximately $3.7 million, will extend the line to nearby Scotch Rock Road and potentially include R McLaren Road.
Engineering work for the second phase is about 80% complete, according to Kozloski. Once finished, the engineering reports will be submitted to the state's Department of Environmental Conservation for approval.
Construction is expected to begin in April, with Hubbell Inc., an excavation company from Margaretville, handling the work after being awarded the $379,485 bid for the project.
The need for clean water stems from contamination caused by the American Thermostat Company, which operated in the area from 1954 until 1985. In 1981, the DEC discovered that employees were improperly disposing of chemicals by dumping them in parking lots and an abandoned septic system at the facility.
"This will be the fourth time they (the EPA) found out that the plume that was there on the site has now moved and they're not sure where it's going or where it completely is," Kozloski noted in an interview with NEWS10.
The volatile organic compounds from these improper disposal practices contaminated soil, groundwater, and drinking water wells in the vicinity, creating an ongoing health concern for local residents.
Catskill Town Supervisor Patrick McCulloch told NEWS10 that construction for the Country Estates portion should start "by August of this year," with the larger second phase expected to be completed within two years.