Liverpool, NY -- The Liverpool Central School District is seeking emergency state funding to clean up hydrocarbon-contaminated soil that was discovered during renovations at the Liverpool Elementary and Liverpool Middle schools. The hydrocarbon, which is unleaded fuel, was found when workers removed five underground fuel storage tanks during work at Liverpool Middle School. “The first four tanks pulled out...
Work continues Wednesday at a Liverpool Middle school. Liverpool, NY -- The Liverpool Central School District is seeking emergency state funding to clean up hydrocarbon-contaminated soil that was discovered during renovations at the Liverpool Elementary and Liverpool Middle schools.
The hydrocarbon, which is unleaded fuel, was found when workers removed five underground fuel storage tanks during work at Liverpool Middle School.
“The first four tanks pulled out were fine,” said Superintendent Richard N. Johns. “When we got to the fifth one we found the hydrocarbon contamination.”
Johns estimates that the contamination will cost about $800,000 to clean up and the district is requesting state funding to pay for a portion of it. The Liverpool School Board declared the situation an emergency project Tuesday night. This makes the contamination cleanup a separate project from the renovation project and the district will be able to seek additional funding.
Once the contaminated dirt was discovered, workers started to dig and remove the dirt. They must do this until they find dirt that doesn’t have hydrocarbon in it. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is at the site testing each bucket of dirt that comes up, Johns said.
“The hole is massive,” Johns said. “It’s huge because the contamination runs so deep.”
Workers have dug so deep that they have hit underground water and as of Tuesday morning have pumped out 60,000 gallons of contaminated water and removed 2,100 tons of dirt.
“They are still going strong,” Johns said. “They can’t stop digging until the dirt is free of contamination.”
Once the dirt is clean, the hole will be filled with gravel. The hole has grown close to the site where the new Liverpool Middle school library will stand.
“It’s our land and it’s contaminated, so it’s our responsibility to clean it up,” Johns said. “We just want to get back to work on the renovations project.”