DEC to Make Additional Remedial Site Information Available Online

The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is making information available on its website for approximately 1,950 remedial sites not previously available online. This is being done to help address the rising number of requests from the public for information about possible environmental contamination on properties across New York State. Many of these requests come from persons involved with real estate transactions. The DEC already provides an online search engine that provides summary information on approximately 2,500 sites that are in one of the DEC brownfield programs or are listed on the "Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites" (“Registry,” commonly called “State Superfund Sites”). The online search engine is found at http://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/derexternal/index.cfm?pageid=3.

These 1,950 sites include three site classification types, Class P, Class PR, and Class N. The definitions and frequently asked questions about these classifications are provided on the DEC website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8663.html. Briefly, Class P sites are properties being investigated by DEC to determine if they may have been contaminated with hazardous waste at levels that could present a significant threat to public health or the environment. If a site is found to present a significant threat, the DEC places the site on the Registry. Class PR sites are those that have been or are regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) because they generated, treated, stored, or disposed of hazardous waste. They are also being investigated to determine if they have significant levels of contamination from hazardous waste that should be remediated. Many Class N sites were investigated decades ago before DEC had a database to store site information and make it available online. Other Class N sites are for brownfield sites where an application to participate in a brownfield program was submitted but was either withdrawn or did not proceed because it did not qualify for the program. Still others were sites where work began by a volunteer in a brownfield program but was not completed for lack of funding or some other reason.

Prior to 2013, information about Class P, PR, and N sites was available by request but was not placed on the public website because, by the nature of these sites, the information is often preliminary, incomplete, or not verified. DEC offers the information with the caution that it should not be used to form conclusions about site contamination beyond what the definition of the classification provides. With the addition of this information to the DEC’s online search engine, basic site information is now more easily available for all sites where DEC has records regarding contamination from the disposal of hazardous waste.