DEC announces $7 million settlement to help clean up Deerpark Superfund site

On August 14, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar announced a $7 million settlement with Avnet, Inc., for costs associated with the remediation of the C&D Power Systems (C&D Batteries) State Superfund Site at 403 Route 209 in Deerpark. As part of a recent Order on Consent and Administrative Settlement negotiated by the DEC in partnership with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the former owner and operator of the site will pay $6.3 million towards the cost of remediation activities already underway and $700,000 for Natural Resource Damages (NRD).

”DEC is committed to cleaning up contamination at the C&D Power Systems site to ensure the protection of the public’s health and the environment for the surrounding community,” Interim Commissioner Mahar said. “The settlement with Avnet, Inc., negotiated in partnership with Attorney General Letitia James and her team, is a major accomplishment and demonstrates that New York will not back down when it comes to holding responsible parties accountable.”

AG James said, “Our state’s environment and natural resources should be clean and available for all New Yorkers to enjoy, which is why protecting them is a sacred duty. I applaud the work my team did to ensure Avnet was held accountable and paid its fair share of the C&D Power Systems State Superfund Site remediation costs. I thank Interim Commissioner Mahar and the DEC staff for their close coordination, and for their shared goal of ensuring our state’s natural beauty is protected for generations to come.”

The 17-acre C&D Power Systems Site is listed in the Registry of Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites in New York State. A state-funded cleanup of the site began in December 2023 and is scheduled for completion in early 2025. Remediation work includes the excavation of lagoon soils containing the chemical PCB, otherwise known as polychlorinated biphenyl, at more than 50 parts per million (ppm). In addition to PCBs, the site has been found to contain metals such as lead and cadmium. The contaminated soil will be removed and disposed of off-site. Additional excavation work will also be performed to stabilize and contain what the DEC describes as “on-site soils exceeding a commercial use standard,” as well as floodplain and tributary sediments “exceeding unrestricted use standards for beneficial re-use onsite.” The work will include the restoration of tributary and nearby wetland areas to unrestricted use, as well as the installation of an engineered cover system to support commercial use of the site.

Additional details regarding this project and the DEC remediation plan can be found on the DEC website.