Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. is progressing with an expansion and improvement project at the site of the company's Hazleton Service Center and Hazleton Depot.

The service center building is being renovated and expanded and the depot building will be demolished in stages, starting in October.

"We will be making major improvements to the service center and depot areas by the end of the year," said Martha Herron, PP&L's community development director in Hazleton. "Along with the renovation and demolition projects, PP&L has cleaned up several areas where oil had spilled and is removing a lot of the materials that were stored at the location, as well as the scrap metal and other debris at the site."

Part of the service center expansion requires back-filling an area for construction. In compliance with state Department of Environmental Resource regulations, recycled macadam from parking lots and city streets is being used, as well as a product called Stabil-Fill that uses coal ash from PP&L power plants.

"Stabil-Fill is an environmentally friendly material approved by the DEP," Herron said. "As a matter of convenience for residents near the project, we have instructed the contractor to use water to help suppress any dust created by the construction work."

Facilities at the location were used for the storage and repair of electrical equipment. During the course of many years, oil spilled from electrical equipment. Some of the oil contained polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, which may cause health problems if ingested over long periods of time.

"PP&L is committed to responsible environmental action and the spills that occurred at the site were cleaned up," Herron said. "All of the spills were on PP&L property, and all visibly stained soil was cleaned at the time of the spill."

During the past few years, PP&L investigated and did further cleanup work on past oil spills. PP&L also has conducted an extensive, three-year monitoring and testing period and found that no PCBs migrated off PP&L property, Herron said.

The state DEP has worked with PP&L on all environmental remediation work at the location.

The most extensive of the cleanup efforts, conducted last year, was the removal and cleaning of 1,000 tons of soil contaminated with diesel fuel. The soil was contaminated by a leaking underground storage tank near the depot building.

"We have worked closely with the DEP to address all environmental issues at the location," Herron said. "We know of no risk that this property poses to human health or the environment. As part of our corporate commitment to communicate openly and to be environmentally responsible, we are willing to meet with anyone to discuss the environmental history of this location."