As part of a corporate environmental program to clean up old properties, Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. will remove some contaminated soil inside the former Old Forge electrical substation at Railroad Street and Jones Court, Old Forge borough.
Work is scheduled to begin June 23 and is expected to last for 2 or 3 days, unless delayed by weather.
"We voluntarily screened the site this spring, collecting about 500 to 600 soil samples from various depths," said Rich Beasley, PP&L's community development director in the Scranton area. "We found only one area — located within the fenced property — that exceeded state environment standards for polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs."
Certified contractors will excavate the contaminated soil and it will be taken to a New York landfill licensed to accept hazardous waste, Beasley said.
At one time, some insulating fluids in electrical substation equipment contained PCBs. During the time that the Old Forge substation operated, some of this PCB material from electrical equipment is known to have spilled at the site. The spills were cleaned according to the environmental standards of the time. Since then, better methods to detect soil PCB contamination were developed and regulations are stricter.
"As part of our partnership with the state Department of Environmental Protection to assess former PP&L locations, we pledge to clean up any area that we investigate and find to exceed current standards," Beasley said. "This work is a delivery on that promise."
There is no risk to people living in the area from the cleanup process, Beasley said.
"Nearby residents have been kept informed throughout the process," Beasley said. "And we will take measures to complete the work as quickly as possible with the least possible inconvenience for neighbors in the area."
PP&L has been working with Old Forge officials and the state Department of Environmental Protection on the cleanup plan. "We investigated the site because we knew there were spills at the location, and we are correcting the situation," Beasley said.
Work hours will be Monday to Wednesday from about 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Work will be supervised by a PP&L manager who will be at the location during the project.
A tracked excavator will be used to remove the soil. It's estimated that about 15 to 20 dump trailers will be filled. Parking for workers and the staging area for the trucks will be in the lot across the street from the former substation.
"PP&L has no immediate plans for the site," Beasley said. "For now, the location will remain the same and the fence will stay in place."