An effort is under way to clean up low levels of PCBs discovered at the Sidney wastewater treatment plant last summer, officials said Monday.
There are no public-health concerns associated with the findings, a Department of Health spokesman said. But area residents are reminded to follow the DOH's general advisory and eat no more than one meal per week of fish taken from the state's fresh waters because of possible polychlorinated biphenyl contamination.
The Sidney plant discharges wastewater into the Susquehanna River.
PCBs belong to a family of man-made organic chemicals used from 1929 until they were banned in 1979, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
They have been found to cause cancer in certain situations, as well as cause a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems, according to a media release.
The health impact of the chemicals increases with the level of concentration of the chemical and the length of exposure, said DOH spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.
The detection followed village work for an upgrade of the discharge permit and sewer cleanup, both completed last summer, said village engineer John Woodyshek.
Woodyshek said the village is working with local manufacturer Amphenol Corp. and expects to have a "handle" on the cleanup by October. Amphenol's facility is the former the site of a company that used PCBs, according to the DEC.
The chemicals were detected in the sludge at the Amphenol plant and its wastewater at a level above the minimum allowed, of 10 mg/kg, according to a Department of Environmental Conservation report. Although the goal is to reduce the amount to zero, DEC spokesman Rick Georgeson said levels are very low.
Amphenol was contacted by the village last August about the problem and took it upon itself to clean up any PCBs in the sewer lines and at the treatment plant, Woodyshek said.
Sam Waldo, director of environmental health and safety and support services for Amphenol, said the company was involved because "we know the plant utilized these materials in the 1960s and earlier."
The results are being evaluated to see if more needs to be done, he said.
"We responded as soon as we were notified," he said.
Levels are still being found, following work completed in June, and Amphenol is working with the village to resolve it, Woodyshek said.
According to the DEC, the contaminated sludge is being transported to a landfill designed to handle it, as part of the cleanup.
"PCBs have been used for a long time by manufacturers and they are out there," said Georgeson. The DOH advisories are very conservative to ensure minimal risk, he said.
