EPA Cleans Up NY’s Fort Edward

May 24, 2006 - After much pressure from concerned citizen’s groups and local officials, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has begun removal of hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of asbestos from the defunct New York Environmental Recovery Group facility in Ft. Edward, New York, located near upstate New York’s Adirondack Park.

With cooperation from International Paper, one of the firms that contracted with the Environmental Recovery Group, the EPA hopes to have the project completed by the end of June.  The clean-up is expected to cost nearly half-a-million dollars.

"This facility contains large amounts of asbestos material that were not disposed of properly, so it's imperative that EPA make sure it gets cleaned up quickly to eliminate any potential threat to the community," said EPA Regional Administrator Alan J.
Steinberg.  "EPA is taking swift action to address the problem, working closely with state and local agencies."

In fact, the action has not been so swift.  The New York Environmental Recover Group was an asbestos abatement business that closed more than four years ago.  They began handling asbestos-containing materials in the mid-1990s. 

After the EPA was tipped off by concerned residents of the area, they found – according to records released by the organization - approximately 140 to 150 bags of asbestos material inside the facility and in three 40-foot trailers stored outside, along with a fourth trailer which contained unknown materials, stacks of asbestos lined pipes, paint wastes, and other potentially hazardous materials.