Emerson Power Transmission / Morse Chain

ITHACA -- U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey is adding his voice to those calling for state officials to step up remedial efforts around the site of industrial solvent contamination in Ithaca.

"Emerson (Power Transmission) has been very cooperative. Emerson is doing the proper thing and attempting to be a good citizen here," Hinchey, D-22nd, said during a press conference on Turner Place in the city. "It is the Department of Environmental Conservation that is lagging ... in its responsibilities."

ITHACA -- A consultant's report obtained Monday outlines how trichloroethylene and other toxic substances were detected at various levels in testing near Emerson Power Transmission last month.

Virginia-based Environmental Strategies Consulting performed the soil gas testing on behalf of Emerson, and submitted the report to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

In addition to trichloroethylene (TCE), the study also detected evidence of related chemicals cis-1,2dichloroethene, tetrachloroethene and 1,1,1-trichloroethane in tests done at nine sites on June 17.

ITHACA - Soil vapor testing in neighborhoods downhill from Emerson Power Transmission has detected contaminants at nine different sites, according to a flier distributed to residents Friday.

That communication came from the company. The State Department of Environmen -tal Conservation confirmed the findings to The Journal in a telephone interview - minus statistics indicating pollution levels.

ITHACA - Oil pollution problems around the former Morse Chain plant appear to have caught the attention of local officials more than 40 years ago, according to documents on file at the Tompkins County Health Department.

But according to a local environmental watchdog who recently reviewed the files, lingering effects from oil spills may have been overlooked when other contamination issues were being addressed.

ITHACA -- The State Department of Environmental Conservation has requested additional testing be done around a toxic spill site in the city, while neighbors have banded together to request more information about
the pollution.

DEC Region 7 Engineer Mary Jane Peachey said on May 28 that Emerson Power Transmission will, at DEC's request, perform vadose zone testing around areas potentially affected by decades-old toxic solvent spills around the company's plant. The vadose zone is the area between the surface soil and the groundwater table.

ITHACA -- A spokesman for Emerson Power Transmission on Wednesday said the company has worked closely with regulatory officials to insure that decades-old toxic spillage at the site is properly cleaned up.

"Emerson takes environmental issues very seriously, and we have been working diligently with the state of New York concerning environmental issues that have been raised at the Emerson Power Transmission site in
Ithaca," said Emerson spokesman Dave Baldridge.

ITHACA -- A local company that tracks toxic sites across New York is calling for better clean-up practices around a century-old factory in the Town of Ithaca.

Walter Hang, president of Toxics Targeting, believes that efforts to remediate toxic solvent contamination around Emerson Power Transmission's facility on Danby Road over the past decade have been deficient. It
sits uphill from residential neighborhoods around West Spencer Street.