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Page 1 of 5 Waste Control fire
On 15 February 2001, fire destroyed a liquid waste treatment and recycling facility at 1 Bulbey Street, Bellevue. This site is now managed by DEC on behalf of the State.
The soil and groundwater at the Bellevue site are contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents. This contamination can be attributed to both historical site operations and the 2001 fire. A second source of trichloroethene, a chlorinated solvent, was also identified at the eastern end of Stanley Street, between the site and the Helena River.
Protecting the Helena River
Protecting the Helena River has been the primary objective for the management of this site.
The first major remediation works were carried out in 2010 with the installation of two underground treatment walls designed to intercept and treat contaminated groundwater.
Recent monitoring has shown the installation of the walls, known as permeable reactive barriers (PRBs), is preventing the flow of contaminants from the plumes towards the river. Since then, five rounds of quarterly monitoring have been completed to study the performance of the system.
Cleaning up the site
DEC's project manager for the site, LandCorp, will soon call for expressions of interest (EOI) asking environmental remediation contractors to put forward their plans and predicted costs for cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater at the site of the fire.
The standards for the work will be based on a set of risk-based remediation targets, which will set targets for the reduction or elimination of contaminants.The expression of interest is expected to be issued by the end of April 2012.
2011 annual monitoring results summary
- 2010 and 2011 results have shown a general decrease in the level of contaminants over time.
- The plume associated with the off-site source has stopped at the PRB.
- Some trichloroethene, below acceptable levels, has been detected in one well down-gradient from the PRB.
- There has been no further evidence of contaminants reaching the Helena River, since trace levels were identified in 2009.
The 2011 annual monitoring program is being assessed by a contaminated sites auditor and will soon be released in full.
 Monitoring Network maps (583 kB)
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