YORK – York City Administrator Joe Frei says he will be asking representatives of the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to talk with the council about the next processes in remediating the city’s plumes of contamination.
One contamination plume extends from the source site on North Division Avenue to the southeast – encompassing Marquis Avenue, Enterprise Avenue and then reaching past Delaware Avenue.
Because the source of this plume has been directly identified, the remediation is a responsibility of the USDA.
Another contamination plume containing TCE is in the northeast area of the city – which is not related to the one previously explained.
It crosses E. 19th Street, and involves a good amount land to the east including Maine Avenue, Mincks Park, moving east until it finally ends just before reaching Road P. Susan Fisher, the project manager for the EPA, told the public during a presentation in late 2016 that this plume is located in the upper aquifer.
“We have not found any contamination in the city’s wells,” Fisher confirmed.
Because it is in the upper aquifer and the city takes its water from the lower aquifers, there is no contamination in the city’s water supply.” She explained that this plume started in the industrial area just west of North Division Avenue where Kroy is now located.
“The plume follows the groundwater flow, so that’s why we are seeing this plume move in the same southeasterly direction as the separate southeast plume,” Fisher explained.
At the time, Fisher said the source of this contamination has not yet been definitely determined.
In those early days, there were as many as 13-14 dry cleaners in York’s downtown .