City staff reports $283,380 estimate to remove PCB-contaminated soil at Mountain Avenue tank; board records no formal vote

City staff told the Middletown Board of Estimate and Apportionment that PCB-contaminated soil was encountered beneath the demolished Mountain Avenue water storage tank and must be removed off-site under New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requirements. Staff presented contractor bids, recommended hiring Miller Environmental for initial removal and provided an estimated soil-removal cost of $283,380.

Staff said a low-price subcontractor previously selected did not perform, costing several months of work on negotiations. The staff recommendation is to proceed under the project’s general contract and issue a change order to hire Miller Environmental to remove roughly six inches of contaminated soil initially; on-site testing will require deeper removal if PCB levels exceed DEC thresholds.

Funding and next steps Staff reported they had explored covering the work under the state revolving fund loan and associated grant from the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) but were informed the loan closing is complete and additional costs cannot be added. Staff said they will use any remaining project contingency in the EFC loan and will cover the balance from the water fund balance; the exact water-fund amount required had not been determined at the meeting. Staff also said the soil-removal will be processed as a change order to the existing tank contract and that no separate mayoral approval was required at that meeting.

Why it matters A change order and an additional $283,380 (the figure presented at the meeting for soil removal alone) are material to the water project budget and to the water fund balance. Because DEC requires off-site disposal of PCB-contaminated soil, the city faces both regulatory and budgetary decisions before work can proceed to completion.

What was not decided Board members recorded no formal vote on the soil-removal work during the meeting; staff described next steps and funding options and said the work will move forward through the contract change-order process. Staff did not provide a final figure for the portion of the cost that will come from the water fund balance.

Provenance This account is drawn from the agenda presentation and on-the-record staff remarks during the Mountain Avenue storage tank item, where staff described the DEC requirement, contractor procurement problems, the Miller Environmental recommendation and the $283,380 estimate for soil removal.