Cleanup application submitted for another Vacuum Oil brownfield

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has received an application to enroll a second key parcel in the Vacuum Oil site in its brownfield cleanup program.

Last month, the DEC received an application to enroll 5 Flint St. in the program. Now, it has received a similar application for the adjacent parcel, 15 Flint St.

The program provides tax incentives for cleaning up contaminated properties.

The Flint Street parcels are in the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood, which is in the southwest part of the city. The owner, ExxonMobil, bought them from DHD Ventures after the developer's lender moved to foreclose on the properties.

A court previously ruled that ExxonMobil was partly responsible for cleaning up the parcels; after decades of mergers and acquisitions, it came to be Vacuum Oil's successor corporation.

The petroleum giant has previously said it is identifying parties who can develop the site and return it to a use that benefits the community. The applications specify that it wants to clean up both properties for residential and commercial use.

A proposed cleanup approach was filed along with the plan. It calls for removing contaminated soil and disposing of it off site, then covering the property, either through construction or new soil.

It also calls for measures to address and monitor groundwater pollution.

The DEC is accepting comments on the 15 Flint St. application and supporting documents through Nov. 9. The files are available online from the DEC and at the document repository of the Phillis Wheatley Library, 33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way.

Comments can be submitted to the DEC by mailing Charlotte Theobald, the site's project manager, at 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY, 14414; by emailing charlotte.theobald@dec.ny.gov; or by calling (585) 226-5354.

The DEC will continue to accept comments on the 5 Flint St. application and supporting documents through Oct. 5.