Fort Replicators Aghast at ExxonMobil Report

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Fort LaPresentation Co. President Barbara J. O'Keefe said she was horrified when she learned ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. sent the state Department of Environmental Conservation a cleanup investigation report saying the petroleum-contaminated land at Fort LaPresentation will essentially clear up on its own over time.

OGDENSBURG, New York — Fort LaPresentation Co. President Barbara J. O'Keefe said she was horrified when she learned ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. sent the state Department of Environmental Conservation a cleanup investigation report saying the petroleum-contaminated land at Fort LaPresentation will essentially clear up on its own over time.


The DEC Environmental Remediation Department received the five-volume report Feb. 21 and has 60 days to review the charts, maps, calculations and text. The report complies with a Oct. 31, 2003, DEC consent order sent to ExxonMobil that established a framework to ensure the 22-acre site would be cleaned up.


The report includes a mathematical formula for determining the time it would take for contamination to reduce naturally. No specific period was given but it could take decades, Ms. O'Keefe said.


"The next intended use is not going to wait around for that," Ms. O'Keefe said.


Plans have already been drafted to construct a 1750 replica of the fort destroyed during the French and Indian War. The fort would be the last celebration site in 2010 for the 250th anniversary of the war. The Fort LaPresentation company went to DEC in July 2001 for help with cleanup; contaminated spots must be removed before a cultural survey can begin, Ms. O'Keefe said.


"It's a shame Ogdensburg's shoreline is contaminated. We just want to do something historic, cultural and have economic development," she said.


Doing nothing about Fort LaPresentation is one alternative. However, the question is whether it's ExxonMobil's preferred choice, said Stephen W. Litwhiler, DEC spokesman. DEC must finish reviewing the report before a conclusion is reached Mr. Litwhiler would not comment on why the Fort LaPresentation site remains under investigation, seven years after the first DEC report of a petroleum spill.


"It's been our ongoing commitment to fully remediate the site," Brian T. Dunphy, spokesman for ExxonMobil, Texas, said Monday.


Mr. Dunphy said ExxonMobil would wait for DEC's input on its findings before a cleanup plan is submitted. "This is a poorly disguised assertion that we don't have to do something," Fort LaPresentation's attorney, Judy Drabicki, said.


Natural attenuation might mean less if the land was intended for an industrial site. ExxonMobil hasn't asked the fort company what the land's intended use is or acknowledged it in its report. ExxonMobil could be a good corporate citizen; it is one of the largest companies in the world, she said.


"It's not going to be built overnight. The longer they wait, the less likely it is we'll be able to celebrate that 250-year celebration. That's a shame," she said.


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