RYE BROOK, NY (August 15, 2026) — The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has posted an updated Site Characterization Work Plan outlining further testing for mercury contamination at the Former Barbera Residence Site at 55 Hillandale Road, a property with a decades-long history of mercury contamination tied to a former on-site refinery business.
NYSDEC Site Characterization Work Plan
The plan, dated June 3, 2026, and identified as NYSDEC Site No. 360033, was prepared by CDM Smith under a standby engineering services contract with the state. It calls for testing of soil, groundwater, sediment, surface water and soil vapor to determine the extent of contamination both on and off the property.
NYSDEC said sampling locations may be moved or added as new data is collected and field conditions warrant. If sampling indicates the nature and extent of mercury contamination has not been fully delineated, additional sampling will be required. The agency said it will share results and next steps with the public when they are received.
The site, also known as the Port Refinery Site, is a 1-acre residential property near the Connecticut border. According to the work plan, a previous owner operated a mercury refinery business, Port Refinery Co., Inc., inside a two-story garage on the property for 20 years, until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s first contact with the site in the early 1990s. Subsequent EPA investigations found extensive mercury contamination in the garage, a cabana and multiple areas where mercury had been illegally dumped. The property is bordered by residences at 51 and 57 Hillandale Road and the Arbors Townhouse Complex.
In 1994, as part of an emergency removal, the EPA removed the garage and cabana, demolished a pool and excavated more than 6,300 tons of contaminated soil from the site and bordering properties, replacing it with clean fill, the plan states. In 2004, the EPA conducted a further emergency response after visible mercury was found near a rock pile on the adjoining Arbors condominium property, and later expanded its investigation after mercury was found in neighboring properties’ soil. In 2005, cleanup crews at the Arbors encountered a larger quantity of contaminated soil than originally estimated, and the on-site residence was demolished to access a contaminated drywell and septic tank. The EPA’s remedial and restoration work concluded in 2006.
Despite those efforts, testing in June 2022 found contamination remains a concern.
According to the work plan, mercury in indoor air exceeded a federal residential occupancy threshold in one of three samples taken from a basement sump pump at one residential property. Two of 14 sump pump water samples and six of 60 surface water samples exceeded a state drinking-water guidance limit, and 12 of 33 sediment samples equaled or exceeded state ecological protection thresholds.
The new work plan calls for collecting 126 surface soil samples from 42 locations, advancing up to 25 soil borings, installing and sampling up to 15 groundwater monitoring wells, collecting sediment and water samples from sumps, ponds, stormwater drainage systems and streams, sampling up to 10 mercury vapor locations, installing 15 soil vapor points, and conducting soil vapor intrusion sampling at up to eight properties. Fieldwork is tentatively scheduled to begin in June 2026, with soil boring work continuing into July 2026, according to the plan’s schedule.
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This article was prepared with the assistance of AI tools under the direction and editing of Robert Cox.
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