Elevated Penta in Soil Around Poles

Independent tests of the soil around three of the new utility poles installed by PSEG Long Island in East Hampton Village and Town to support a six-mile, high-voltage transmission line have revealed high levels of the toxic chemical pentachlorophenol, which was used to treat the poles.

In a statement released Monday, the municipalities called on PSEG to sample soil around all 267 of the newly installed poles and to remove contaminated soil where levels of the chemical, also called penta or PCP, exceed New York State Department of Environmental Conservation standards.

Soils from all three of the sampling locations along Cedar Street near North Main Street, within a foot of each pole, exceeded levels at which the D.E.C. requires cleanup. The chemical was not detected in the underlying groundwater. According to a report by FPM Group, the engineering and environmental science firm that conducted the tests, penta binds to soil and therefore is unlikely to dissolve into rainwater migrating through the ground to the groundwater.

According to a PSEG spokesman, Jeffrey Weir, the migration of penta into the soil surrounding treated utility poles is expected and desired “to protect against insect infestation, and for longevity.”

Mr. Weir said Tuesday that the testing results were “very consistent with what the United States Environmental Protection Agency and experts in the field expect.”

Nonetheless, he said, the company is “absolutely going to review the report in much further and greater detail” to determine how it would respond to the town and village’s request.

Penta has been banned in more than two dozen countries worldwide and is among the chemicals being considered at the United Nations’ Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants for inclusion in a global treaty limiting or outlawing the use of listed substances.

The substance has been classified as a probable human carcinogen and labeled “extremely toxic to humans from acute (short-term) ingestion and inhalation exposure” by the E.P.A. But it is still authorized for industrial use in this country, where it is applied as a wood preservative.

Once in the soil, the chemical degrades due to light, so that penta “concentrations in surface soil may decline over time,” the FPM Group said in its report. Given the range of penta levels found, and the potential for photo-degradation, there may never be significant levels of the chemical (exceeding state standards) in the groundwater, according to the report.

However, the consultants said, “It is possible that over time some PCP may migrate from the soil via infiltrating stormwater and eventually enter the water table.”

The elevated levels of penta in the soil close to the poles could be due to leaching from the poles or application ofthe chemical during installation, according to the report.

When concerns arose previously that PSEG may have poured additional penta around the base of the poles, based on surrounding soil discoloration, PSEG denied having applied any of the chemical. The poles are treated with penta during manufacture.

The levels of penta found at depths of 12 to 18 inches below ground, and at or near the surface around the Cedar Street poles, ranged from 1,550 micrograms per kilogram to 79,700 micrograms per kilogram. The D.E.C. standards for cleanup vary: For groundwater protection, cleanup is required at 800 micrograms per kilogram; for residental areas, at 2,400 micrograms per kilogram, and in industrial situations, at 55,000 micrograms per kilogram.

“It is greatly disturbing to see such high levels of this chemical in the soil surrounding these utility poles,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said in a press release issued early this week. “It is imperative that PSEG, as the installer of these penta-treated poles, take responsibility by paying for and performing the necessary cleanup following further testing of the soil surrounding all the new poles.”

East Hampton Village Deputy Mayor Barbara Borsack also called on the utility to act. “While we are grateful to hear our groundwater has not been contaminated, nonetheless, we need to address the elevated penta levels in our soil now,” she said in the release.

Earlier this year, Long Island Businesses for Responsible Energy, or LIBFRE, an East Hampton group that has sued PSEG Long Island over its installation of the new poles and high-voltage line, hired Dermody Consulting to inspect several of the penta-treated poles and their surroundings.

The engineers concluded that “the presence of penta on the poles and in the soil in the vicinity of the poles appears to represent a significant risk to human health and the environment.” Levels were found at 300 times higher than the state threshold for cleanup.

Town officials had forwarded the Dermody report to Suffolk County toxicologists and the D.E.C. But in a June letter to Mr. Cantwell, Dr. Thomas B. Johnson of the state Bureau of Toxic Substance Assessment cited the E.P.A.’s findings that the use of penta as a wood preservative “will not pose unreasonable risks to humans or the environment.”

At LIBFRE’s request, Dermody Consulting also sampled water from a sump in the basement of the village’s emergency services building, which is along the transmission line route on Cedar Street, and detected low levels of penta.

A state law banning utility poles coated with pentachlorophenol has been proposed by East Hampton’s representatives, New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. and Senator Kenneth P. LaValle. The law also calls for warnings to be placed on existing poles treated with the chemical.

The class-action lawsuit against PSEG and the Long Island Power Authority, which turned over electricity delivery to it last year but retains oversight of its operations, seeks an injunction requiring the utility companies to remove all the poles that have been installed, which are larger in height and diameter than those they are replacing, and to bury the electric lines, at the companies’ expense.

It alleges negative health effects from electromagnetic fields surrounding the transmission lines, and claims the lines and poles have damaged trees and other vegetation, and the scenic quality of residential streets, and that the penta-coated poles will cause harm. Damages of $50 million are sought, due to alleged health impacts, impacts on property value, and emotional distress.