Chemical Found in Soil Around Utility Poles in East Hampton

Sampling results released recently show that high amounts of pentachlorophenol (penta), a toxic chemical used as pesticide and disinfectant, was found in the soil around newly installed PSEG utility poles in East Hampton.

The results were released last week by FPM Group, an engineering and environmental science firm based in Ronkonkoma, who conducted the study this past fall.

The testing was done on three of the new poles at 1 Cedar Street, the Emergency Services Building in the Village and showed the chemical levels measured far exceeded the State Department of Conservation standards, including those for residential standards.

“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. “It is imperative that PSEG, as the installer of these pentra-treated poles, take responsibility by paying for and performing the necessary cleanup following further testing of the soil surrounding all the new poles.”

According to Newsday, Vaughn McKoy, managing director and vice president of PSEG, sent a letter to town and village officials saying that the study did not change their position based on scientific data that “penta-treated utility poles pose no unreasonable risk to human health or the environment.”

He also said that experts and regulators expect ”a small halo” around the poles and that it protects the pole from bugs and rotting, according to Newsday.

However, in response to the results, the Town of East Hampton and the Village of East Hampton ask PSEG to take several actions, including:

• Testing for the presence of pentra in the soil immediately surrounding all 267 utility poles PSEG installed this year in the Town and Village.
• Preparing and enacting a remediation plan to properly remove pentra-contaminated soils that exceeded State DEC limits and replace it with clean fill.

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