Environmental Soil Management RESEARCH Permit application

Public participation plan

This online repository, including the documents provided by the links below, have been developed in accordance with New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Commissioner Policy 29, Environmental Justice and Permitting CP-29, Section V(D), to help ensure meaningful and effective public participation throughout the NYSDEC research permit review process. 

ESMI, a Clean Earth Company, submitted an application to the NYSDEC for a Research, Development & Demonstration (RD&D) permit. Upon satisfaction of all application requirements, ESMI anticipates that a RD&D permit for this project will be issued by the State under authority granted by New York Codes, Rules, and Regulations Title 6 § 360.18 (Solid Waste) and Title 6 § 201-1.16 (Air Resources). These regulations allow NYSDEC to issue short-term research permits to test innovative technologies while simultaneously ensuring public health and the environment is protected. 

ESMI intends to conduct a short-term project treating a maximum of 5,000-tons of PFAS contaminated soil. It is anticipated that this testing will take approximately two weeks of actual operation. There have been numerous studies showing the effectiveness of thermal desorption for the treatment of PFAS (see Appendix A of the permit application), including the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Department of Defense (DoD) lab and bench scale research. The State of Alaska has also permitted two companies to utilize thermal desorption units for the treatment of PFAS contaminated soil.

During this project, ESMI will corroborate the USEPA’s and DoD’s research at full-scale and further the science associated with full-scale operations. Monitoring and validation testing will include laboratory analysis on the soil, both pre- and post-treatment and air emissions testing generated during the project. All testing protocols will be completed as approved by NYSDEC.