MOUNT JEWETT — Barrels of oil thought to be about 70 years old were found on Mount Jewett property owned by PJ Murphy and leased by Casella Waste in September of last year.

Jeff Weld, Casella spokesman, explained, “During construction of the new rail infrastructure project last fall, a third-party contractor discovered oily residue on a parcel of land which is leased by Casella from the neighboring property owner, PJ Murphy.”

An inspection report indicated 10 to 15 barrels of used motor oil were located. “These were

believed to have been dumped over the hill and buried many years ago by previous owners of the property.”

The property had been purchased by PJ Murphy in the 1960s from a tire/oil change shop that had operated until the 1950s. After the barrels were found, the inspection showed leakage.

“Through further inspection it was determined that … some of those barrels had begun to leak during rain events,” Weld said. “In conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, PJ Murphy was able to hire appropriate excavation and environmental remediation companies to address the issue.”

Harris Environmental of St. Marys performed the cleanup and disposal of the contaminated soil at the McKean Landfill — as many as 1,000 tons of it. The soil was brown/black, didn’t have an odor and had a pH level of 5.18. Disposal was approved by the DEP.

Weld said, “The area has been fully remediated and the waste has been safely disposed of to the satisfaction of DEP as of April of this year.”

He added that neither PJ Murphy nor Casella had knowledge that the drums were present on the property, “and likely never would have known if not for the construction project, so being able to remediate the area is an excellent outcome for all involved.

“We are pleased to be able to improve this area further through continued collaboration with our neighbors. Casella paid for the costs associated with the remediation as part of the rail infrastructure construction and has since entered into an agreement with PJ Murphy to purchase the parcel of land that was previously being leased,” he stated.

A follow-up inspection by the DEP noted no violations.