WPIRA responds to toxicity claim

The WPIRA today responded to today's Daily News article: "'Toxic' results at Willets Point aid Mayor Bloomberg's plan."

These statements are inconsistent with what Mr. McCarty told the City Council at their hearing on October 17, and with what the Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement said. Both Mr. McCarty and the FGEIS indicated that not enough testing has been performed to know what levels of contamination are present. If new testing has been performed since the hearing, its results should be made publicly available.

"Every industrial area in New York City, and many non-industrial areas, are likely to have the presence of various chemicals. What's important is not mere presence. A few molecules will not do any harm," said Michael Gerrard, WPIRA attorney. "Rather, it is the quantities and concentrations that must be known in order to determine whether there is a real problem. The Willets Point area does not appear on the State Superfund, State Brownfields, or Federal Superfund lists – the official governmental lists of highly contaminated sites. And if the area were heavily contaminated, the City would not want to take title to it or be responsible for the possibly liability associated with such "toxic" land."

AND THIS JUST IN from reporter Stephen Stirling:

"No Feinstein deal as of now. Some complications have arisen in the final negotiations. Several sources have told me that the deal isn’t dead, but not finalized either. More tomorrow."