Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Cleaning up the Atlas Park brownfield


From the Times Newsweekly:

Though there is no significant health threat to the public, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is in the process of reviewing a plan to remove contaminants from a 6.8-acre portion of Atlas Terminals adjacent to The Shops at Atlas Park in Glendale.

Residents have the opportunity to provide their comments regarding the Brownfield site cleanup proposal for the property located at 82-00 Cooper Ave., which is occupied by several warehouses and a parking lot. In the past, the area was used for industrial purposes such as oil distribution, fabric dying, steel fabrication, plastic production and manufacturing of citrate magnesia, a laxative.

The draft plan, developed by Atlas Terminals in conjunction with the DEC as part of the Brownfield Cleanup Program, calls for the excavation of 66,000 cubic yards of soil which, through testing, were found to contain “contaminants of concern,” according to a fact sheet provided by the DEC.

“Contaminants of concern” are “sufficiently present in frequency and concentration in the environment to require evaluation for remedial action,” the sheet noted. However, none of the contaminants found in the testing were determined to be in high concentration.

Among the chemicals in the con- taminated soil include trace levels of benzopyrene, benzofluoranthene, mercury, copper, zinc, lead, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE).

Once the contaminated soil is removed, approximately 83,500 cubic yards of clean fill will be brought to and installed on the site, the DEC noted. Thereafter, Atlas Terminals and the DEC will put into place a remediation program with a goal of cleaning the site to the point where the site could be used for residential, commercial or industrial use.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

And the city and Atlas did not know about this 6 years ago when construction of Atas Park started?

Anonymous said...

A lot of construction contracts were awarded when this all started, and a lot of kickbacks went to politicians.

Now there will be remedial contracts awarded, and there will be some more kickbacks to politicians.

The more things change,
the more they remain the same.

What was the bill for the environmental study that determined the toxicity of the site?

Whose
politically connected firm did it?

Anonymous said...

Every spot
the area's pols have stepped on
should be declared a brownfield.

"Political consultant"
(ex-councilman and convicted rapist) Dennis P. Gallagher has surely turned C.M. Peter Koo's office into one.

Anonymous said...

B.O.H.I.C.A.
Bend Over Here It Comes Again!

Anonymous said...

I suppose the phrase "better late than never!" can be applied for this new construction site cleanup project.
-Jon