College Point sewer dirt finally removed

  

Queens Chronicle

 Just two months ago, a pile of potentially contaminated, excavated dirt stood at least three stories high at 119th Street and 20th Avenue, towering over Flushing Bay.

Now, it seems, the pile, is gone — but only after the state Department of Conservation issued nine different violations to city Department of Design and Construction-hired contractor EIC Associates for its failure to adhere to environmental protection guidelines.

Community Board 7’s environmental chair, visiting scientist and faculty member at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution James Cervino, who not only filed complaints with the state but also with the Environmental Protection Agency, is thrilled.

“They got the pile down to a manageable minimum,” Cervino said. “[That’s what happens] when the DEC comes in.”

The pile’s disappearance comes after the Chronicle reported extensively on the environmental concerns at the site in question. Cervino credited the change in large part to the Chronicle’s work.

The site is part of the College Point sewer update, a project that has been ongoing for more than five years now, and had effectively functioned as a transfer station for demolition dirt from the entire 20-block project.

That excavated material was found to have contained creosote timbers, which can be harmful when in contact with soil and water, which, considering its proximity to Flushing Bay, raised some red flags.

When the Chronicle previously asked Joseph A. Branco, a founding partner of EIC, whether the site was a transfer station, he said, “What we have is the materials that are disposed of [for the whole project], every two or three days, we have materials going out. I mean, these are the excavated material[s] going out, but it’s not a transfer station, per se.”

EIC could not be reached for comment for this story.

Since the Chronicle last reported on the issue in mid-February, a DEC spokesperson has said that the site is not a transfer station, as the permits issued for the project do not allow for one.

However, the Chronicle also obtained documentation of the alleged DDC and EIC violations at the 119th Street location. Among the nine different violations are a “substantially inadequate” Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. More specifically, that violation notes that the “construction staging/stockpiling area” is not in the SWPPP.