Flushing West seems to be permanently dead

From the Times Ledger:

The city’s abrupt decision to withdraw its plans to rezone Flushing West, which would have brought 1,600 units of housing to the downtown area, has drawn mixed reactions from the community.

Some say it was a good move due to key infrastructural problems for which the city did not have concrete solutions, while others say it was a missed opportunity for the community.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposal sought to clean up and rezone 60 acres on the Flushing waterfront and form a planned community with waterfront access for housing and commercial space.

Although State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) was the first elected official to oppose the plan and was joined by state Assemblyman Ron Kim (D-Flushing), the project fell apart when Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing) asked for it to be withdrawn in a May 27 letter to City Planning Chairman Carl Weisbrod.

Koo cited the ongoing problems with airplane noise from LaGuardia Airport and the need for remediation in Flushing Creek as the key factors motivating his shift in opinion. He alsmo mentioned other issues, such as the proposed development’s proximity to the overcrowded No. 7 train.

He said the city could decide to pursue the proposal again in a year or two if tangible solutions are made to fix the problems.

“The residents would be very unhappy if they lived there, all these airplanes coming in the morning — it would drive them crazy,” he said. “Flushing Creek is so dirty. I wouldn’t want to stay there for 10 minutes, let alone 24 hours and every day.”

City Planning said it could revisit Flushing West if those issues are resolved.

And I'm sure Flushing Creek will be cleaned up and LaGuardia Airport will close soon.

Cleanup required for recently rezoned Ridgewood property

From the Queens Courier:

The latest site in an industrially zoned area of northern Ridgewood slated for redevelopment requires a serious cleanup, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

A recent report found that there were several semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and metals above cleanup guidelines at the site, located at 175 Woodward Ave., which had been used for storage of wooden pallets and shipping containers. Two mixed-use buildings, with ground-floor commercial space and apartments above it, are slated to rise on the site.

Soil vapor samples taken from the location revealed chlorinated solvents above the monitoring/mitigation level ranges established by the state Department of Health.

Now that the extent of the contamination has been assessed, the DEC is drafting a Remedial Action Work Plan (RAWP) to propose remedial actions to clean the site for redevelopment.

Before any form of cleanup takes place, the Office of Environmental Remediation (OER) is accepting public comments on the draft RAWP.

Residents can submit comments to Amanda Duchesne, project manager for OER, at 100 Gold Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10038, by phone at 212-341-2077 or by email at ADuchesne@dep.nyc.gov; and Shaminder Chawla, deputy director for OER at the same mailing address, by phone at 212-442-3007 and by email at SChawla@dep.nyc.gov.

The OER is accepting public comments on the draft RAWP for until Aug. 15.

City cleaning up future South Jamaica hotel site

From the Queens Chronicle:

The city Office of Environmental Remediation is preparing to clean up the site where a four-story hotel will be built.

The office is proposing to take several steps to remediate the site at 132-10 149 Ave. in South Jamaica, including the excavation of soil and the installation of a vapor barrier system.

It also plans to place a 30-inch thick concrete slab underneath the building to “prevent human exposure to residual soil/fill remaining under the site.”

The site requires environmental remediation because the city found “volatile organic compounds, pesticides, PCBs and metals” in the soil where the hotel will be located.

Why are we still building hotels when the ones we already have are being repurposed as homeless shelters? Oh, I think I just answered my own question.

Flushing Commons & Ridgewood Post Office site are both toxic

From the Times Ledger:

Just before the new year, Essex Capital Partners Ltd., a Manhattan-based national real estate firm, submitted paperwork to demolish a shuttered post office and two one-story commercial buildings, at 16-14 through 16-32 Madison St., and build a 63,395-square-foot apartment building in their place. The developer plans to include 46 parking spots, according to city Department of Building filings.

[In August], 1614 Madison Partners inked a Brownfield Cleanup Program agreement with the state Environmental Department of Conservation. Under the cleanup initiative, the state attempts to spur owners of contaminated property to redevelop the sites by offering them tax benefits to remediate the pollution.

The developer’s two-lot purchase once housed the Philru Knitting Mill and contains concentrations of a toxic chemical often used to dry clean fabrics and de-grease metals that exceed state guidelines, according to paperwork 1614 Madison Partners filed with the DEC.

The DEC received a draft investigation work plan for the site and invited the public to share feedback through Jan. 10 on how the LLC proposes to examine the site’s contamination.

After adjusting the investigation plan, if necessary, 1614 Madison Partners will use the results of environmental tests to compile a report and draft a proposed cleanup plan. The public may view and comment on the proposal before the state decides whether to sign off on it.

Preliminary tests found concentrations of tetrachloroethene — commonly known as PCE — above state limits in shallow soil, soil vapor and groundwater, according to the draft investigation work plan.

The Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry has determined that exposure to high concentrations of PCE can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness, confusion, nausea, difficulty speaking or walking, unconsciousness and death, according to the agency. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded that PCE “may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen” because it has caused liver and kidney tumors in rodents.

From the Times Ledger:

The developers of the Flushing Commons project have opted into a city-run, environmental cleanup program after low levels of contaminants were found below Municipal Lot 1 — protecting them from future enforcement actions from city or state environmental agencies.

The mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation said the plan to remediate conditions at the site covers only the first phase of the Rockefeller Group’s $850 million development scheduled to kick off in March.

A 2006 investigation by Flushing Commons’ engineers found contaminants in the soil and groundwater below the parking lot at marginally low levels, but because they may pose safety hazards as construction crews excavate and dispose of about 178,000 tons of soil, the plan lays out guidelines for the safe handling of the soil.

The city’s voluntary cleanup program also offers Rockefeller the guarantee that city and state environmental agencies will not pursue enforcement actions that could delay construction schedules.

Tests at the site found methyl tert-butyl — a gasoline additive commonly found as a pollutant in the city — the dry cleaning solution PERC and metals such as lead and nickel in the groundwater at levels nominally higher than the quality standards set by the state.

Lead was found in the soil at levels deemed safe for residential use but too dangerous to use in sensitive wetlands or as fill on farms.

While the source of the contaminants has not been determined, it is suspected it may have come from a 1-foot-thick layer of soil fill found below the pavement.

Office of Environmental Remediation created

From GlobeSt.com:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday signed legislation to establish a local program to clean up brownfields. It’s intended to address sites not eligible for inclusion in the state’s 15-year-old brownfield remediation program.

The legislation, approved unanimously by the City Council on April 22, creates the Office of Environmental Remediation to oversee and coordinate city brownfield policy and creates a local brownfield cleanup program, reportedly the first in the US to provide for municipal oversight. The city’s brownfield program will adhere to the state’s standards, and will enable the OER to use the state’s Brownfield Opportunity area grant program to facilitate community planning for areas containing clusters of brownfields.