FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE04-60
Novermber
22, 2004
CONTACT:
Ian Michaels (DEP) (718) 595-6600
Gabrielle Done (DEC) (518) 402-8000
State
and City to Begin Groundwater and Soil Remediation at West
Side Corporation Site in Queens
DEC
and DEP Mark the Start of Site Cleanup
Acting Commissioner David B. Tweedy of the New York
City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner
Erin M. Crotty today announced the start of a complete environmental
remediation, including the removal of the dry cleaning agent perchloroethylene
from soil and groundwater, at the West Side Corporation (WSC) property,
a Class 2 State Superfund site at 107-10 180 th Street in Jamaica.
Community leaders and local elected officials will
join representatives from the DEP and the DEC on Monday, November
22 nd at 11:00 a.m. to mark the beginning of the project. The event
will take place at 176 th Street and 109 th Avenue at a DEP facility
adjacent to the site.
“This cleanup marks the culmination of almost
a decade of work between DEC and DEP,” Commissioner Crotty
said. “Through our partnership and the strong support of
Governor George E. Pataki, we have investigated the type and range
of contamination at this site and developed plans for the site’s
cleanup. I look forward to a day when this site can be returned
to productive, clean, and healthy reuse.”
“This project will help us ensure a safe and
dependable drinking water supply for the people of southeast Queens
,” said DEP Acting Commissioner Tweedy. “It will also
help to assure people in the community that Mayor Bloomberg and
the governor are working to provide a healthy environment for them
and their families.”
Congressman Gregory W. Meeks said, "The cleanup of the West
Side Corporation site is an example of how public policy is supposed
to meet community needs. The NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection
and the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation are working together
the way government should to eliminate a hazard that has been a
detriment to the local community. The involvement of federal
funds through the Superfund program commits all three levels of
government to the cleanup of this site. This groundbreaking
is one more step in improving the functional relationship between
the industrial and residential community, which has previously
included the takeover of Jamaica Water Supply, the traffic plan
in Addesleigh Park and the construction of 180 th Street between
Liberty and 110 th."
State Senator Malcolm A. Smith said, “I would like to thank
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Commissioner Erin Crotty of the Department
of Environmental Conservation and Former Commissioner Christopher
O. Ward of the Department of Environmental Protection for their
steadfast commitment to ensuring we have an environmentally safe
neighborhood. Moreover, I am very excited about what the cleanup
of the Westside Corporation Site will do for the health of the
Southeast Queens Community. This is a groundbreaking day in the
true sense of the words – one, the initial ceremonial groundbreaking
to clean up the site, and two, the groundbreaking and purpose-driven
formulation of the City and State team to carry out the clean up.
This is a clear example of the maxim that when we all work together,
the people of the City and State can benefit through our mutual
cooperation. Lastly, with an eye towards the future, we must make
sure the site becomes a viable asset to be redeveloped on behalf
of the community.”
City Councilmember Leroy G. Comrie Jr. said, "I am pleased
that we have collaborated successfully, including all stakeholders,
to insure that the residents involved are informed of all the issues
surrounding this project."
Manuel Caughman, 1 st Vice-President of Queens Community Board
#12 and Member of BQA Citizens Advisory Committee said, “This
is a classic example of how state and city agencies, our elected
officials and the community can work together to solve a problem
that’s beneficial to all concerned.”
Linda Caleb Hazel, a member of BQA Citizens Advisory Committee,
said, “It is wonderful to see the long-term concerns of the
community regarding the cleanup of the Westside Corp. toxic site
being met by state and city agencies. This important project will
bring the highest quality of water to our southeast Queens community.
It’s been a long time coming, and I am so glad to be a part
of this historic collaborative effort between the community and
its government.
Irving Hicks, President of the Brinkerhoff Action Association,
said, “This day many of us are celebrating the outcome of
much effort from many contributors. We, the residents of the Brinkerhoff
community, the direct benefactors of this massive project, extend
our sincere thanks to all who have and are still contributing to
this wonderful public service. The DEP made it very clear form
the beginning that it was a community project and would be processed
and implemented as directed by the residents and elected officials
via the Citizens Advisory Committee. We also extend our appreciation
for DEP’s shouldering the burden of all expenses for the
project and the many water and sewer service improvements during
the past three years.”
Clean-up of the WSC property is a primary focus of DEP’s
Brooklyn-Queens Aquifer (BQA) Study, a multi-phase project to investigate
the use of groundwater from the aquifer beneath Brooklyn and Queens
. DEP and DEC have worked together to ensure that the on-going
BQA project is compatible with the clean-up of the WSC property.
As part of the BQA project, the DEP is proposing to restart several
groundwater production wells located near the WSC property. Funding
for the on-site remediation will initially come from the State
Superfund program managed by DEC. This State funding will later
be reimbursed by DEP. DEP will also undertake the bulk of the design
and construction of the off-site groundwater remedy. The entire
cost of the clean-up project will be approximately $11 million,
including $3.85 million for on-site soil remediation and about
$6.5 million for the off-site groundwater remediation.
The WSC was a dry cleaning storage and distribution
center that handled large amounts perchloroethylene (PCE) between
1969 and 1982. When the business closed it left behind a site contaminated
by spills and storage tank leaks, which resulted in the seepage
of PCE into the soil and groundwater.
The initial phase of the clean-up will focus on
soil remediation and will use an innovative technique called Electrical
Resistance Heating (ERH) to remediate the most contaminated portion
of the site. The process involves treating the soil contamination
in place and heating the subsurface soil with electrical current
to extract, capture and then destroy vapors. Because it destroys
the contamination on-site, it has the added benefit of minimizing
the trucking of contaminated soils through the local community.
This is the first time that the process will be used on a State
Superfund project in New York State.
Upon completion of the ERH in summer 2005, soil
vapor extraction will begin in areas will lesser contamination.
This will be followed by remediation of groundwater by DEP, which
also is expected to begin early next year.
A Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) composed of
community activists and elected officials has played an important
role in the overall study, and has provided valuable input and
feedback on the WSC project. A Scientific Review Panel, selected
by the CAC, has assisted the Committee in evaluating information
related to remediation technologies.
The facility where Monday’s kickoff event
will be held is the DEP’s Queens Repair Yard and includes
a former Jamaica Water Supply groundwater well which was sealed
by the company in 1982 because contamination from the WSC site
had made the well unusable.
Design of the on-site cleanup was completed in June 2004 and
the contract for clean-up was advertised for bid by the DEC in
June 2004. The DEC will manage and oversee the on-site clean-up
along with their engineering consultant, URS, from Buffalo , NY
. The $3.85 million contract for soil remediation will be performed
by Clayton Group Services, of Edison , New Jersey . DEP has already
installed the recovery well and is working with their engineering
consultant, Malcolm Pirnie, to complete the off-site groundwater
remedial design and bid the work by the Spring 2005.