Eastern Queens Lawmakers Seek Environmental Review Of Housing Site
By John Toscano

Crowley

Citing serious health concerns, three Queens lawmakers have called for a comprehensive environmental review of a proposed housing development site in College Point as well as other sites along the waterfront.

Congressmember Joseph Crowley, Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn and City Councilmember Tony Avella said they will ask the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a thorough series of tests at the site as well as at other existing manufacturing and potential housing development sites stretching along the waterfront in College Point .

Avella

Avella (D–Bayside) said, “Clearly a number of serious health concerns have been raised about the College Point Properties Inc. site. We are here today to ensure that all levels of government respond to these issues and determine if any environmental hazards exist and, if so, how they can be addressed.”

The lawmakers acted after residents expressed fears that the developer and environmental officials weren’t acting aggressively to clean up underground toxic matter that had been found at the site.

College Point Properties, which is seeking to develop the eight-acre site, submitted an environmental impact statement which reportedly pointed out that metals and petroleum products are in the soil. Almost 50 years ago, what had been a wetland was transformed into a dump as junked cars, batteries, smashed tombstones, oil drums and other debris were discarded there.

Mayersohn

The builder offered a plan to clean up the site but residents and the public officials don’t think it solves the problem. A recent story in the New York Post quoted a Pace University professor, James Cervino, who lives near the site, as saying “There are toxins 18 feet under the surface. It’s not enough to dig down just three feet, as has been proposed.”

Crowley (D–Queens/Bronx), thanking Avella and Mayersohn for their leadership on an important quality of life issue in College Point, stated “ We need good scientific studies to tell us what the chemicals are underneath our homes and parks. We need to know what DEC thinks needs to be capped. We cannot have a situation where, a few years down the line, a future homeowner is planting a rose bush, for example, and digging in the dirt in his yard, when he gets below two feet of soil–or less as years go on, thanks to rainstorms and erosion–they could be digging into toxic chemicals.

“That is why we are calling for a coordinated federal/state/city environmental task force to look into this issue, test this soil and let the community know about what is in their soil, and what are the chances it could float to the surface. I will use my powers in Washington,D.C. to seek EPA involvement in this case and work for answers so that we have a clean and safe College Point for everyone.”

Mayersohn (D–Flushing) commented, “The residents of College Point need to know that their community is safe. By asking the respective federal, state and city agencies to get involved, we will hopefully determine once and for all what the problems are and what can be done to ensure the public’s health and safety.”

In another housing construction matter in Whitestone, Avella who has been leading a campaign against overdevelopment and illegal construction with the Department of Buildings (DOB), was successful in blocking the building of a home at 163-03 20th Ave.

Residents in the area had alerted Avella to possible illegal construction at that address in July 2003. “It quickly became apparent that the owner was flagrantly violating the law,” Avella said. DOB had issued a permit for a second story extension, but the owner/builder demolished the entire house and started to erect a huge cinderblock structure.

At Avella’s request, DOB issued a stop work order, which was followed by citations for other violations, including one by the Health Department.

“Finally,” Avella said, “after all these efforts by the city and my office, the owner/builder is removing the illegal structure. This is exactly the type of outcome that should occur on all illegal construction sites. The city should require all illegal construction to be removed–not simply legalized–but removed. If this outcome happens enough, it will send a chilling message to the unscrupulous developers that they can no longer escape the law.”

Congressmember Joseph Crowley, Assemblymember Nettie Mayersohn and City Councilmember Tony Avella said they will ask the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a thorough series of tests at the site