Massive excavations had removed more than 80,000 tons of contaminated soil from the Queens West development site, underground oil refinery equipment had been removed, steel sheeting had been installed to keep outside pollution from seeping into the site and 94,000 tons of fill had been put in. In November 2008, the site, located along the East River just south of Anable Basin, was deemed clean, and Long Island City residents breathed a sigh of relief, happy that the noise, dust and odors from the cleanup were gone.
Then, in December, groundwater monitoring wells revealed that the cleanup hadn’t gone deep enough: there was additional contamination farther underground than DEC had expected.
Now, excavation is set to begin again.
Jane O’Connell, DEC’s acting hazardous waste remediation engineer for the region, said the newly discovered contamination came as a surprise because petroleum, the main contaminant in the area, floats and is therefore usually closer to the surface. Last summer’s excavations went about 15 feet below ground level, but the monitoring wells that were later installed showed oil five feet deeper than that, trapped underneath a layer of a substance called peat. Peat, which is made up of partially decayed plant material, can be compressed to the point that it becomes sedimentary rock.
“We didn’t expect to see it below the peat, and we’re still not 100 percent sure how it got there and why it got there,” O’Connell said. “Peat is a natural material. It’s very thick, and it’s very hard, and oil doesn’t generally go below it.”
Because the L.I.C. contamination is so deep, it’s not a major threat to people or activities on the ground, she added, but it’s still impacting the groundwater and could seep into the river, which is why it needs to be cleaned up.
The state is regulating the cleanup process, as it has done for the prior remediation, but the site’s developer is footing the bill. TF Cornerstone, previously a part of Rockrose Development Corp., enrolled in the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, which encourages New York property owners to voluntarily clean up polluted sites, known as “brownfields,” so that the property can be reused and redeveloped.
By becoming Brownfield Volunteers, “innocent” property owners — those whose land is contaminated through no fault of their own — agree to determine how badly their properties are tainted and promise to undertake cleanup efforts, according to Lori Severino, a spokeswoman for the DEC.
Cornerstone has constructed several highrises in L.I.C. next to the remediation site and is planning to build four more, to complete the Queens West development, which will include condominiums, rental units, a school and parkland.
An attorney for the company said the additional cleanup work is not expected to delay development plans significantly.
TRC Companies, Inc., the firm doing the cleanup work, won’t be digging up the whole 9.5-acre site again — just the areas where new contamination was found — and according to the DEC, various provisions have been made to ensure that the work won’t bother area residents.
During last year’s cleanup, those living near the site complained heavily of foul odors and also objected to increased truck traffic in L.I.C.
This time around, all work, including loading and unloading trucks, will be done inside a sealed tent to control odors and dust. Most of the excavations will be small enough that they can be completed and filled in again in one day, which should also keep down the smell, according to the DEC.
To ensure that work vehicles are as uninvasive as possible, all trucks will have to follow a specific route, will not be allowed to stop or idle on L.I.C. streets and will be cleaned before they leave the work site so as not to track dirt into the neighborhood.
The new digging, set to begin in the next few weeks, is expected to take about three months. Contaminated soil will be removed and trucked away, and new soil will be brought in.
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