Tuckahoe hotel plan moving forward at toxic site
TUCKAHOE - Plans for a hotel and restaurant on the site of a contaminated landfill are moving forward despite public backlash.
More than 100 protesters filled Tuckahoe's Village Hall at Monday's Board of Trustees, spilling into the hallway, meeting to speak against the proposed 5-story, 163-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel and detached restaurant at 109-125 Marbledale Road.
The site was a marble quarry until 1958, a municipal dumping ground for more than 20 years and most recently an auto repair lot. Samples at the site spanning two decades have detected at least 21 contaminants of concern across the 3.45 acres, classifying it a brownfield in need of cleanup.
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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation project manager Kevin Carpenter identified the site as a "significant threat."
"In areas that looked like there could be more contamination, we've requested more sampling," Carpenter said in an interview this week.
He noted, however, DEC, in consultation with the state Department of Health, "only approves remedies for sites in the Brownfield Cleanup Program that are protective of public health and the environment, based on the intended future use of the site and its surroundings."
"The approved remedy for this site will be protective for the proposed use, and the site will be monitored following remediation to ensure that it remains protective into the future," he said in a statement.
Developer Bilwin Development Affiliates, LLC, hired consulting firm HydroEnvironmental Solutions (HES) to test and monitor the site. In July, HES released a 400-page remedial action work plan to deter harmful toxins from being released via soil vapors or through groundwater. The plan calls for additional ground wells, concrete caps and proper ventilation in the buildings to be installed.
With a residential neighborhood and an elementary school just west of the site, village residents are troubled by the possibility of contaminants reaching the air.
“It’s not in the middle of nowhere," said resident Rachel Zolottev, whose husband, Vladimir, owns KI Martial Arts at 125A Marbledale Road. "You’ve got houses, a school, businesses. This is a constantly trafficked street.”
Zolottev marched with more than 100 residents in protest of the project before Monday's board meeting. During the meeting, which lasted nearly four hours, members of the public voiced various concerns.
“I’ve made myself very loud and clear for quite a few months now that this private property owner will be held to the strict requirement standards and oversight that we have at our discretion," Mayor Steve Ecklond said at the meeting. "It is our responsibility to make sure it is done right.”
Groups like Sierra Club and the Marbledale Road Environmental Coalition, of which Zolottev is a member, believe the village needs to do more extensive testing and analyzing for potential threats of exposure to the toxic waste.
“This is like dealing with a person who’s contagious and you don’t acknowledge they’re contagious," Zolottev said. "You don’t do any blood tests and you don’t know how sick they are. Is it Zika? Is it Ebola? Nobody knows how bad it could be.”
Bilwin first made an application to the planning board in June 2014, where the board declared a conditional "negative declaration" on the project, said Village Administrator David Burke. This meant that while there was potentially an adverse environmental impact, it was left to experts at the DEC and the DOH to review.
Over the past year, site plan revisions were at the planning board level while the DEC and DOH reviewed the environmental impact, Burke said. The DEC's decision document, in conjunction with the DOH, was released last month. The proposal is again expected to go in front of the village planning board Sep. 15.
Ecklond said Monday he anticipates a decision to be made "one way or the other" at the September meeting. He added that, depending on which way the board votes, he expects a lawsuit to be filed by the opposing party.
A representative from Bilwin could not be reached for comment.
“At the end of the day, I like to call it as I see it, that this application is going to be probably decided in Westchester County Court at some point,” Ecklond said.
The DEC released a question and answer document which is now available to the public.
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