The
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has discovered a number
of contaminants in a vacant lot on Niagara Street, located 150 feet from a residential area.
According
to a Proposed Remedial Action Plan found on the DEC’s website, soil and
groundwater beneath the lot at 1318 Niagara St. near Lafayette Avenue contain concerning levels of
polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. PCBs are an organic chemical compound used
in electrical apparatuses and in coolant fluids in machinery. Exposure to them
can result in adverse skin conditions and has also been linked to cancer.
In
order to develop the property for commercial, residential or industrial use,
the action plan states that more than 2,500 cubic feet of contaminated soil
must be excavated from the property and replaced with clean soil from an
off-site location. The new soil must then be covered with pavement or sidewalk.
The
estimated cost of the cleanup is over $1.4 million, according to the action
plan.
From
Feb. 4 through March 20, the DEC accepted comments on the action plan from the
public.
Anthony
Lopes, an environmental engineer with the DEC and primary recipient of
project-related questions, declined to comment as the DEC reviews the public
comments.
The
vacant lot was home to a brewery from 1909 to 1987. According to the action
plan, private owners used the site for unknown purposes from 1987 to 2004. By Jeff Pawlak and Brittney Singletary
