We request that the City of Ithaca and INHS clean up the contamination on the Stone Quarry Apartments project site to the "Unrestricted Use" standards as dictated by DEC and HUD guidelines.

The Issue

The current contamination remediation plan that INHS will be using in their construction is not to DEC and HUD standards. Standards require remediation to "unrestricted use," however INHS has been given permission by the DEC to clean up the overall contamination on site to a much lesser degree and to leave ample soil and groundwater contamination on site.  This should not be acceptable for any housing project, let alone one designed to be used by low- to middle-income residents.

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Spencer Road Neighborhood AssociationPetition Starter
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This petition had 168 supporters

The Issue

The current contamination remediation plan that INHS will be using in their construction is not to DEC and HUD standards. Standards require remediation to "unrestricted use," however INHS has been given permission by the DEC to clean up the overall contamination on site to a much lesser degree and to leave ample soil and groundwater contamination on site.  This should not be acceptable for any housing project, let alone one designed to be used by low- to middle-income residents.

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Spencer Road Neighborhood AssociationPetition Starter
Media inquiries

Petition Closed

This petition had 168 supporters

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The Decision Makers

Svante Myrick
Svante Myrick
Mayor City of Ithaca
Responded
“Hello, I share your concern for thorough investigation and clean up of contaminants in the soil and groundwater found at the Stone Quarry Apartment project site to meet residential standards. I fully support reopening of the case by DEC to scrutinize INHS’s work plan to clean up contaminants and monitor results of implementing the work plan to ensure the site is safe for residential use and protects neighboring homes. I understand INHS also prefers DEC to formally approve remediation of the site rather than have the case administratively closed. It is fortunate that INHS completed a site investigation or these contaminants may not have been identified and earmarked for clean up. They conducted a Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment which recommended on-site subsurface testing. They then completed on-site testing (Phase II report) and reported the findings to DEC, who has jurisdiction along with the DOH on environmental contamination issues. This information was followed up with submission of a work plan to excavate and remove soils in two areas (approximately 10’ x 10’ and 5’ x 5’) where contaminants were found that exceeded the soil cleanup standard for residential use. INHS is prepared to remove subsurface contaminants and will utilize the services of a professional environmental engineer to design & oversee the site remediation and report outcomes to the DEC. Additionally, INHS agrees to have their environmental engineer on-call during the site preparation, demolition and construction process to inspect and investigate any suspicious environmental conditions (e.g., odors or staining) identified by the contractor. Furthermore, INHS previously committed to install vapor barriers and depressurized sub-slab ventilation systems under each building to prevent any possibility of any soil gases from entering occupied spaces. It is important to keep in perspective that all environmental information presented at the Planning & Development Board meeting was voluntarily collected by INHS and submitted to DEC. Prior to the meeting, INHS had already agreed to implement the work plan to address subsurface contamination. I look forward to remediation of environmental contamination of this site as one more community benefit resulting from this project. Please let me know if you have further concerns about this matter. Svante Myrick Mayor, City of Ithaca ”
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Petition created on July 27, 2014