Following are comments received by 14 September 2007.  Additional comments are welcome at any time. 

On May 14, 2007, the City was awarded $400,000 in two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grants to conduct environmental assessments at brownfield sites throughout the City. 

These grants will allow the City to investigate potential contamination resulting from activities such as former industrial operations and illegal dumping.  The two assessment grants are for $200,000 to investigate sites contaminated with hazardous substances, and $200,000 to investigate sites contaminated with petroleum.  The City will work internally within its agencies and externally with community and economic development groups to identify and prioritize sites.  Sites will be sought that meet EPA eligibility criteria, reflect community need, and have a project schedule that the grant will facilitate.

The New York City award was part of EPA’s announcement that $70.7 million in Brownfield grants were being awarded nationwide for a variety of projects under the federal Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act.

The City also has eight other current EPA brownfield grants:
• $750,000 Revolving Loan Fund grant to leverage private investment in the NY Metro Brownfields Redevelopment Fund
• $400,000 Assessment grant to the Department of Housing Preservation & Development for environmental assessments including Broadway Triangle in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, also in Brooklyn
• $270,000 Assessment grant to the Department of Parks & Recreation to investigate the 107-acre Mariners Marsh property in Staten Island
• Two $200,000 Assessment grants to investigate properties contaminated with hazardous substances Citywide
• $200,000 Assessment grant to investigate properties contaminated with petroleum Citywide
• $200,000 Cleanup grant to the Department of Parks & Recreation to remediate contamination at the 107-acre Mariners Marsh property in Staten Island
• $200,000 Cleanup grant to remediate contamination at the High Line in Manhattan

The federal Brownfields Tax Incentive has been extended retroactively through December 31, 2007, and petroleum sites are now eligible for the deduction as well.    This incentive allows a taxpayer to take a full deduction of environmental cleanup costs in the year they are incurred, rather than having to capitalize them.  Entities interested in the tax incentive must receive a certification of eligibility from their state cleanup program. 
Click here for more information about the incentive and state cleanup program contacts.

On November 14, at the Brownfields 2006 conference in Boston, MA, the Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point in the South Bronx received a Phoenix Award trophy for Excellence in Brownfield Redevelopment.  This project was recognized as EPA Region 2's winner.  Kay Zias accepted the crystal trophy on behalf of the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC), HDR|LMS Engineers, Turner Construction, and Cybul and Cybul Architects, who worked together to implement the project, which retained 600 jobs and brought a $1 billion industry to the South Bronx.  Key support for the project came from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Bronx Community Board 2, the NYS Department of Health, and the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.

The Fulton Fish Market was located in Lower Manhattan for over 180 years and has become the largest wholesale fish market in the United States.  The market outgrew its downtown home and needed a facility to meet modern food safety requirements.  Its historic space lacked refrigeration and suffered from insufficient utilities, poor traffic access, and inadequate infrastructure.  The new facility is located on Food Center Drive in Hunts Point and occupies 33 acres of a former manufactured gas plant site that had been idle for forty years.  Key features of the project include:

• The new 430,000-square-foot, 1,300-foot-long facility is completely enclosed and temperature controlled, featuring 19 bays, a large parking area, and a wide corridor down the center with vendors on both sides.  The market accommodates all its loading and unloading needs off-street and away from residences and pedestrians.  Each wholesaler space has display room, a refrigerator and storage space.  A 100,000-square-foot mezzanine provides space for offices, restrooms and lockers.  There is also about 5,000 square feet of rental space that may be used for retail purposes, such as a restaurant or a bank.
• The site was remediated and redeveloped in four years and three months.  The facility opened in November 2005.
• The total project cost was $85 million.  The cost of remediation was approximately $12 million.
• Consolidated Edison developed the Hunts Point site in the early 1920s to convert coal, oil and other commodities into consumable gases. By 1926, the Hunts Point Plant was manufacturing gas for heating, lighting and cooking. Typical plants from this period burned through 1,500 tons of coal daily and produce more than 1,000 tons of coke and up to 20 million cubic feet of gas. By comparison, the Hunts Point Plant had an enormous production capacity of 60 million cubic feet of gas per day.
• The relocation of the fish market culminates a 40-year effort by the City and State to consolidate the city’s food distribution enterprises in Hunts Point.  The Fish Market’s move further establishes Hunts Point as the leading food distribution center in the country. 
• When Fulton Fish Market was relocated from Lower Manhattan, 38 fish vendors moved with the market.  The fish market now employs about 600 people.  This figure includes vendors who cut and sell fresh fish, staff who load and remove fish from trucks, and drivers who deliver stock to distributors and individual customers. Fulton Fish Market also employs a security force, internal operations personnel, and a maintenance staff.

For decades coal gas production produced a litany of waste: waste wood chips, petroleum-based contaminants, purifier waste, and coal tar, the environmentally damaging byproduct of coal distillation. During remediation, 28,000 tons of coal tar and 8,000 tons of purifier waste were removed from the Hunts Point site.   The waste was trucked to American Refuel in Buffalo, NY where it generated energy for steam and electricity. In two and half months, more than 28,000 tons of waste from the Fish Market site was incinerated, reducing its mass by more than 90 percent and producing 7.6 megawatt hours of electricity for the Buffalo grid - enough to heat 10,000 homes for three months.  To our knowledge, this is the largest waste-to-energy recovery project in New York City history. 

Further, seepage from several million-gallon storage tanks also contributed to contamination on the site.  A vapor barrier was placed beneath the foundation slab of the building and an air sparge soil vapor extraction system was constructed to remove volatile organic contaminants from the groundwater.

Redevelopment of the site required a comprehensive strategy to assess and remediate the massive contamination of the site concurrently with the design and construction of the new Fish Market building.  Regulatory agency approvals for investigation and remediation implementation had to be integrated with the architect and construction manager's efforts in less than 2 years.   The project used an innovative and efficient design-build approach wherein waste removal, remediation, and initial construction  occurred simultaneously.  This unprecedented coordination allowed the project to meet the enormous expectations for speed and efficiency that came with the high profile accorded to it by the media and public.  This effort was further complicated by the tragic events of September 11th, which unexpectedly diverted City and State resources from the project; however, design and construction remained on schedule due to the extraordinary commitment of the participants.

This redevelopment project also fits with the Hunts Point Vision Plan, a comprehensive planning and development framework for promoting a competitive business environment and a sustainable community on the Hunts Point peninsula.  The plan is the result of the work of the Hunts Point Task Force, which was formed in spring 2003 to provide a forum for addressing critical concerns in the area.  The Task Force, composed of public and private sector stakeholders that was created during the environmental review process of the Fish Market project, developed the Hunts Point Vision Plan to set an agenda for development policy in Hunts Point for the next twenty years, with an emphasis on recommendations that can be implemented in the near term. The Vision Plan covers a comprehensive set of issues and will promote a vibrant cultural life, an accessible and attractive waterfront, a healthy residential community and a solid industrial base that provides good employment opportunities for local residents.  The City is initially investing $27 million to implement short-term goals of the plan.

The 2006 Phoenix Award winners represent outstanding brownfield projects from each of the 10 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions.  EPA Region 2 covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

At November’s Brownfields 2006 Conference in Boston, MA, OEC Senior Environmental Planner Lee Ilan moderated a panel on brownfield issues in America’s Largest Cities.  Panelists represented Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Boston.  NYC’s presentation can be viewed here:
Brownfields with the Big Kids, November 2006

The next national brownfields conference of this type is expected to be held in spring 2008, possibly in New Orleans.  Scholarships to cover travel are often available. 
Check www.brownfields2006.org for details.

On August 11, 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that New York City was awarded a $200,000 brownfield grant to perform remediation work on the High Line, an elevated rail viaduct running from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street in Manhattan.  Nearly 1.5 miles in length and rising thirty feet above grade, the High Line will be developed into nearly 7 acres of park and public open space.  The first phase of the project began in April 2006 and is expected to open to the public in 2008.  This EPA grant will be used in the second phase of the project at the High Line’s northern end to help clean up contaminants associated with its former use as a railroad.  Conversion of this former industrial site into public open space will provide habitat for a variety of native species, a destination with walking paths, opportunities for environmental education and demonstration of sustainable practices.

The High Line was donated to the City of New York by CSX Transportation, Inc. in November 2005, the same month the City and CSX signed a Trail Use Agreement, permitting the rail structure to be used by the public as a recreational amenity.
For more information on the High Line, click here

Note: the High Line is owned by the City of New York.  It is an active construction site and not open to the public.  Please do not trespass.

$36 Million in Grants Announced for Bush Terminal Piers - joint State, City and Federal Effort Includes the Largest Brownfiel

On April 20, 2006, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki announced a total of $36 million to clean up and redevelop the Bush Terminal Landfill Piers 1-4 on the Sunset Park waterfront in Brooklyn.  The funding is comprised of a $17.8 million Environmental Restoration Program grant to New York City by the State -- the largest grant ever awarded by the State for the remediation of a brownfield site, as well as $9 million from New York City and $8 million from the Federal Government, secured by Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez.  In addition, the State will provide a $700,000 Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) grant for the first phase of the construction and open space improvements, and Councilmember Sarah Gonzalez helped to provide $500,000 to help transform this site into a recreational park.

The City of New York will remediate the Bush Terminal Piers Open Space Site between 43rd and 51st Streets. Soil, groundwater, and sediment at and beneath the site became contaminated in the 1970s due to the unauthorized disposal of construction and demolition debris, as well as liquid wastes, including oils, oil sludge, and wastewater.

The remediation area consists of approximately 14 acres of urban land that was created by landfilling between Piers 1 through 4, which were part of Bush Terminal.  Most of the landfilled areas are covered with grasses or soils, with mature trees between Piers 2 and 3, and two pond areas on the northern portion of the property. The site is currently fenced to prevent public access.

Once the cleanup is complete, the City plans to redevelop the site as a public open space featuring a variety of both active and passive recreational uses including: athletic fields, walkways, natural areas, an environmental education center, a boat-building area, a fishing pier, seasonal restaurant booths, a community building, and a banquet hall. The project also includes pier rehabilitation, shoreline stabilization, wetlands and aquatic habitat enhancement, and the preservation of mature trees.

Read their press release here

New York State Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) grants can fund 90% of costs for eligible planning and assessment activities in areas that have multiple brownfields.  To date, ten projects in New York City have been awarded $1.85 million in neighborhood planning money.  The NYS Department of State typically announces details of each year’s grant program in the spring.

Applications from community groups require partnerships with or letters of support from their municipalities.  In New York City, interested groups should contact OEC as early as possible.

OEC has prepared questions and answers about working with the City on BOA grants .

For reference, seeInformation about the BOA program and application materials (NYS DOS website)

On November 4, at the Brownfields 2005 Conference in Denver, CO, the Rheingold Brewery Redevelopment Project in Bushwick, Brooklyn received its Phoenix Award trophy for Excellence in Brownfield Redevelopment.  This project was recognized in September as EPA Region 2’s winner. [See award announcement press release.]  Assistant Commissioner Walter Roberts of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) Division of Planning Support Services accepted the award trophy on behalf of the NYC  Department of Housing Preservation & Development, the Bluestone Organization,  and the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, who worked together to implement the project which is creating 401 new affordable housing units.  Key support for the project came from NYS Assembly Member Vito J. Lopez, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal Commissioner Judith A. Calogero, and former HPD Commissioner Jerilyn Perine.

The Rheingold Brewery Redevelopment Project is being developed in phases.  It is located on 6.7 acres on both sides of Bushwick Avenue, near Forrest and Garden Streets.  The full project is comprised as follows:

• Rheingold Garden Partnership Homes are 58 two-family houses, 4 three-family houses and 30 condominium dwelling units in a 3 story building, for a total of 158 units. The homes are completed and occupied.
• Rheingold Garden HTF is two 6-story new-construction buildings with 93 units and space for a ground floor community facility.  The building is completed and occupied.
• Renaissance Estates HTF is a 6-story new-construction building with 62 units and space for a ground floor community facility.  The building is under construction and should be completed by the spring of 2006.
• Bushwick Gardens, when completed, will have 88 cooperative dwelling units and space for ground floor retail.  Construction will begin soon.
• The project includes 20,000 sf of retail space, on-site parking, and four floors (50,000 sf) of office and community space, coupled with vocational training rooms. 

In 2001, a design charette was held in with community organizations, City agency staff, local elected officials, and landscape architects from numerous countries, resulting in a vision that was followed closely in the redevelopment process.  The site had been contaminated by the brewery, which operated until 1976, and other commercial and industrial uses.  Contaminated soil was removed, and clean fill material was brought in.  A restrictive declaration enjoins residents from disturbing the soil beneath the clean fill, and the developer is disclosing the environmental situation to the residents.  The buildings are placed throughout the development to maximize the amount of open green space.  The developer used environmentally-responsible building materials that include solar panels installed on the roof of the apartment buildings to provide electricity to the common areas of the building, a green roof on top of Rheingold Condominium building, and structural insulated panels on the roofs of the two- and three-family homes. 

Integral components of the project’s success included city and state agency cooperation, community groups’ participation in “visioning” workshops, effective cleanup strategies, and an end-use that fulfills the community’s desire and need for affordable housing.  An experienced affordable housing developer collaborated with a local not-for-profit organization to bring the plans to fruition.  Financing involved a blend of private equity, public funds, and conventional bank financing.  The project is a model for the redevelopment of a strategically located site within formerly heavily industrialized neighborhoods into a livable mixed-use community.

The City has focused its housing preservation and development efforts on low-income communities to ensure that the housing stock there is preserved, to encourage homeownership and mixed income development, to redevelop derelict land, and to encourage job creation. 

The 2005 Phoenix Award winners represent outstanding brownfield projects from each of the 10 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions.  EPA Region 2 covers New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.