What the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) terms as a Remedial Work Plan (RWP) for the construction site on 45 Lumber Rd. has been approved.
Remedial activities, the NYSDEC said, are expected to begin this month and last for “about’ six months as work on constructing residential units in downtown Roslyn continues.
NYSDEC has determined that the Remedial Work Plan (RWP) protects public health and the environment and has approved the plan.
The cleanup activities will be performed by Lumber Road Roslyn, LLC oversight provided by the NYSDEC.
The site, NYSDEC officials said, is approximately 1.26 acres in area. A single-story 5,720-sq.-ft. commercial building and garage was located on the western portion of the property prior to its demolition in June 2022.
Cleanup was deemed necessary when, according to NYSDEC officials, underground gasoline storage tanks were located on the southeast portion of the site. They were removed in 1998.
The remainder of the property includes asphalt paved parking areas and some vegetation, state officials added, Hempstead Harbor borders the property beyond the bulkhead to the east.
The planned site redevelopment is for the construction of one four-story 65,000-sq.-ft. apartment building.
Amenities will include a rooftop pool and deck and a 10,000-sq.-ft. space on the ground floor with a fitness center, business center and game room with a golf simulator. The second, third and fourth stories will be used for residential apartments.
The new development will also have 63 onsite parking spaces for residents.
In June 2022, the old Verizon building at 45 Lumber Rd. was demolished to make way for the construction of a four-story 33-unit residential apartment complex.
The project, according to the Roslyn Landmark Society, will have 27 two-bedroom and six one-bedroom apartments. Six of the units will be priced as workforce apartments for renters earning up to 120 percent of the area median income.
As part of the project, the developer will replace a bulkhead and create a 250-foot promenade that will connect the property with downtown Roslyn.
Meanwhile, the goal of the cleanup action, state officials said, is to achieve cleanup levels that protect public health and the environment.
The key components of the remedy are:
• Excavation and off-site disposal of contaminated soil to a depth of three feet below grade across the entirety of the site, and up to eight feet below grade in the location of former gasoline underground storage tanks (USTs) and other areas exceeding the Soil Cleanup Objectives (SCOs);
• Treatment of contaminated groundwater through enhanced aerobic biodegradation or other methods in the location of the former gasoline USTs and adjacent areas as needed;
• Collect and analyze end-point soil samples and post-remedial groundwater samples to evaluate the effectiveness of the remedy;
• Importing clean material that meets the established unrestricted SCOs for use as backfill;
• If an unrestricted use cleanup is not achieved, placement of a cover system, including a demarcation layer over areas without hardscape (buildings, asphalt, or concrete) to address contamination remaining above unrestricted use SCOs; and
• If an unrestricted use cleanup is not achieved, implementation of a Site Management Plan (SMP) would also be required for long term maintenance of any remedial systems as well as an Environmental Easement to ensure proper use of the site. A site-specific Health and Safety Plan (HASP) and a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) will be implemented during remediation activities.
After Lumber Road LLC completes the cleanup activities, they will prepare a Final Engineering Report (FER) and submit it to NYSDEC.
The FER, state officials added, will describe the cleanup activities completed and certify that cleanup requirements have been achieved or will be achieved. When NYSDEC is satisfied that cleanup requirements have been achieved or will be achieved for the site, it will approve the Final Engineering Report.
NYSDEC will then issue a Certificate of Completion to Lumber Road LLC, which then would be able to redevelop the site in conjunction with receiving the certificate.
Benefits for Lumber Road LLC include eligibility for tax credits to offset the costs of performing cleanup activities and for redevelopment of the site.
In addition, the NYSDEC will issue a fact sheet that describes the content of the Final Engineering Report.
The fact sheet, state officials said, will identify any institutional controls (for example, environmental easements) or engineering controls (for example, a site cover) necessary at the site in relation to the issuance of the Certificate of Completion.
Additional site details, including environmental and health assessment summaries, are available on NYSDEC’s Environmental Site Remediation Database (by entering the site ID, C130246) at: https://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/derexternal/index.cfm ?pageid=3.
The environmental work falls under New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), which encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties known as “brownfields” so that they can be reused and redeveloped. These uses include recreation, housing, business, or other uses. A brownfield site, NYSDEC officials said, is “any real property where a contaminant is present at levels exceeding the soil cleanup objectives or other health-based or environmental standards, criteria or guidance adopted by NYSDEC that are applicable based on the reasonably anticipated use of the property, in accordance with applicable regulations.”
For more information about the BCP, visit: https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8450.html.
—Information provided by The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
