CCE IN THE NEWS

Source: The Journal News

Cleanup underway at Davids Island in New Rochelle, but site's future uncertain

May 5, 2008

NEW ROCHELLE - Years ago, Stuart Gross pitched an idea to put wind turbines off the city's shores on Davids Island.

It didn't catch on.

"Now it's a different world," Gross said recently of the possibilities there. "Energy is a big problem."

City Councilman Louis Trangucci has another suggestion for the site: a par-3 golf course with restaurants and other amenities.

As the city continues its plans to clean up the roughly 80-acre island a quarter mile off its coast, there's no shortage of ideas.

The reality, though, is that its future is far from known.

Davids Island was once home to Fort Slocum, a former base for the Army from the Civil War, and later the Air Force, until its deactivation in 1965. Now talk revolves around such uses as a public park, marinas, military museum, commercial development or some combination.

But the once-vibrant military base that was home to many GIs and a missile defense system must first be cleaned up in preparation for any potential development, said Jeffrey Coleman, commissioner of New Rochelle's Department of Public Works. That includes demolishing the remaining buildings there, including the water tower, and "getting rid of the environmental hazards," he said.

"The next step is to come up with a plan for cleanup," Coleman said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, Army Corps of Engineers, the city and Westchester County are in the midst of a site investigation to determine what hazards exist on the property. Millions in federal and state funds have also been committed.

A feasibility study that will show different options should be finished by fall, said Wendy Rosenbach, spokeswoman for DEC, which is overseeing the cleanup and paying for up to 90 percent of its costs.

"Right now, they're only in the investigation stage," she said. "Hopefully, in the next few months, they'll put out a feasibility study for alternatives."

That could include excavating contaminated soils or placing an impermeable cap on some areas of the island, said Lee Haymon, a geologist and lead site investigator with Tetra Tech, a consulting firm working on the project.

"We're leaning towards excavation, getting the stuff off the island," Haymon said. "Parts of the island are pretty bad, but other parts are pretty good."

An initial investigation last year found concentrations of pesticides, metals, PCBs and PAHs, carcinogens formed by the remnants of coal, diesel, tobacco, fat and other fuels. Subsequent findings completed last month show there are several fuel storage tanks, sanitary sewers systems, munitions storage and landfill areas that are up to 15 feet thick in some places. Those also need to be addressed.

Over the next few months, scientists will investigate shore sediments, wetlands and conduct a fish and wildlife impact analysis, Haymon said.

A reporter from The Journal News recently joined city officials and the three newest City Council members - Albert Tarantino, Trangucci and Richard St. Paul - on a tour of the island.

Parts of the island looked like a set from the movie "Saving Private Ryan," with half-standing buildings that were missing windows and roofs.

Crews, trucks and bulldozers peppered the landscape, working and conducting tests. Debris piles were strewn about and sections of the island cordoned off.

At the same time, Mother Nature reclaimed some of the land. Trees and vines grew wild in areas and an osprey and ducks were visible in the air and surrounding waters.

For Tarantino, it was his first visit since the late 1960s when he came to the island for its famed parades.

"It was a vibrant island. It certainly didn't look like this," Tarantino said. "We're looking at an area, it looks more like a war zone than a military base."

Now, he says the city should reconsider its plan to tear down all the remaining buildings.

"I would like to see the city make an attempt to try to save, if not one of the buildings, a few of these buildings so that future generations will be able to see things we've been able to see here," he said.

The City Council in December unanimously approved demolishing the buildings, saying saving them was neither practical nor cost effective.

"I wish it were possible," Mayor Noam Bramson said.

The mayor said there are "no specific plans" for the island and the council would eventually have to figure out its future. "Personally, (I think) open space and public access should be part of any plan of action for Davids Island," Bramson said.

Although Citizens Campaign for the Environment has no position on the fate of the buildings, Emmett Pepper, the Hudson Valley director for the group, said the island's cleanup appeared to be on tracK.

"It seems that the DEC is doing their job," Pepper said. "I think they're doing exactly what they're supposed to."