Amazon warehouse site 'not a significant threat' to health, state says

The Syosset property where Amazon plans to open a warehouse doesn’t pose a threat to the environment or public health despite pollution from decades of manufacturing on the site, state officials said.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of Health have been examining the former Cerro Wire property as part of their review of the cleanup plan put forward by property owner, Syosset Park Development LLC. The $72 million warehouse project cannot move forward without the cleanup plan winning state approval.

"The property is not a significant threat to public health or the environment," said DEC project manager Kerry Maloney. Metals found in the soil "are not impacting groundwater, and drinking water comes from a different aquifer," she said.

Maloney and other state officials took questions on Wednesday from Nassau County residents during a 90-minute virtual public meeting. Much of the discussion was about Syosset Park’s $6.7 million plan to remove additional contaminants over 10 months. Then, the developer would build the warehouse, parking lots and sidewalks and place clean soil around them for landscaping plants.

Copper and petroleum chemicals are the primary pollutants, and Maloney said they would be removed to a greater degree by the developers’ plan than previous cleanups. Cyanide is in the soil but "is not a concern on this site," she added.

Air monitoring devices would be placed around the perimeter of the Cerro Wire site during construction. They would sound an alarm when pollutants are released into the air and construction activity would stop, Maloney said, adding the devices would be watched by an environmental expert hired by Syosset Park.

The officials' remarks were greeted with hostility and skepticism by residents at Wednesday’s meeting.

Sean McCaffery, who said he attended the nearby school, blamed the contaminated soil for cancer deaths among homeowners. The adjacent landfill was capped by Oyster Bay, he said, "but people are still dying. … The developers are proposing a cap, and I don’t think it will work."

Runey Ghosh, a specialist in the health department’s Bureau of Environmental Exposure, responded: "Overall the [Syosset Park] remedy would be protective of the public health. There would be an extensive cover system, community air monitoring and public [drinking] water won’t be effected."

Last week, a Town of Oyster Bay panel approved the construction plan for the 203,000-square-foot warehouse, which Amazon would rent to make "last-mile" deliveries to customers. The only town action still to come is the issuing building permits, according to a town spokesman.

Amazon would hire 150 warehouse workers, with managers earning $60,000 per year and package handlers at least $15 per hour. Additional jobs would be created by the independent transportation companies whose van drivers would pick up packages from the warehouse for delivery.

On Wednesday, Syosset resident Kevin McKenna, who has declared his candidacy for Oyster Bay supervisor, said he and other residents want "a full remediation" of the site, making it clean enough where houses could be built. "Amazon has the money to fully remediate the property," he said.

Syosset Park has estimated it would take $137 million and 4 1/2 years "to clean the property for unrestricted use," including houses and playgrounds.

The DEC’s Maloney said on Thursday the cleanup plan preferred by Syosset Park meets a higher standard than what’s required for a warehouse project. She said public comments about the plan will be accepted until Feb. 10 and may be emailed to her at kerry.maloney@dec.ny.gov.

"We will review all the public comments. … No decision has been made as of now," Maloney said.

An earlier version of this story had an incorrect time frame for Syosset Park's estimate of the time needed to clean up the site for unrestricted use.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.