Sag Harbor condo plan raises new concerns about toxic contamination at site

A toxic plume linked to utility operations a century ago has reared its head again in downtown Sag Harbor as a developer advances a plan to demolish buildings, remove contamination and erect a 48-unit condo complex on an adjacent 1-acre site.

The plan, under review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation and several village agencies, faces sharp headwinds as Suffolk County this week vowed new tests in Sag Harbor to determine that plume's full scope and local preservation groups worry about disturbing buried toxins and the character of the neighborhood. 

"We want to address these concerns before anything else happens there," Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said Tuesday about the Sag Harbor site. "We'll be out there testing groundwater and drinking wells to determine the extent of that problem." 

One group long opposed to the development said toxins raise new concerns. 

"We’ve been opposed to this development scheme for reasons entirely separate from the environmental issues" for years, said Peter Ginna, a board member of Save Sag Harbor, a preservation group that sued the village to block a zoning change needed for the project. "It’s the kind of thing the village doesn’t need ... and the environmental issues are obviously a huge problem."

The DEC, which oversaw the voluntary cleanup of the adjacent site by National Grid more than a decade ago, has put a remediation plan out for public comment and in advance of a public meeting in the village on Aug. 27 to discuss the findings and take feedback. 

Developer Adam Potter has sought for four years to build the project, which includes just under half its residences billed as affordable housing. In an interview, Potter said the new building will fit right in, will facilitate removal of toxins and provide less costly homes for people who live in the village. 

"We're doing more than the requirement as it is," he said of his proposed cleanup. "We'll be taking every precaution to ensure public safety." He noted the three-floor residential building fits in with those around it, and has a brick and blue-trim design similar to the police station and hardware store. "It does work within the neighborhood of Sag Harbor," he said. 

Potter has a 99-year lease with National Grid on the adjacent parking lot next to his proposed condos, a lot the village is subleasing for three years. He's closed it for unspecified "safety issues" unrelated to the toxins, he said. 

DEC reports show a long list of toxins, including PFAS forever chemicals "across the entire footprint of the site," which is now home to retail shops and a house. Tests to determine the extent of the contamination were commissioned by Potter, conducted by a firm he hired, filed with the DEC and are the basis of the state's report, Potter said. The site is part of the DEC's Brownfield Cleanup Program, which "encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties." Documents relating to the site can be found on the DEC's website. 

Among the known contaminants: petroleum-related and chlorinated volatile organic compounds, historic fill ash-related semiorganic volatile compounds, and arsenic metals in soil; volatile organic compounds and semiorganic volatile compounds in groundwater; and "a number" of petroleum chlorinate volatile organic compounds in soil vapor, according to a DEC fact sheet. 

Potter said National Grid will pay for the cleanup, which could cost up to $10 million.

National Grid, in a statement, declined to say whether or not it would pay the costs, but did say it was "committed to addressing MGP impacts from its former operations that may be encountered during the proposed development" of the condo complex.

National Grid spokeswoman Wendy Frigeria noted the remedial investigation of the proposed development found "both MGP impacts and non-MGP impacts to be addressed by the developer."

Asked if any toxins have been detected at National Grid’s prior cleanup site, Frigeria said that property "remains protective of public health and the environment."

Potter's plan includes excavation and removal of about 15 feet of soil and toxic groundwater, after demolishing the retail building and a home at 11 and 7 Bridge St. He said the parking lot of 11 Bridge St. had already been remediated. The retail complex is now home to a sewing shop, an exercise spa and a nail salon, all Potter's tenants. A woman who gave her name only as Caterina, runs the nail salon and lives in the house, said she was aware of the toxic plume which "a lot of local people are talking about." Potter said he's supported her and other Ukrainian refugees from Russia's war on the country.

The two structures and a garage on Bridge Street behind Main Street in the village are directly adjacent to a site that once manufactured vaporized gas for lighting and heating by boiling coal in liquid fuel — leaving a toxic legacy of coal tar 60 feet below the surface, Newsday has reported. A cleanup completed by National Grid in 2014 removed the top layer of contaminants to a depth of 15 feet, plus millions of gallons of wastewater, and placed restrictions on the property, including that residents couldn’t plant vegetable gardens or landscape below 24 inches.

The state also reported that "several [volatile organic compound] constituents associated with former manufactured gas plant operations and chlorinated solvents were detected in soil vapor and indoor air at the site."

Potter said while toxins may remain to a depth of 60 feet below the adjacent National Grid site, his own tests on the plume under his properties show toxins extend to only 15 feet.

One expert said the state's decision to allow the original remediation plan to leave a legacy of coal tar at the original site could mean problems continue to arise. 

Walter Hang, president of Environmental Health Research Group Inc., an advocacy organization, said leaving toxic sludge in the ground to depths of 60 feet is not the way to clean it up. "Putting people on top of these heavily contaminated sites is just unthinkable," Hang said. "That’s why New York State law is so strict. We recognize after Love Canal people can’t live on toxic property."

Hang said the only safe and lawful solution is for the DEC to require that any owner of the properties keep digging until all toxins are removed, no matter the depth.

But a state official said that despite the findings in reports, public health is not at risk.

Andy Guglielmi, director of environmental remediation at the DEC, said in an interview that based on reports that allowed the site into the state’s Brownfield Cleanup Program, "there weren't any immediate health concerns that jumped off the page at us that we thought had to be dealt with immediately. This site is still in the investigation phase," he noted, as the developer seeks to change zoning on part of it from commercial to residential.

Guglielmi noted generally that investigation reports that detail finding of PFAS in the ground and groundwater are "not unique."

"Unfortunately these contaminants are ubiquitous," he said. "What's more important to us is, are people drinking water that has levels above drinking water standards? That's really critical for us, and is there a source of really elevated PFAS that we need to try and address?"

He noted that neither the DEC nor the state Health Department will issue a certificate of completion allowing the site open for use "until we are shown by an engineer that they have implemented a remedy that addresses all contamination levels that would support multifamily housing."

Village Mayor Thomas Gardella didn’t return calls and emails seeking comment.

Village trustee Aidan Corish, in an email, said Sag Harbor plans to review the developer’s remediation plan and declined to comment further pending the DEC public comment period.

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.