Source: http://www.buffalonews.com, November 9, 2015
By: T.J. Pignataro
The environmental cleanup of the former Central Park Plaza in Buffalo has been completed, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.
Crews removed enough contaminated soil and material from the 27-acre brownfield site to fill one-third of an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
Heavy metals such as arsenic and chromium, as well as known or suspected carcinogens, were removed from the soil.
The cleanup clears the way for construction of a proposed $70 million Highland Park Village.
A three-phase LPCiminelli project – hailed last April as a “neighborhood transformation” – calls for building nearly 800 apartments, walk-ups and townhomes and restoring the neighborhood back to the character – and Highland Park name – it enjoyed in Buffalo’s early days as a city.
“The applicant has submitted a draft final engineering report for DEC review which states that cleanup requirements have been or will be achieved to fully protect public health and the environment for the proposed site use,” the DEC reported.
In all, 1,140 cubic yards of hazardous materials were taken from five hot-spot areas on the site at 129 Holden St. and disposed of in a permitted landfill, according to a DEC fact sheet on the cleanup.
Reports state that some residual contamination remains on site below cleanup thresholds.
However, the entire site was covered with clean soil at least 2 feet deep.
So as far as state environmental officials are concerned, that’s sufficient to ensure the safety of site for housing.
“Since some contaminated soils remain at the site below concrete or clean backfill, people will not come in contact with contaminated soils unless they dig below the surface materials,” according to the DEC’s site health assessment.
“People are not drinking the groundwater because the area is served by a public water supply that is not impacted by the site.”
In September, the city Planning Board approved a subdivision plan for the project.
The site’s original Highland Park neighborhood gave way to limestone quarrying by a cement company around the turn of the 20th century.
The quarry lasted until after World War II.
Then, the Central Park Plaza was developed at the site in 1958.
The last stores in the asphalt-laden shopping plaza closed in 2011.
Several tenants at the plaza prompted DEC concern, including “a photo mart, laundromats, an automatic car wash, a dry cleaner and a chop shop” that could have left contamination behind in addition to the historical legacy of the limestone and cement business, the agency reported.
In recent years, buildings were demolished and the parking lot was excavated to allow for the redevelopment.