Source: http://patch.com, May 12, 2016
By: Vincent Salzo

Crews began the excavation and removal of contaminated soil to pave the way for The Haven outlet mall development project.

WEST HAVEN, CT — Crews from a Bloomfield remediation, engineering and development company have launched the highly anticipated environmental cleanup of 105 Water Street and 16 Elm Street to pave the way for The Haven outlet mall development.
On May 9, two excavators and a skid steer from Red Technologies LLC began the excavation and removal of contaminated soil that crews will replace with clean fill over the next few months, city Planning and Development Commissioner Joseph A. Riccio Jr. said.
The cleanup will prepare the 4.13-acre Water Street property, formerly the Connecticut Refining Co., and the 1.45-acre Elm Street property, an old waste oil processing facility, for the $200 million development proposed by The Haven Group LLC of Dallas.
“This is an exciting day for West Haven,” Mayor Edward M. O’Brien said. “This environmental phase will usher in the country’s premier waterfront, luxury retail outlet center.”
The remediation project, administered by Riccio’s department, was awarded on Feb. 11 to low bidder Red Technologies, which submitted a bid of $1.34 million.
The city is financing the cleanup with a $2 million brownfield grant it received in 2014 from the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
The work calls for removing 7,000 tons of contaminated soil, or 320 truckloads, and replenishing the sites with 23,000 tons of structural fill that will raise the grade by an average of 2 feet, said the cleanup’s project manager, Darrick Jones, a licensed environmental professional at environmental engineering specialist Leggette, Brashears & Graham Inc. of Shelton.
Jones said the work also calls for the demolition and removal of subsurface structures, including remnants of building and oil tank foundations.
The city awarded an $111,000 contract to LBG in early 2015 to oversee the cleanup, which was approved by DECD and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Riccio said LBG developed the scope of work for the sites and secured local and state permits for the remediation.
To ensure that it complies with environmental laws, the company will monitor the cleanup by taking soil samples.
At a special meeting June 10, 2015, the City Council unanimously approved the land disposition agreement selling the Water Street parcel on New Haven Harbor to The Haven Group for $901,000.
The sale of the city-owned Elm Street parcel to The Haven Group is pending, Riccio said.
Developers Sheldon M. Gordon and Ty Miller are preparing to build dozens of high-end retail shops, a 200-seat amphitheater, seven restaurants and a waterfront promenade in the 24-acre Water Street project area, which comprises 55 properties bordered by Main Street, First Avenue and Elm Street.
Negotiations are moving forward between The Haven Group and the owners of the three remaining properties.
Phase one of the two-phase, 347,826-square-foot development, known as The Haven South, is expected to feature 60 upscale outlet stores and encompass 250,000 square feet.
The project is poised to create hundreds of full- and part-time jobs, as well as hundreds of construction jobs, and generate $2 million in annual property tax revenue for the city.
The state House and Senate last year approved Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s request to provide up to $30 million in tax increment financing, or TIF, with bonds the developers will pay back through the more than $15 million in incremental sales tax the project produces.
The Haven Group has spent $15 million so far on the privately financed development, which is expected to make West Haven a major destination in the Northeast, much like in its heyday of Savin Rock Park. The former amusement hub was the city’s main shoreline attraction and economic resource for decades until its demise in 1966.