Rivertowns Real Estate News

According to the Hudson Riverkeeper, the current plan proposed by the Department of Environmental Conservation to clean up the General Motors (GM) site in Sleepy Hollow NY, as well as the Hudson River waters directly adjacent to the abandoned factory property is deficient and the public should get involved before it is too late and the plan is approved and finalized. The possibility exists under the proposed plan that much of the contamination from the manufacturing of cars there for 82 years could remain in place. An important meeting on the subject will be held this coming Thursday March 22 at 7PM at the Village of Sleepy Hollow Senior Center, 55 Elm Street The public is encouraged to attend.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8676.html
The 100 acre site is predominantly a man-made piece of property created using fill, in the area that once consisted of Pocantico Bay and the beginning of the Pocantico River. At one time the entire area was a navigable body of water allowing access by Hudson River sloop all the way up the Pocantico River to the current grist mill restoration, operated by Historic Hudson Valley. The soil used to create the filled in area has become contaminated over the years by toxic heavy metals, solvents and petroleum as has the soil vapor, groundwater and Hudson River sediment. The DEC proposes to simply cap the contaminated areas and dredge a small portion of the Hudson, which would do little to restore the site to the situation most closely resembling the conditions that existed before industrialized uses began occupancy. Capping a brownfield site does nothing to stop the leaching of the contaminants into the Hudson River or other nearby properties. It also runs counter to the current Clean Water Act which seeks to, at some point, make Hudson River fish safe for human consumption and make the Hudson River once again the viable commercial fishing and recreation resource it once was.
For more information on the Hudson Riverkeeper stance see: http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/river-ecology/waterfront-development-review/gm-redevelopment/

Also see:
https://dobbsferry-rivertowns.com/2011/08/10/96-waterfront-acres-available-in-sleepy-hollow/
and:
https://dobbsferry-rivertowns.com/2011/11/28/sleepy-hollow-set-for-mercury-cleanup/

Filed under: Local News, Real Estate | Tagged: brownfield, Clean Water Act, GM, Hudson Riverkeeper, Pocantico Bay, Scott Rosasco, Sleepy Hollow |