4 APRIL 19, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Holden plants red fl ag at lead-contaminated site
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Just off the sidewalk on 69th Street
near its intersection with Juniper
Valley Road and 69th Place, Councilman
Robert Holden beckoned to
one of his staff members to hand him
something as his press conference was
coming to a close.
The object he was looking for went
unnoticed until now, blending in as
a possible material from the waste
transfer site along the street. When it
entered his grasp, the shiny silver pole
stood taller than the councilman, and a
large red fl ag spread wide as the wind
caught it. With a swift clink, Holden
planted it by his side.
“We’ll plant this in the ground as a
red fl ag for what this project is about
and where it’s gone,” Holden said.
The project in question is a sewer
reconstruction on Penelope Avenue
and nearby cross streets just south of
Juniper Valley Park, where work has
been halted since December 2017 with
no explanation. The project was 75
percent complete before work stopped
on 74th Street between Juniper Boulevard
South and Juniper Valley Road,
Holden said.
When Holden recently met with the
Department of Design and Construction
(DDC) to fi nd out why, he called
an emergency press conference on
April 17 to alert the public of what he
discovered.
The contractor for the sewer project,
CAC Industries, was originally supposed
to take the soil dug up during
the project to another fi ll yard, but it
was turned away when tests showed
it was contaminated with dangerously
high amounts of lead, according to
Holden. CAC then started dumping the
soil at the 69th Street site, where large
mounds of it sat uncovered for months
merely 50 yards away from P.S./I.S. 128.
The DDC also told Holden that the
project might have to be re-bid to fi nd
a new contractor.
“We’re concerned on a number of
levels,” Holden said during the press
conference. “We’re concerned for our
children. We’re concerned for the
neighborhood. I’ve gotten complaints
from the people over here with the
amount of dust.”
Holden is now working with
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s offi ce to get the
contaminated soil removed from the
69th Street lot, which is leased by CAC
Industries. The mayor’s offi ce also
told Holden that it will be testing the
air quality in the school, and Holden
is calling for blood tests to check for
lead to be provided to any child whose
parents request it.
The mayor’s offi ce also told Holden
that levels of lead were found in the
water that they are addressing, and
the mayor’s offi ce will also inspect the
construction site.
In a statement released aft er the
press conference, City Hall spokesperson
Olivia Lapeyrolerie said that they
are being overly cautious even though
their test results contradict what the
DDC told Holden.
“This soil has been tested and does
not pose a hazard to students, school
staff or community residents,” Lapeyrolerie
said. “We are safely removing
the soil within the next week out of
an abundance of caution.”
Holden thanked the mayor several
times for giving his full attention to
this issue, but he made it clear that
he is not satisfi ed with those lower
test results. If the contractor knew
that there was lead present and left
the dirt uncovered, Holden said,
“It’s criminal, and to leave it uncovered
across from a school is more
criminal.”
Tony Nunziato, president of the
Juniper Park Civic Association, also
spoke at the press conference to
voice his frustrations and condemn
city agencies for their apparent negligence
that has been evident in many
projects in the area.
“It seems like all the city agencies,
DOT not following up on the bridge on
Fresh Pond Road, making it fail to bad
contractors, we have no oversight,”
Nunziato said. “DDC watching this,
where is the oversight? We are a community.
We’re concerned about our
children, but we’re also concerned
about our seniors and all the people
who live and reside in this county.”
Though the mounds of contaminated
soil are now covered with a clear
plastic sheet, Holden said that only
happened aft er he raised the initial
red fl ag with the DDC, and it does
little good.
The press conference came the day
aft er a heavy rainstorm, and peering
through the fence around the dump
site revealed muddy puddles of
runoff water all around the covered
mounds.
Photo by Ryan Kelley/Ridgewood Times
Councilman Robert Holden plants a red fl ag at a dumping site with contaminated
soil on 69th Street on April 17.
Pet admission center gets mixed reviews at public hearing
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Some concerned residents voiced
their opinions about a proposed
animal intake site in Middle Village
during the April 11 Community Board 5
meeting at Christ the King High School.
The board held a public hearing
about the proposal submitted by the
Department of Health (DOH) to open
a pet admission center operated by
the nonprofi t Animal Care Centers
of NYC (ACC) at 66-78 69th St.
Representatives from the ACC
and DOH began the hearing with
a presentation about the nonprofi t
and a detailed explanation about
the proposal. The 69th Street site
would serve as a replacement for the
current Queens Admission Center in
Rego Park, which is only 750 square
feet. The new space is 1,400 square
feet inside of a three-story building,
with residential units above it and a
deli next door.
The site would serve as a pet admission
center, not a shelter. All of the animals
brought to the facility would be transported
to a full-service shelter at the end
of each day, according to ACC officials.
Aleah Simpson, manager of admissions
and surrender prevention
programs for ACC, said that the main
goal of the proposed move is to add
additional services for Queens such
as a food pantry for pet owners who
struggle to pay for pet food, a vaccine
clinic and dog walking seminars.
The ACC has been operating animal
shelters and intake sites funded by the
city since 1995, and the DOH spokesperson
at the meeting confi rmed that the
department will lease the 69th Street
space from the building’s owner.
The fi rst question asked by Board
5 member Michael O’Kane was about
the euthanasia policy of ACC, one of the
issues about which many people in the
community have expressed concern.
According to Simpson, animals are
euthanized by ACC but it is “truly a
last resort” aft er a thorough exam of
the animal’s condition and behavior.
In 2017, ACC found placement for 93
percent of the animals that came
through its doors, Simpson said.
Alex Silver, community advocacy
and outreach manager for ACC, added
that one of the reasons for some
euthanasia at ACC shelters is the fact
that they have an open admission policy,
meaning that all animals brought
to them will be taken in.
When the attention was turned to
community members who signed
up to speak at the meeting, another
common theme was the desire for a
full-service shelter in Queens. ACC
operates a full-service shelter in Staten
Island, Manhattan and Brooklyn, and
a proposal was recently approved for
a full-service shelter to be established
in the Bronx. Since Queens is the second
most populated borough in the
city, several speakers said a bigger pet
admission center is simply not enough.
Others were more critical of the
plan, and parking issues emerged
as another common complaint. One
speaker suggested that the location’s
close proximity to Christ the King
High School and the M train stop on
Metropolitan Avenue would “create
havoc for the traffi c situation.”
There is a small parking lot next to
the building, and the ACC will have two
dedicated spaces for their vans. Even so,
Walter Sanchez of Board 5’s Land Use
Committee, added that the committee
has “real concerns” about the parking.
Still, others expressed their full
support for the proposal. Ellen Mann,
a representative for the building’s
owner, said they were “very, very excited”
for the admission center to open.
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