The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it had developed a nearly $40 million plan for cleanup of a radioactively contaminated site in Queen, N.Y.
From about 1920 to 1954, the Wolff-Alport Chemical Co. retrieved rare earth minerals via processing of monazite sand, a process that produced radioactive waste that the company through 1947 dumped into the sewer system or onto its property, according to an EPA press release.
The site today, along Queens’ border with Brooklyn, encompasses six parcels of land with five buildings that house a number of businesses, along with office and warehouse space. Surveys by EPA and New York City and state found waste and radioactive contamination spread through the site, as well as below nearby sidewalks and roadways and in sewers.
After a series of interim steps to protect locals against potential exposure, at a cost of $3.5 million, the agency said it had established an estimated $39.4 million remediation plan encompassing: moving five commercial businesses offices off-site; demolishing all contaminated buildings; remediating and replacing radioactively contaminated sewers; and digging, removing, and disposing of what is expected to be 24,300 cubic yards of contaminated soil, sediment, and debris.
The agency is taking comments on the proposed plan through Aug. 28. Comments can be sent to Thomas Mongelli, remedial project manager, U.S. EPA, 290 Broadway, 20th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10007; or at [email protected].
