What Does the Village Own?
The Village owns the two parks just south of Harvest on Hudson: MacEachron Park and Kinnally Cove, parcels 4 and 5 on the map. But… aside from our roads, the Village owns NOTHING else—certainly not that expanse of broken pavement we are talking about.
What People Usually Mean by “The Waterfront”
Looking towards the River from the train platform, the broken pavement in front of you with the water tower is owned by Atlantic Richfield (ARCO)—parcels 7-10 on the map—and ARCO is owned by British Petroleum (BP). Parcel 11 to the south is owned by an Argent Ventures LLC – they also own the air rights over Grand Central Terminal. Parcel 12 is owned by a Broadway Stages LLC—they also own a number of sound stages in the metropolitan area. These parcels 7-12 are the ones people generally think of when they talk about “the Waterfront”.
The rest of the parcels are of course also part of “the Waterfront”, but their current state and use are clear:
The “underwater land” cannot be developed.
Tower Ridge Yacht Club owns the northern marina (parcel 2).
River Road LLC owns Harvest on Hudson (parcel 3).
The Village owns MacEachron Park and Kinnally Cove (parcels 4 & 5, respectively).
The Tennis Club owns the bubbles to the south and structures between (parcel 6).
ARCO’s Property: A Timeline
Their site was polluted by Anaconda Copper Mining Company and ARCO (Atlantic Richfield) became responsible for it when they acquired Anaconda in 1977.
Anaconda produced fireproof electrical cable for our US Naval vessels during World War II, but unfortunately, the chemical used to achieve that fireproofing--PCB’s, or Polychlorinated Biphenyls—are toxic to both animals and humans. The plant was finally shuttered in 1975, but the PCBs still remain. As Mayor Swiderski once said, “We can boast unique varieties of PCBs not found anywhere else in the county.” You can read more about the history of the waterfront here and here.
Riverkeeper started investigating Anaconda in 1969 and then filed a lawsuit with the Village against ARCO in 1994 to force the clean-up. This lawsuit was settled in 2003 and memorialized in the Consent Decree, which you can read here.
What’s the Hold-Up with the Clean-Up: 4 Reasons
A number of factors have gotten in the way of the clean-up.
1. As ARCO began developing the clean-up plan, they discovered that the PCB’s had actually spread further offsite than originally believed.
There is a large plume under the riverbed at the northwest corner, and there are also “hot spots” deep below the river bottom as far north as Kinnally Cove. To be clear, they are deep, and the Department of Health does not consider them a risk.
2. While the clean-up is court-ordered, it’s also phenomenally expensive, and ARCO would like to make certain that they have a buyer when they are done.
The site is a great location with amazing views, but there is still a dollar value at which development no longer makes sense.
3. Until very recently, the Village has not been happy with ARCO’s shoreline concepts.
In the last year, though, ARCO has made significant breakthroughs and progress that we believe many in the Village will be excited about. We are encouraging ARCO to present these to the Village as soon as they are ready.
4. Finally, because the most toxic of the PCB’s will be transported offsite, ARCO needs EPA approval under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). While the site is not an EPA Superfund Site, the plan is before the EPA for TSCA review now, but they have not given any sense of when they will make a determination.
What About the Two Parcels at the Southern End?
The two parcels to the south of ARCO’s properties are part of the former Tappan Terminal site, about 14 acres together. Zinsser Chemical operated a plant there until 1955. Parcel 11, closer to the tracks, was subsequently used by the Uhlich Color Company, a paint and dye manufacturer—it is now owned by Argent Ventures. Parcel 12 on the southwestern corner – now owned by Broadway Stages--was ExxonMobil’s petroleum distribution terminal: the two cylindrical islands offshore are “dolphins”, or mooring structures for large deep-water petroleum vessels that used to make port there.
These southern two parcels 11 and 12 have been cleaned up and approved by the DEC for redevelopment: you can see the Certificates of Completion and read about what had to be done here. They are green in the aerial because they were covered with topsoil in the clean-up and are now a wilderness home to many migratory birds. They are not currently accessible as the southern bridge needs to be rebuilt and ARCO cannot grant access through their site until they’ve finished their clean-up.
The Good News: What ARCO is Doing Now
1. ARCO is conducting a pilot study in Kinnally Cove of an environmental product called EcoSpears.
These are passive “spears” that are driven into the Cove bottom to test whether they can extract sufficient PCB’s from the mud to eliminate the need for dredging. If they end up having to dredge, the Department of Environmental Conservation (the DEC—our State equivalent of the Federal EPA) will require that we cap the cove and we will never be able to dredge it again. It will likely then silt up and become unusable.
2. ARCO hired a landscape design firm, Great Ecology, with deep experience in remediating brownfield sites, to help finally design a shoreline park we can all get excited about.
3. ARCO also donated $3 million to the Village to renovate MacEachron Park. You can see the preliminary plans for that here.
More Good News: The Village Response
1. With ARCO’s $3 million, we are raising MacEachron Park roughly two feet so that it can better withstand the higher tides we’ve been experiencing.
2. We will rebuild the retaining walls facing Kinnally Cove.
3. We will add a new kayak launch from the southwest corner of the Park.
Thank you for reading, and if you have questions, please reach out to me at Morgen@FleisigForHastings.com. I’ll do my best to respond quickly and clearly.
