Edition: 1

Section: Local

Page: 2A

Record Number: ith60791477

Copyright (c) The Ithaca Journal. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.

 

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Coal tar cleanup continues through noise, debate

 

Construction quieter; Scouts want building removed

 

By Krisy Gashler

kgashler@gannett.com

 

     

Workers bore holes in the ground Tuesday afternoon in a line parallel to North Plain Street on the former site of Ithaca City School District maintenance department buildings as part of coal tar remediation work. In the background is the historically designated Markles Flats building. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photo)

 

January 7, 2009

 

ITHACA — Work is moving forward at the Court Street coal tar cleanup, with the maintenance buildings demolished and new noise reduction measures enabling sheet pile driving to continue. 

     Work on the site began last fall, but installation of 54-foot-long sheet piling into the ground around the site was delayed when parents and neighbors complained about the loud operation.

     Sheet pile driving is expected to go until early March, NYSEG spokesman Clayton Ellis said by e-mail.

     Beverly J. Martin Elementary School sits just south of the Court Street block, and Beverly J. Martin PTA President Cynthia Brock said the initial sheet piling was so loud that NYSEG halted it almost immediately.

     Although the new method is still loud, "the noise level has come closer to reasonable levels," Brock said.

     "NYSEG has been very responsive to the concerns raised by parents in immediately shutting down the hammering when they discovered that the noise levels were too high," she said. "They suspended their work until they were able to find the replacement hammer."

     New York State Electric and Gas, which is carrying out the removal of carcinogenic coal tar left by its predecessor's manufactured gas operation, brought in a new, quieter hammer, increased the amount of pre-drilling it does so sheets will go in more easily, and constructed an additional shroud to block noise, according to a fact sheet provided by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation.

     Once the sheet piling is all installed, neighbors will see a large, temporary fabric go up over one of six cells where soil will be removed, Ellis said. The structure will include a ventilation system to pull potentially contaminated air out and through a carbon filtration system before it's released into the atmosphere, he said.

     Meanwhile, neighborhood pressure to tear down the historic Markles Flats building continues to mount, with children in the BJM Brownie Girl Scout Troop 758 delivering a letter to Mayor Carolyn Peterson this week asking that the city allow the building to come down because "children are more important than buildings."

     The Markles Flats building, the only building still standing on the west side of the Court Street block, was granted a historic designation by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1978 because it was one of the only industrial buildings of its kind in the city.

     When NYSEG asked for permission to demolish the building to remove the coal tar beneath it, the landmarks commission denied the request, saying the building should either be moved or propped up so that all the coal tar could be removed, while still preserving the building.

     The DEC determined that the building was not structurally sound enough to endure such an operation and decided that the public and the environment would be protected if NYSEG instead installed sheet piling around the building, pumped out as much coal tar as possible, and installed venting systems inside the building.

     City officials, including Peterson, have disputed the DEC's determination of the building's structural stability and continue to argue for moving the building, though there's no indication of who would pay for such a procedure, since the DEC is not requiring NYSEG to do it.

     Now the Ithaca City School District, the building's owner, has requested permission to demolish Markles Flats. They'll go before the landmarks commission 7 p.m. Jan. 14.

     "We know that it is hard to think about tearing down a building that you like," the Brownies wrote in their letter to Peterson. "We already miss the paintings that were on the part that is gone. But please help make sure that all of the bad stuff is taken away, even if they have to tear down the old building. Children are more important than buildings."

     Troop co-leaders Melody Young and Janis Kelly accompanied the girls to City Hall Monday to deliver the letter to the Mayor's office, Kelly said.

 

Ithaca Journal,  January 7, 2009.  Accessed 1/8/09 from http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009901070320

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Ithaca Journal Editorial  December 2, 2008

 

Markles Flats: City law needs to be changed

  

         While parents at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School organize to help the fight to take the toxic Markles Flats building down with a petition, the city needs to focus its efforts on changing the woefully outdated Landmarks Preservation law so the community can be protected in the future.

         As it stands now, the Landmarks Preservation Law only allows appeals to have historically designated buildings be demolished for economic hardship, not health and safety issues. Because that law is missing a key component — that appeals should be allowed for health and safety concerns — the Landmarks Preservation board should change it immediately.

         No law should trump the rights of the community in terms of health and safety. We would not let historic, yet polluted, Ithaca Gun remain standing, nor should we allow coal-tar-plagued Markles Flats to stand when it poses a danger to the community. We can't say it any better than BJM parent Cynthia Brock said recently: “I really don't believe that any building should be put ahead of the needs to preserve the health, safety and welfare of the community.”

         The community is lucky to have a historic building such as Markles Flats in its midst. However, the fact that unhealthy coal tar remains underneath it and NYSEG would rather have the building demolished so a full cleanup can take place underscores the need for that building to come down. NYSEG tried to navigate the proper legal channels so it could tear the building down, but it was denied because of an inherently unfair law that protects a building, not people's health. It is time for the city to fix the law and ensure a proper and full cleanup takes place.

  

Ithaca Journal Editorial,  December 2, 2008. 

Accessed 12/2/08 from http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812020311

 

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Parents petition for Markles Flats demolition  

The exterior of the Markles Flats cleanup site, on Court Street between Albany and Plain streets. (JOE BELL / Staff Photo)

 

By Krisy Gashler • Staff Writer • November 29, 2008

 

 

ITHACA — A group of Beverly J. Martin Elementary School parents have organized a petition asking the city to allow the Markles Flats building to be torn down.

Markles Flats sits on the Court Street block north of BJM, where New York State Electric and Gas is in the midst of a massive effort to remove carcinogenic coal tar left by its predecessor.

All of the buildings on the west side of the block will be torn down to facilitate NYSEG's effort, except for the Markles Flats building, which is protected by a city historic preservation designation granted in 1978. 

BJM parent Cynthia Brock, one of the petition organizers, said she believes Markles Flats should come down in order for NYSEG to remove rather than contain remaining coal tar.

“Had this building been any place else, I would very strongly agree that this is a historic building that has a lot of value. However, given the fact that it is situated on a toxic site, given the fact that regardless of that designation, it is unlikely that future investors or the current owner, would want to take on the responsibility and liability of that site, I don't believe it will receive the rehabilitation that would allow it to be something that adds to the economic and cultural vitality of the community,” she said.

The Ithaca City School District owns Markles Flats and last month began the process to appeal the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission's protection of the building. The appeal is expected to come before the commission in January.

Alphonse Pieper, chairman of the landmarks commission, declined to comment on the Markles Flats designation, the BJM parents' petition, or the school district's appeal.

“We'll be reviewing the application,” Pieper said. “I can't talk about the details because it's an application coming before us, and there is a procedure that allows for public comment.”

According to the city's Landmarks Preservation law, economic hardship is the only ground on which a property owner can appeal to have an historically designated building demolished — there is no consideration in the law for health and safety issues, another concern for the BJM parents.

“I find that very short-sighted,” Brock said. “I really don't believe that any building should be put ahead of the needs to preserve the health, safety, and welfare of a community.”

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has approved NYSEG's plan to pump out as much coal tar as possible from beneath Markles Flats and then install sheet piling around the building and air pumps inside it.

“The cleanup currently being implemented will be effective at preventing the public's exposure to contamination, or else DEC would not have approved that option,” said Maureen Wren, a DEC spokeswoman. “NYSEG is required to address the contamination at the site and this plan fulfills that requirement.”

DEC officials have repeatedly stated, however, that their first choice is to have Markles Flats demolished and all the coal tar removed. When the Landmarks Preservation Commission denied an earlier appeal by NYSEG to demolish the building, the DEC examined the options and decided on the sheet piling.

Leslie Chatterton, historic preservation planner for the city, said that when the landmarks commission denied NYSEG's appeal, they asked that the building be moved, temporarily or permanently, or supported so that all the coal tar could be dug out underneath, and then set back down.

The DEC's decision to allow encapsulation of the coal tar was never what the commission wanted, she said.

“The commission didn't have a way to say, ‘No, wait, that's not what we said. That's not what you presented to us,' ” Chatterton said.

Wren responded that the DEC's decision was based on safety for people and the environment, and “also gave significant consideration to the current condition of the building and the impacts two moves, or other alternatives, could potentially do to the integrity of the structure and future use.”

A November 2007 explanation of the DEC's decision, provided by Wren, notes concern about structural integrity, and states that other alternatives would also take longer and be more disruptive to the neighborhood.

NYSEG is required to maintain monitoring in the Markles Flats building, but for BJM parent Stiller Zusman, leaving any coal tar there, when the community has the opportunity to have it all removed, is “crazy.”

“Right now, this community is under a lot of duress to get this site all cleaned up. We have this construction site, we have drilling going on, our houses are shaking, and we're willing to put up with it and it's okay because we really do want that site cleaned up,” Zusman said. “Why do half the job at this point?”

“We are dealing with a mess that was left there by our city's grandparents,” Brock said. “And at the end of this, we are still leaving a mess for our community's grandchildren who will continue to have to remediate the site when our current actions begin to fail. Because they will fail. Pilings will not exist underground in perpetuity.” 

 

kgashler@gannett.com

 

Ithaca Journal,  November 29, 2008.  Accessed 12/5/08 from http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811290312

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October 23, 2008

 

ICSD challenges historic designation: Coal tar an issue at Markles Flats 

 

Employees of Sevenson Environmental Services unload a hydraulic power pack for a hydraulic hammer unit used to install sheet piling Wednesday at the Markles Flats site where they will be cleaning up coal tar. At the left in the background is the building that is designated by the City of Ithaca as historic and that the Ithaca City School District is again asking to demolish. (SIMON WHEELER / Staff Photographer)

 

By Krisy Gashler

Staff Writer

 

ITHACA — With work to remove carcinogenic coal tar from Court Street already under way, the Ithaca City School District has decided to formally challenge the historic preservation designation protecting Markles Flats.

“If the city wants responsibility for it and the liability going into the future, then the city can take that on,” Superintendent Judith Pastel said. “But I don't believe it's appropriate for the school district, and it does concern me that it's not being remediated in the same fashion as the rest of the site.”

New York State Electric and Gas recently began a massive effort to remove cancer-causing coal tar from the block roughly bounded by Court, Plain and Esty streets.

The current plan, approved by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, is to tear down all buildings on the west side of the block except Markles Flats and dig out up to 18 feet of soil to remove the coal tar.

The school district has contracted with the Ithaca law firm of Bond Schoeneck & King to bring their request to the city, Pastel said. 

Markles Flats, or the Old Gas Works building, is the source of much of the coal tar that contaminates the block. The building was used by NYSEG's predecessor until 1927 to convert coal to gas, a process that left behind coal tar.

The Ithaca City School District bought the building in 1964, according to Journal archives, and in the early 1970s turned it into an alternative Junior High School.

The building was designated for historic preservation by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1978.

Historic Preservation Planner Leslie Chatterton said the designation was based on the building's association with Ithaca's early development. Ithaca was one of the earliest Upstate cities to have gas lighting, made possible by Ithaca Gas Works, NYSEG's predecessor, she said. The building also has more architectural detailing than is common for industrial buildings of that era, she said.

According to Journal archives, Markles Flats was constructed in 1899.

The district now uses the ground floor of the building for administrative staff but can't use the second floor because it doesn't meet safety regulations, Pastel said.

Under the city's landmarks preservation law, it is not possible to actually remove a historic designation once it's been granted, Chatterton said. Rather, property owners must prove that keeping a historic building causes them an undue economic hardship, she said.

NYSEG took the city to court three years ago to claim that economic hardship and seek permission to demolish the building. It lost the suit and didn't appeal.

The challenge created contention in the neighborhood between those who favored preserving the historic building and those who wanted to see it come down to enable a more complete coal tar remediation, Washington Street resident Jutta Dotterweich said.

Cayuga Street resident David Kramer said Markles Flats should be preserved.

“Not only is it a unique and irreplaceable piece of Ithaca's history, but in its rough and angular way, it is a genuinely beautiful building. Someday someone with the deep pockets required will rehab it into what it could be, and future generations will be grateful to those who preserved it,” Kramer said. “When we look at pictures of the great historic buildings that have been torn down in Ithaca — to make parking garages, crude commercial buildings, weedy lots — we are bitter at what has been thoughtlessly and needlessly lost, and are inspired to preserve whatever we can.”

Dotterweich said Markles Flats should come down.

“I personally think that it would be more beneficial to take it down and then really clean up underneath it and get all the coal tar out,” she said.

Dotterweich began an e-mail petition asking neighbors to sign on to her request that the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission allow NYSEG to demolish the building.

In the one day since she sent out the e-mail, Dotterweich said she has gotten seven or eight e-mails from neighbors in favor of tearing the building down and only one in favor of keeping it up.

“I personally feel that the building is not worth keeping, especially since it's poorly maintained,” she said.

Pastel said cost of maintenance for a historic building is another reason the district wants the building gone — either demolished or taken over by the city, if they want it. 

Because students are not housed in Markles Flats, renovation costs would be ineligible for state aid, she said.

“The cost to the school district and the taxpayers would be in the millions of dollars to renovate it,” Pastel said.

Chatterton responded that the renovation cost is so high now because the school district hasn't invested in maintenance for the building for many years.

“It could have been maintained so that it wouldn't be such a great cost now, especially since it's been known that it is a historic building,” Chatterton said.

Pastel said she's also concerned about potential future liability to the school district for maintaining or replacing the measures proposed to contain the coal tar beneath Markles Flats.

NYSEG proposes to pump out as much contamination as possible from beneath Markles Flats and drive sheet piling 54 feet into the ground to contain what's left.

The state DEC has approved this plan as protective of human health and the environment, but DEC officials repeatedly note that their first choice would be to remove the Markles Flats building and have NYSEG remediate the entire site.

The sheet piling around Markles Flats has been estimated to last 30 or 50 years before needing replacement, according to Pastel and NYSEG officials respectively.

DEC Spokeswoman Maureen Wren said the DEC doesn't expect the sheet piling to degrade that quickly and that NYSEG will be required to monitor the site to ensure that it remains safe.

At some point, the site may need new sheet pilings, and this could mean more neighborhood and school district disruption and potentially cost in the future, Pastel said.

“My concern is that the school district is going to be here forever and I do not want to leave a problem for a future board (and) community,” Pastel said. “I don't want the district to be put in any kind of position in the future where the taxpayers would be footing a bill.”

Pastel said the district would be submitting its paperwork in November and could go before the Landmarks Preservation Commission by December.

   

Ithaca Journal,  October 23, 2008.  Accessed 12/5/08 from http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081023/NEWS01/810230329

 

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     Two items that as a parent I’m sure you would be concerned about are safety and noise. Work at the site that would involve installing the sheet piles or trucks driving to or from the site will not occur when the students will be walking past the site in the morning and the afternoon. We are taking extra measures to minimize the noise and vibration from installing the sheet piles, including pre-drilling 18 inch diameter holes into the ground and surrounding the operation with acoustic blankets. Vibration and noise will be monitored. A large fabric building will be erected over the area to be excavated to control odors and emissions, which will also be monitored. If emissions reach ½ of the level set by the State as being safe, we will take action to control them, up to and including shutting down the job.

     

     Please feel free to contact me via phone or e-mail if you would like additional information.

 

Thanks,

 

Joseph M. Simone, PE

Manager Environmental Compliance, Team NY

NYSEG

PO Box 5224

18 Link Drive

Binghamton, NY 13902 (packages use 13904)

JMSimone@nyseg.com

607-762-7498 (fax 607-762-8451)

cell 607-427-7498

 

Ithaca Court St. MGP Site, email correspondence 10/27/08 12:12 P.M. 

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           If the school district is going to file a lawsuit, this is a great opportunity to get something done.

I know that in the past the city sided with the landmarks commission, but if enough pressure is

brought, perhaps it can be like the ICSD case last year, where they decided to drop the lawsuit,

or in this case, the city decides not to defend against the lawsuit.

          Does anyone on the listserve know Marty Luster, who I think was the city attorney during the last lawsuit?

Perhaps he would be sympathetic to our cause, and could at least let us know if the mayor or city council

could order that the lawsuit not be defended (or perhaps not authorize the funds to defend it). These

are just some ideas I have had. I am willing to help in anyway, let me know what I can do.

 

Erik Shanton (BJMPTA) listserv, posted 10/22/08 11:01 AM.

 

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ICSD outlines bond choices

Superintendent, board president elaborate on list, priorities for possible Dec. referendum

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/NEWS01/101280011/1014/NEWS17

by Topher Sanders, Journal Staff, September 15, 2006 

              "...The district also faces some interesting issues regarding the Markles Flats building, renovations for which are estimated at $1.5 million. The district uses Markles Flats' first floor to house a large freezer used for the food service program. Markles Flats, located on the corner of Court and Plain streets, is designated by the City of Ithaca as a historical structure, but the school district is responsible for its maintenance.

                “The community has to make a decision,” Lee said. “Is the designation of Markles Flats as a historic building worth it, given the fact that the school district has to pay the bill to renovate it and keep it maintained?”

               Pastel said the building — built in 1899 and used to convert coal to gas until around 1932 — is filled with asbestos and pigeon droppings. She also said part of the building's second floor is collapsed. ..."

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Officials warn of loud noise during NYSEG coal tar remediation Ithaca Journal, The (NY) - September 19, 2008 

Author: Krisy Gashler

Journal Staff

 

ITHACA — The first 80 days of the coal tar removal project on Court and Plain streets will be very loud, but the

year and a half to two years after that shouldn't be too bad — definitely not as disruptive as the recently

completed coal tar removal from Court Street to Cayuga Inlet.

               That was the word from representatives of New York State Electric and Gas and the state departments of

Environmental Conservation and Health. The representatives presented information and answered questions at

an availability session Thursday night at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center attended by roughly 30 people,

including state and city officials.

               NYSEG is just about to begin a long-delayed removal of carcinogenic coal tar from beneath the half-block bounded by Court, Plain and Esty streets.

               In the first 80 days of the project, NYSEG will install 54-foot-long sheet piling into the ground to bound the site and provide support while they dig out up to 18 feet of contaminated soil.

               Installing the sheet piling will involve a vibrating hammer that will force the metal into the clay soil. ..."

 

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City faces fight over historic designation of Markles Flats, Ithaca Journal, October 3, 2007 by Krishy Gashler

          ..."It's a beautiful, beautiful building," said Thys Van Cort, director of planning and development for the city. "It's a wonderful representative of that period of industrial architecture and probably the only one left in the city."

          Markles Flats was designated an historic building by Ithaca's Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1978.