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Politics & Government

Clean Up Continues for Avalon Bay

Complex officials hope it will be done by next year.

For nearly a decade, the village of Rockville Centre has debated waiting for the construction and completion of a new 349-unit Avalon Bay apartment complex located off Sunrise Highway. As the process inches along, both the developers and village administration seem indifferent on the progress – it is ongoing, under the proper supervision, with the approval and consent of all involved.

"There have been no significant changes since we've been cleaning up the site," said Matt Whalen, vice president of Avalon Bay Long Island.

The cleanup Whalen referred to were traces of a dry cleaning chemical that was found under the southwest portion of the building at 80 Banks Ave. in Nov. 2003. The source of the chemical is presumed to be the remnants of dry cleaning facility operated by a textile manufacturer who occupied the site between 1972 and 1978.

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According to village officials, the site was investigated in March 2004 by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The site was accepted into the state Brownfield Clean-up Program — an initiative to rehabilitate property sites that may have been contaminated by hazardous wastes — and a Brownfield Clean-up Agreement was signed in June 2005.

 "It's understood that it's a contaminated site," explained Whalen. "Avalon Bay is investing millions of dollars in the cleanup. Extensive efforts have been made to make this site usable. It's actually pretty remarkable."

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One concern was that nearby Reverend Days Park was contaminated by the toxic chemicals discovered at the construction site. When asked about it, village spokesman Jeff Kluewer re-released a statement regarding the village's position on the Avalon Bay debate.

"The field (at Rev. Days Park) was tested in 2004 soon after the discovery of the spill," the statement said. "No contamination was found in 2004 and no contamination was found in March 2009 when 10 more soil samples were taken from the infield, the outfield and at the boundary of the park."

"The village's environmental consultants, H2M Associates, took the 10 soil samples and tested them for 34 volatile organic chemical compounds, including tertrachloroethene or PERC, the dry-cleaning fluid that contaminated the old Darby property...There is no evidence that this or any other dangerous chemical is present on or below the baseball field at Reverend Days Park," it said.

Whalen weighed in on the issue with the intent to assuage public fears.

"We are operating under strict guidelines from the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation," Whalen said. "People are obviously concerned and rightly so. At this point the biggest risk is doing nothing."

In the recent past, the Avalon Bay project has run into friction on other fronts. Community leaders and residents have expressed concerns over who will live in the complex, and questions were raised over the potential tax implications for the village.

"I can tell you that, historically, our occupants in other Avalon Bay buildings average over $100,000 a year in income," Whalen said. "We also fill a very important need by building housing for young couples and families to get them to stay on Long Island."

As for the taxation issue, village officials expressed its satisfaction with the deal it reached with Avalon Bay. When asked, Kluewer, re-released a statement from Mayor Mary Bossart regarding Avalon Bay.

"The village has signed an agreement with Avalon Bay for what are called Village Services Assistance Payments that will make up for real estate tax revenue lost to the village through the tax abatement granted to the project in April by the Town of Hempstead's Industrial Development Agency," it said. "The IDA agreement provides for payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) to the village, but those will not cover the cost of providing village services. The VSAP agreement will make up the difference."

Avalon Bay officials said they hope the clean up and remediation of the site will be completed by the end of the year.

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