By Bryant Daniels, Director of Public Affairs, Office of Congressman Eliot L. Engel

Sep. 7, 2016:  Congressman Eliot L. Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote the following letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy requesting that the agency immediately start the planning necessary to conduct a preliminary assessment of the old quarry site at 109-125 Marbledale Road in Tuckahoe:

August 30, 2016                                       

The Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Administrator McCarthy:

I am writing to request that the Environmental Protection Agency immediately start the planning necessary to conduct a preliminary assessment under the federal Superfund program at an old quarry site at 109-125 Marbledale Road in the Village of Tuckahoe, New York ("Tuckahoe Quarry"). My hope is that the information and documents gathered by your agency will help inform all stakeholders on appropriate next steps for the site.

The Tuckahoe Quarry spans a 7-acre plot of land. It was a marble quarry until the 1950s, a municipal dumping ground for several decades after that, and most recently an auto repair lot. Samples across the parcel have detected numerous contaminants of concern, including volatile organic compounds, PCBs, and lead and other toxic metals.

A developer has proposed building a 5-story hotel with a detached restaurant and large parking lot on a 3.45 acre parcel located in the center portion of the Tuckahoe Quarry. In conjunction with that proposal, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued a Decision Document dated July 2016 that selected a remedial program for the site. However, the boundaries of the remedial program do not encompass the full footprint of the former quarry and landfill, and the state determined that there are off-site impacts that will require additional remedial activities and may ultimately result in action under the State Superfund.

Members of the community remain very concerned about perceived inadequacies of the state plan, and about the segmentation of a parcel that they feel should be treated as one contiguous hazardous waste site. I do not think they oppose all development on the site, but rather are calling for more thorough examination and testing of the entire Tuckahoe Quarry so that a comprehensive remedial plan can be designed and implemented in the most safe and effective manner possible.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this endeavor to the neighborhood, especially considering the vast and complex nature of the quarry's contamination problem in addition to its close proximity to numerous homes and a school.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Eliot L. Engel
Member of Congress

Pictured here:  Site of the proposed hotel in Tuckahoe.

Photo by A. Warner