Written by Carol P. Bartold

Dec. 17, 2014: Six months behind schedule, facing the expiration date of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Brownfield Cleanup Program (December 31, 2015), and bound by a state-approved remediation plan for the contaminated Kensington Road site, Gateway Development Group has faced a series of discoveries that has slowed its initial work.

"We have to finish the cleanup of that lot by next year," Gateway spokesman Neil DeLuca said. "The state approved our plan and we need to stick to it no matter what. It was also part of our agreement with the village."

The reason the deadline is so important is that tax credits available to developers through the Brownfield Cleanup Program will expire on December 31, 2015.

The discovery of a six-inch water main buried under the development site led to a further discovery of a tunnel, owned by United Water New Rochelle, that runs under the Metro-North Railroad tracks to the Studio Arcade area. "This tunnel was built a long time ago," DeLuca said, "and we had to know what's in there, if anything is 'live.' It was difficult for all of us, United Water included, to figure out what's in the tunnel and how to close it." He added that United Water and Gateway had to make sure work would not interrupt anyone's water system on the other side of the tracks.

DeLuca reported that United Water professionals have determined what work they must do on the west side of the railroad tracks to deal with the tunnel, shut off valves, and reroute piping. That work will allow Gateway to remove the water main that sits beneath the site.

With the discovery that utilities for the One Pondfield building run beneath the development site, Gateway had to arrange with Con Edison and the building owner to cut and reroute those utilities. DeLuca expects Gateway to have a signed easement within days that will allow the utility work to proceed.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has not yet given Gateway Development Group a date to schedule a test blast. The test blast will be conducted to ensure that blasting to remove approximately 10,000 cubic yards of rock from the site as part its excavation will not compromise the integrity or safety of the Metro-North Railroad tracks adjacent to the development site.

"We're looking for ways to take out the rock without blasting," DeLuca said. "The MTA is concerned about safety in light of recent Metro-North incidents, and that's not a bad thing."

Deluca indicated that if Gateway cannot obtain a license agreement from the MTA on a timely basis for the test blast, the developer will use a machine that can claw that rock apart. "We'll get it out," he emphasized.

"It's a slow process, dealing with bureaucracies," DeLuca said. "Everyone has rules and regulations and chains of command. Things take a lot longer than a developer would want. As a developer, you expect things not to go according to plan. You have contingencies." He credited Mayor Mary Marvin and Village Administrator Jim Palmer for helping Gateway gain access to the help it needed from the utilities and the MTA.

DeLuca added that, when remediation work begins in full, the trucks that will haul soil and rock away from the Kensington Road site will proceed south on Kraft Avenue to Midland Avenue, where they will turn west into Yonkers and head toward the New York State Thruway, Interstate 87. He stated that Chief Christopher Satriale of the Bronxville Police Department has approved the route and that the department will monitor truck activity through the village.

"We get great cooperation from the village," DeLuca said. "Everything we do, we feel part of the team."

Pictured here: Current construction site at the Kensington Road project.

Photo by A. Warner