By Carol P. Bartold

May 11, 2016:  Ongoing concerns about the possible migration of contaminants in groundwater from the former marble quarry site in Tuckahoe prompted a citizen request for the Bronxville Board of Trustees to request testing of groundwater at or near The Bronxville School and, possibly, at other sites in the village.

At the board’s regular May 9 meeting, village resident Betsy Harding urged Mayor Mary Marvin and the trustees to write a letter to the acting commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) requesting groundwater testing.

Plans for a Marriott Springhill Suites hotel at the former quarry site at 109 Marbledale Road have come before the Tuckahoe Planning Board. The five-story, 163-room hotel, a 6,400-square-foot restaurant, and 208 parking spaces are proposed for the contaminated site.

Harding’s request comes in the wake of an April public meeting held at Tuckahoe Village Hall where representatives from the DEC and the New York State Department of Health presented findings from groundwater and soil testing at the Marbledale Road site and answered questions about possible health concerns arising from the contamination.

Harding expressed specific concern about possible contaminant migration in light of the commencement of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Midland Valley Drainage Project, scheduled within the next few weeks.

“We have a project at the school and the groundwater there is particularly high,” Harding said. She added that the DEC has not recognized that contaminants may have migrated offsite from the former quarry. “I went to their meeting and they seem to be really grasping at straws to find reasons why these contaminants couldn’t flow offsite,” she noted.

According to Harding, the DEC has committed to offsite testing but does not have a definitive plan for conducting those tests. She stated that both Assemblywoman Amy Paulin and State Senator George Latimer have written letters to the DEC asking not only for testing, but also that the site plan for the hotel not be approved until sufficient offsite testing has been conducted.

“If you add your voice,” Harding told the board of trustees, “it will make a difference.”

Mayor Mary Marvin stated that village officials have been and will continue to monitor the issue closely. She noted that they have watched the meetings and that she and Village Administrator Jim Palmer have been in “constant contact” with Tuckahoe Mayor Steve Ecklond and Tuckahoe Village Administrator David Burke.”

“It’s really front and center for this board,” Marvin said. “We will do whatever we need to do to ensure the health and safety of our residents.” She added that the trustees will sit as a board and discuss the possibility of writing a letter to the DEC.

Pictured here:  Betsy Harding speaking at the Bronxville Village Board of Trustees meeting. 

Photo by Carol P. Bartold