A big tent was set up last Thursday morning on a space of land past Sportime Tennis Club to house local politicians and state officials who all traveled to downtown Roslyn to praise the voluntary cleanup efforts that have taken place in that area, an effort that will allow the construction of a new senior housing facility in the village.

Although no groundbreaking date has been set for Bryant Landing, the planned 250-unit senior housing facility, the progress the project has made on the environmental front was held up as an example of what positive things can be done with the various "brownfield" sites that exist throughout Long Island and New York State.

Erin M. Crotty, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) commissioner was the main speaker. She touted the voluntary cleanup project at the site while at the same time calling on the state legislature to pass Gov. George Pataki's proposal to reform and refinance the state's programs to clean up similar contaminated sites throughout the county and state.

"The cleanup of this contaminated site turns a community liability into a community asset by returning a formerly contaminated site to productive use," Ms. Crotty said. Her sentiments were echoed by State Senator Michael Balboni, who praised the site's transformation from a place that was "unuseful" to one that will be the future site of a senior housing facility and a waterfront park. State Senator Carl Marcellino, who chairs the senate's Environmental Conservation Committee and Assemblyman David Sidikman also lauded the cleanup efforts taking place in downtown Roslyn.

Among the dignitaries on hand was Roslyn Mayor John Durkin. "The village government and the private developer have demonstrated that by working together a severely polluted property environmentally classified as brownfields can be restored to a useful purpose," said Mayor Durkin.

"Obtaining the approval and support of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for a permit under the Voluntary Cleanup Program was critical to the success of this effort," he continued. "Adding the assistance of incentive zoning to assure the economic viability of the project, the result becomes a viable partnership of government and private industry. The village gains an environmentally clean piece of property and the private owner is allowed to develop the site."

Michael Daly, president of Sterling Glen Communities and Forest City Daly, the firm which will build the senior housing facility, cited government support, both state and local, for his project.

"The redevelopment of this site into the area's premier and only waterfront senior residence would not have been possible without the support of multiple government agencies, especially the DEC and the Village of Roslyn," he said. Bryant Landing, Mr. Daly added, would become a desirable housing facility due to the fact that it both sits next to "one of the nicest downtowns in Long Island" and will offer a four-acre waterfront park for local residents, itself a pleasant thought on this particularly cold and rainy May morning. On a practical level, the property, once contaminated, will generate substantial tax revenue for the village.

Mitch Pally, vice president of Legislative and Economic Affairs for the Long Island Association, noted that such brownfields will be the home of future development in Long Island, namely due to the fact that there isn't any more forest space left on the island to be cut down and cleared out.

Over the past 70 years, the Roslyn Viaduct site was home to multiple industrial uses, including a road supply company that stored asphalt and tar and had petroleum storage facilities for gasoline and fuel oils. The investigation found elevated levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polynuclear aromatic compounds (PAHs) which are normally associated with petroleum in soils and groundwater.

Early in 2000, cleanup activities were initiated at the site to remove 25,799 tons of contaminated soils, covering an area of approximately 66,500 sq. ft. Several underground tanks, including several containing road tar, were subsequently removed. In addition, an on-site groundwater treatment system was used to treat nearly 2.1 million gallons of groundwater.

Additional remediation was undertaken to address residual petroleum in subsurface soils. A groundwater monitoring network was installed at the site and samples were taken over a six-month period. The results indicated no detectable levels of contamination.

The State Voluntary Cleanup Program, the one used by Forest City Daly, was established in 1994 to facilitate the reuse of contaminated sites by eliminating barriers that hinder redevelopment and encouraging the private sector cleanup of brownfield sites. Under the program, a volunteer agrees to conduct an investigation and/or cleanup of a contaminated property to a level that is protective of public health and the environment. DEC and the State Department of Health oversee the remedial work, and DEC provides a release from liability to the volunteer party once the project has been completed and the contamination has been addressed.