Public invited to comment on application
Brownfield sought to clean up spot on First Street
TROY, N.Y. » The public has the chance to comment on a Brownfield Cleanup Program Application for 244246 First Street, the site of a proposed 84-unit apartment building.
According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, it has received a Brownfield appli- cation from Poestenkill Place Limited Partnership. The public has until Sept. 14 to weigh in. They can do that through Project Manager Drew Hoffert at NYSDEC, 1130 North Westcott Rd., Schenectady, NY 12306-2014, via email at drew. hoffert@dec.ny.gov, or by calling 518-357-2393.
A copy of the filing is at the Troy Public Library, 100 Second Street.
The Brownfield Cleanup Program was designed to revitalize polluted properties by encouraging pri- vate investment. It began in 2003, and according to the DEC there are now 350 active sites in the program. Information on the program can be found at www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8450.html
The Community Builders, a non-profit real estate development company based in Boston, wishes to build a four story building on a two-acre lot currently occupied by Siewert Equipment, and ProTek Recycling. The existing buildings would be torn down to make room for “Poestenkill Place,” named for the nearby Poestenkill Canal.
Site history
According to DEC, the site sits on 1.88 acres and has three buildings. Since the 1800s, the plot has seen numerous industrial and commercial uses. It once had a railroad bed going across it, as late as the 1970s. There was once the Reynolds-Charlou Foundry operating there, a stoveworks, a junkyard (1950s) the HJ Hardenburgh Feed & Fertilizer company (1950s and 1960s), Hoffman Building Materials Corp., a building materials warehouse ( 1950s to 1980s). More recently a construction equipment rental company, and a limousine service called it home.
An environmental investigation has been done at the site, which shows the soil and groundwater there has been impacted by contaminants exceeding allowable levels.