Breaking News: PS 51, The Bronx New School, To Be Moved Because of Contamination

[Update 4:17 p.m.: Just heard from the DOE. Spokesperson Marge Feinberg says the school will be moved, not closed. The TCE was found during a inspection of the property as the DOE was looking to renew its lease on the Jerome Avenue building. A copy of the letter is included after jump.]

This week, the Department of Education and the principal of PS 51, the Bronx New School, sent out a letter to parents saying the Bedford Park elementary school will be closed moved due to Trichloroethylene contamination.

The letter sought to assure parents that there were no immediate health risks and referred questions to the city Health Department. It said the school would be moved, but it did not say where to. It did say parents would be updated regularly about the relocation.

Harris Field Toxicity Reports Show Lead Levels 4 Times Higher Than Federal Standards

Sections of Harris Field, a heavily-used park sandwiched between Bronx High School of Science and Lehman College, were found to have four times the federally-established legal limit of lead contamination for public play areas, according to documents obtained by the Norwood News with the help of the nonprofit New York City Park Advocates.

In October, the Norwood News discovered soil contamination had been found at Harris Field. At the time, the Parks Department was in the middle of construction on an extensive overhaul of the park’s playfields.

Construction has stalled since while the Parks Department completes mitigation of the contaminated areas, an undertaking that will cost $5.2 million. The mitigation pushes the price tag on the project to nearly $13.9 million.

The contamination reports were created by KAM Consultants, an environmental consulting and testing firm that operates out of Long Island City, and completed in mid-October.

The Norwood News filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for all documentation related to the contamination, which advocates say should have been discovered by the Parks Department before construction even began.

It remains unclear when the contamination was first discovered.

It has been more than 120 business days since the Norwood News first filed the FOIL request. Initially, the Parks Department estimated it would take 60 business days to complete the request. The Parks Department did not respond to several attempts to find out why the documents were not forthcoming.

Today, after the Norwood News contacted the agency to tell them we were in possession of the toxicity reports, the Parks Department’s records access officer, Justin Carroll, said he would send over the documents via fax as soon as possible.

“What this is indicative of is that the city knew about this for years, because of the site [the Department of Environmental Protection noted that Harris Field was said to have high levels of lead in 2004] and they rushed this through without doing their due diligence,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, public play areas must be mitigated if the soil contains a lead contamination level of 400 parts per million. One area of Harris Field was found to have a level of 1,754 parts per million, according to the KAM’s toxicity reports.

Out of 15 samples taken, 13 contained levels above the federal standards for public play areas and five exceeded contamination levels of more than 1,000 parts per million.

Jeff Kuperman of the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, said the highest levels found were alarmingly high. He said the Parks Department should have tested for contamination before starting construction to protect workers at the site. He was incredulous when told the agency had only discovered the contamination when construction was in full-swing.

Costly Clean-up Stalls Harris Field Project

[Note: This story first appeared in the print edition of the Norwood News, which hit streets last week. In the story, Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates says the Parks Dept. should have known about this contamination before they even bid out the contract for renovations, or at least a year ago, maybe even earlier. Now, it appears there were multiple reports of hazardous material contamination at Harris Park prior to 2004, according to a supplemental environmental impact statement completed for a DEP construction project at Jerome Park Reservoir. Thanks to Karen Argenti, a longtime Bronx activist and watchdog, for pointing this out.]

By Alex Kratz

Sonia Lappin looks out over Harris Field from her Bedford Park apartment building and sees a glorious past – a community space used by generations of local families for everything from ball games to picnics – and an uncertain future.

Lappin, a long-time local resident and activist who lives in Scott Tower just across the street from Harris, is not alone. She and others wonder how long the next generation will have to wait before the fields will be ready and safe for use after lead soil contamination was discovered at Harris in 2009.

The contamination was unearthed by construction workers doing a massive renovation of the heavily-used park sometime in 2009 and the fix is going to cost an additional $5.2 million of taxpayer funds, bringing the total cost of the project to $13.9 million. The original cost estimate for the renovation, which was being paid for by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and carried out by the Parks Department, was $6.6 million.

Unanswered questions surrounding the contamination and renovation efforts have infuriated local residents like Lappin.

“Everyone is really upset about the stalling and the cover-up,” Lappin said.

Since the Norwood News broke news of the contamination and how it was stalling the project back in October, the Parks Department has been cautiously tight-lipped about Harris Field, which lies between Lehman College and the Bronx High School of Science near the Jerome Park Reservoir.

It remains unclear when the contamination was discovered, what levels of contamination were found and when the fields will finally be ready for use.

[In October, the Norwood News filed a Freedom of Information Law request asking for all of this information. The Parks Department responded, saying they would need 60 business days to compile the information. It has now been more than 90 days and the Parks Department still has not responded.]

Harris Field Contamination Slows Construction

The discovery of heavy metals contamination during construction at Harris Field in Bedford Park has slowed progress and put the project over budget, according to city's Parks Department.

It's unclear exactly what heavy metals were found or how concentrated the contamination is. As of this posting, the Parks Department has not answered specific questions about the levels of contamination or the steps taken to make the park safe.

Construction at Harris Field (Goulden Avenue and Bedford Park Boulevard) started in April of 2008 and is slated for completion in the fall of this year. It is one of dozens of Bronx parks projects stemming from the Department of Enviornmental Protection's Croton Water Filtration Project in Van Cortlandt Park.

Parks Spokesperson Jesslyn Moser said in an e-mail that the renovations were budgeted at $8.9 million (although the Department of Parks and Recreation web site shows a budget of $9.5 million). When this project was discussed in August of 2007, the budget was estimated at $6.8 million.

The original renovations included rebuilding six fields, adding three staircases and handicapped access, a picnic area, fitness/exercise station, a play area for 5 to 12 year olds, a water spray area and a play area for toddlers.

Now, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation Web site, the scope of the project appears to be limited to reconstruction of six athletic fields, three new staircases, and ADA access leading into the park.

Harris Field is oddly raised above all the surrounding land on three out of four sides.

Harris Field used to be a part of the Jerome Park Reservoir. The Department of Water Supply, Gas & Electricity acquired the land in 1895, but then returned it to the city in 1917.

During the time that the Department of Water owned the land, a basin was created as a filter for the reservoir. The filter part of reservoir was never completed and it was later filled. It's not clear exactly what material was used to fill it.

Harris Field was acquired by the Parks Department in 1940.