Dear Neighbors,

Earlier this year Clinton West Plaza was declared by our NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as a site requiring environmental clean-up. Based on testing at the site, the pollution’s source is presumed to be from dry-cleaning chemicals used at the Clinton West Laundry from the 1970s through 2000.

Both the DEC and the State Department of Health are overseeing the work being done by the property owner and his environmental consultants/engineers to assess the full scope of the problem, create a plan of action, and remove the contamination.

To keep us informed, I’ve organized a public information meeting for Monday, August 18th from 7 – 9 pm at the Southside Community Center, 305 South Plain Street (between Green and W. Clinton Streets).

I’ve asked the Clinton West Plaza property owner, Clinton West, LTD., and their environmental consultants, Fagan Engineers, to

• provide a brief environmental history of the site,
• an overview of their investigation of the site test results so far,
• where and what tests are planned for the near future, and
• other next steps.

The DEC and State Department of Health officials will also be attending as a resource. If you can’t attend or want to be sure your question is heard, please email your questions to me at erosario@cityofithaca.org or call me directly at (607) 227.1969.

While the City is not overseeing this process, I believe we have an obligation to address all direct threats to public safety and welfare, as well as those who would exploit these threats. See my message sent via neighborhood listservs earlier this summer: Environmental Solicitation Advisory June 2008.

We all want to make sure the scope of this site’s contamination is comprehensively assessed and then cleaned-up without delay in strict accordance with all relevant environmental regulations. Hope to see you at the meeting.

PS: If you are interested in learning more about what has been found so far at Clinton West Plaza, there is a reported titled “RIFS Work Plan for Clinton West Plaza, 609-625 W. Clinton Street, Ithaca, New York” at our County Library downtown. RIFS stands for remedial investigation/feasibility study. It was prepared by Fagan Engineers for Clinton West, LTD and was released in March 2008. This report follows “a limited site investigation” conducted by LCS, Inc. in March-April 2006 for a potential buyer interested in Clinton West Plaza. The LCS, Inc. report is included in Appendix D of the Fagan report. I will have an electronic version of this report available on the City website soon.