Conditions of Lewis Oil Waterfront Property Topic at Port North Meeting

By Alice M. Peckelis
(appeared in the 3-23-01, Vol 10, No. 24 edition)

Soil conditions on the waterfront property Lewis Oil Company is donating to the Village of Port Washington North in exchange for the Board of Trustees approval of a change in zone for its landside property on Shore Road two months ago to permit the creation of a joint Shopping center with Delco Shopping Center led to a heated exchange between residents and some Board members at their meeting on March 12th.

Resident Marvin Siegel said he spoke to a representative of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Nick Acompora, who advised him that the DEC will not be testing any of the soil off the shoreline for contamination in determining whether Lewis oil, which is now owned by Connecticut based Champion Energy will have to undertake any remediation of the waterside land it is donating to the Village for a park. For decades, heating oil was brought by barge to file Lewis Oil dock where it was piped underground to the oil storage tank farm on the land side of' Shore Road which just recently has been torn down to make way for the shopping center.

"What kind of waterfront recreation area will we have (if there is contarnination) demanded Siegel. "We traded off (the zoning change) for possible contamination of the shoreline." Siegel also noted that during the Course of several public hearings the Village was assured that the waterfront property would be delivered in what was described as "pristine" condition.

That led Trustee Ross Altman to retort, "it sound like you expect Lewis to give us Jones Beach!" He said Lewis Oil's obligation is limited to making, the land viable for its intended rise i.e. a waterfront park.

Jim Antonelli, an environmental engineer with Sydney B. Bowne & Son, an engineering firm retained by the Village, said that Acompora is head of the DEC's petroleum spills division and that the scope of the work to be performed on the property by the DEC is limited to taking soil samples. He subsequently added that the DEC does not address hazardous wastes. "It's not even on the DEC checklist." He noted that Lewis Oil has "hired Triton Environmental to put together a remedial plan with DEC oversight."

Another resident Bill Higgins, said "to limit the scope misrepresents the issue."

Altman added that it would not be fair to Lewis Oil to have them address contamination along the shoreline of Manhasset Bay since "contamination comes from many places."

According to Faithe Ann Scobbo, there are nine documented spills on the Lewis Oil property, eight of which have been remediated.

Altman assured the residents that everything will be removed from the property except what the Village wants to remain. He said they might want them to leave some infrastructure improvements that can be reused when the Village develops it into a park.

However, Thomas Imperatore, a resident who also serves as chairman of the Village Planning Board, disagreed with Altman. "I think we'd want it pristine."

Altman countered that there is "no such thing as returning it to a totally pristine condition. That's why we left it out," referring to conditions, covenants, and restrictions which have been recorded against the property with the Nassau County Clerk's Office which have not been discussed in public.

Siegel responded, "That's the problem. There are a lot of questions that have not been fully addressed, It (the property) is worth nothing if it can't be put into the condition you thought it could."

Hank Ratner asked if in five to ten years from now it is determined there is contamination on the property from a petrochemical spill who will be responsible for the clean up.

He was advised that Lewis Oil Company is responsible.

Dr. George Williams said "so much could have been prevented." He said money should have been put aside over the years for reclaimed land, citing as an example reclamation efforts that could have been made to the land when sand mining ceased in the Village.

In other business, the Board was challenged by longtime Board watcher Steve Kaplan when it attempted to go into Executive Session to discuss a proposed amendment to the $540,000 bond the Village has taken out to finance the purchase of the Belanich property on Shore Road, formerly occupied by Fearon Marine.

Kaplan advised that under the New York State Open Meetings Law, the Board could only go into Executive Session for specified reasons enumerated in the law and that this was not one of them. He also provided each member of the Board with a copy of the law. "The law is very narrowly construed," said Kaplan. "There is no logical reason for this to go into Executive Session." He further advised that he had spoken with Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, who agreed with him that this was not a legitimate exercise of executive session privilege.

The Board, at the suggestion of Village Attorney Chris Prior, went back into the office to discuss the issue. When they returned, without admitting they were wrong, reconvened into public session. Prior advised the audience that the Board needed an extension of time on the contract of sale to purchase the property. They were originally supposed to close by December 31 st of last year until Kaplan advised them that if they purchased the property before they were awarded a grant from New York State to assist with the financing, they would lose the grant. Belanich, according to Prior, will only extend the time to, purchase if the price is increased. The Board ultimately voted to increase the amount of the bond to $640,000, with the provision they would only use as much of the additional money from the bond to complete the purchase. The purchase price of the property increases by $15,000 for every three month period that the Board fails to complete the purchase.

Kaplan was outraged at the vote. "This property was appraised for $472,000; now it's $640,000. This is insane!"

Ratner asked the Board how much it will cost each individual taxpayer in the Village to purchase the property if the State grant doesn't come through.

Mayor Pellegrino said they have been advised by State Assemblyman Thomas DiNaploi's office that it has been approved.

In other business, public hearing were postponed to issue special use permits for drop box facilities at Blockbuster Video, Chase Bank and HSBC bank.