Commerce Street Rail Yard Cleanup Complete In New Rochelle: DEC

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New York environmental officials announced cleanup action has been completed to address contamination at the 10 Commerce Drive rail yard site in New Rochelle.

At the site, which was in New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program, five underground storage tanks were removed and about 25,700 tons of material was excavated and disposed of off-site.

The one-acre parcel on Commerce Drive is near the train station. In the early part of the 1900s, a railroad company and various coal and oil companies operated there, the DEC said. In 1980, a
commercial building was constructed which was demolished in 2020.

Currently, a residential apartment building is being constructed there with a garage and lobby, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said. The DEC said in September that monitoring would likely be required going forward.

An environmental easement was recorded to:

• require the remedial party to complete and submit a periodic certification of institutional and engineering controls to the DEC
• restrict the use of groundwater as a source of potable or process water, without necessary water quality treatment
• require compliance with the department-approved Site Management Plan

That plan includes:

• Evaluation of the potential for soil vapor intrusion into any buildings on the site, including provision for implementing actions recommended to address exposures related to SVI
• Provision for in-situ groundwater treatment if concentrations of constituents in groundwater do not naturally attenuate to acceptable levels
• Development and implementation of a monitoring plan

New York's Brownfield Cleanup Program encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties known as "brownfields" so that they can be re-used and re-developed.