Ithaca, N.Y. — Alderperson Cynthia Brock reiterated Wednesday that the state is reviewing toxic contaminants found at the site of a controversial housing development planned for Ithaca’s Spencer Road.
But why that’s the case, she said, is anything but straightforward. (At a city meeting Tuesday night, the project’s consulting engineer said that the state had closed its investigation into contaminants at the site.)
“It’s an absolute mess,” Brock said. “Talk about a comedy of confusion.”
Brock said she spoke on Wednesday with Dick Brazell of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation about the Stone Quarry development project.
This is what he said, according to Brock:
— There were two spills reported to the DEC on the site of the Stone Quarry development. They were filed with the state a few weeks apart.
— The more recently reported spill, which is now currently part of open review, is going to be closed by the state.
— The second spill, the one reported first, is in fact currently closed. But it will be reopened by the state. The state will then consolidate the spill sites into one review that will be marked as active/open.
“The bottom line is that there is an active spill on the site,” Brock said.
The DEC did not return a request from comment made by The Ithaca Voice on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a DEC representative told The Voice said that the spill site remained part of an active review and that state officials were awaiting a clean-up plan from the city.