Princeton Environmental Commission

Concerns About Site Contamination Prompt Reports Request of AvalonBay

The Princeton Environmental Commission has recommended to the Regional Planning Board and the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB) that AvalonBay Communities, the company contracted to develop a rental apartment complex at the former site of University Medical Center at Princeton, submit information that provides details about how they plan to clean up the site.

“Recent concerns have arisen in the community regarding the potential presence and removal of hazardous waste at the hospital site,” reads a memo dated October 4 from the PEC to the planners and SPRAB. “A grassroots group С The Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods С has requested that AvalonBay’s project not proceed and be declared incomplete until an independent environmental investigation is done to evaluate the presence of harmful substances on the site and, if contamination exists, to address risks to the health and public welfare of the surrounding community and of the project’s prospective tenants. The investigation would include soil and/or groundwater sampling and analysis.”

The memo goes on to say that the PEC recommends that AvalonBay, which is scheduled to come before SPRAB tonight, October 10, provide a reconciliation report as it relates to the two Phase I Environmental Site Assessments, prior to any consideration of the application.

It was at a meeting of the PEC October 1 that the issue of conflicting reports about potential contamination was raised by the Princeton Citizens group, represented by environmental lawyer Aaron Kleinbaum. Mr. Kleinbaum told the PEC that a September 2011 report commissioned by AvalonBay from the company EcolSciences “identifies current and former underground storage tanks and raises serious concerns about potential releases or solvents and other chemicals into soil and groundwater at the site.”

But AvalonBay’s application and its environmental impact statement “misrepresented the EcolSciences report when it said that no underground storage tanks or contamination were found at the property,” Mr. Kleinbaum continued.

The University Medical Center was also mentioned by Mr. Kleinbaum as responsible for “a lack of transparency” regarding the report. At the meeting, the PEC asked AvalonBay, which was represented by attorney Ann Studholme, to clarify whether the developer had followed up on the EcolSciences report’s recommendations. Ms. Studholme said she did not know if they had.

Mark Solomon, the hospital’s attorney, said that any leaks or spills at the former hospital site were reported and remediated in accordance with the proper regulations. “There are not any known environmental conditions on the property,” he said. “What we object to and find highly irregular is [the inference] that the hospital is breaking the law, with absolutely no substantiation. If there’s something real, we’d like to see it.”

Both attorneys said that reports of any incidents were available on the Department of Environmental Protection’s website.

The PEC memo recommends that AvalonBay provide the requested information, which also addresses issues of adequate space for trash management and food waste collection, management of peak sewage flows, and reduction of storm water flows, by October 15.

Sustainable Princeton Hosts Zero Waste Breakfast, Unveils Interactive “Green Connections” Map Project

STRAIGHTENING UP: The 125-foot long Stony Brook pedestrian bridge that came down during Hurricane Irene was recently reinstalled. Township Engineering Assistant Anthony E. Soriano, Jr., reported that while the original bridge was used in the repair, the reinstallation should ensure that it will “withstand a similar storm in the future.” Federal Emergency Management Agency funds covered 75 percent of the repair work. Additional landscaping and pathway work is being covered by the Township, according to Mr. Soriano.

People munched on bananas, banana bread, and banana muffins; drank fair trade coffee and tea; and tossed their drinks, plates, and cups into bins that said “Please compost here” at Sustainable Princeton’s “Great Ideas” breakfast last week in the Community Room of the Princeton Public Library. “This is a zero-waste event” boasted Sustainable Princeton, and they weren’t kidding: there weren’t even any hand-outs.

The occasion was the unveiling of Sustainable Princeton’s Green Map Project, “Green Connections,” an interactive map featuring green spots in Princeton. The work-in-progress will identify Princeton’s green resources, including parks and woodlands, tree-lined streets, farmer’s markets, school gardens, and more. Township Engineer Bob Kiser, librarian Susan Conlon, and Deputy Township Mayor Liz Lempert were on hand for the event.

Sustainable Princeton was created in 2009 as an initiative of the Princeton Environmental Commission. The organization is currently applying for 501c(3) non-profit status. Its motto is “change a habit, change the world.”

Sustainability success, noted coordinator Diane Landis on Friday morning, is achieved by addressing the environmental, local economic, and diversity-related aspects of going green. She reported that a number of municipalities around the country have already adopted their own “green map systems.”

To celebrate the introduction of the map, several local speakers were invited to give “flash talks” about sustainability efforts being made at their respective stores. and agencies. Labyrinth Books owner Dorothea Von Moltke began by asking the audience for advice on how the store could improve its campaign to collect five cents on every book sold to offset the carbon imprint made by its production. “It’s not doing well,” Ms. Von Moltke said of the effort, noting that the main difficulty had to do with “implicit moralizing” and the wish to not send people on “guilt trips” by asking them for the money.

Ms. Von Moltke cited Chilean economist Nieves Valdes as her inspiration for the belief that learning, adapting, and change is “where all the promise lies.” The goal isn’t to be bigger, Ms. Von Moltke observed, but to “be better” at responding to changes in the community and, in Labyrinth’s case, the book industry.

McCaffrey’s Steve Carney received a round of applause when he announced that the store would be using biodegradable take-out containers by March 1. More applause followed, as he described how McCaffrey’s has recently installed high efficiency refrigeration and cut traditional waste by over 55 per cent since 2008. Collaborating with six area food banks is a win-win situation that results in less trash for landfills while helping those in need. “It was a very easy transition for us,” said Mr. Carney. McCaffrey’s, he said, is striving to be a “zero waste store.”

InFini-T Cafe, Spice Souk, McCaffrey’s, Olsson’s Fine Foods, and Whole Earth Center were thanked for donating food, drinks, plates, and cups and to the Princeton Public Library Environmental Film Festival and this event.