DEC releases strategy for site

OGDENSBURG — More than 24 years and $2.5 million after the cleanup began, the state says there has been sufficient cleanup of the former Diamond International property.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation released its proposed remedial action plan for the 17-acre site Monday. The plan did not call for any further cleanup, but recommends that the land not be redeveloped for single-family homes.

"We've always known that this was going to be the case. It doesn't preclude anything that we've been looking to do there," city Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said. "It's good to see this finally come to an end. It's been a very lengthy process."

The proposed plan also calls for periodic updates to be sent to DEC about the site's use, restricting groundwater use on the site and creating a site management plan that will outline how to handle materials during and after any development.

"On an annual basis, they have to let us know if they've made any changes on the site; if they've dug up the soil, if they've utilized the site or developed the site," said Peter S. Ouderkirk, a DEC environmental engineer who oversaw the cleanup. "It's a pretty standard tactic."

The property, which includes about 1,200 feet of shoreline along the St. Lawrence River, housed several paper and matchstick manufacturing plants, but has been vacant since 1987. Since then, sludge-, asbestos- and petroleum-contaminated soil and groundwater have been removed.

A roughly $500,000 grant the city of Ogdensburg received last month will be put toward marketing the Diamond property and several other polluted sites, Mr. Sciorra said.

"It's an expensive thing to do," he said. "It's ongoing, but with the grant there's going to be an all-out push to do marketing."

In June 2008, American Communities Inc., an Oregon development company, submitted plans to build seven one-story duplexes, 13 two-story town houses with garages, several apartment buildings and a waterfront boardwalk with gazebo boat docks and shopping spaces on the site.

Those plans were withdrawn when the developer pulled out of discussions with the city in April.

A public hearing to discuss the proposed plan will be held at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 in City Hall.

The proposed 17-page plan will be available on the Web at www.ogdensburg.org.