Bronx Council for Environmental Quality

2026-08-23_BCEQ-Policy_Brownfield-CleanUp-Program needs update

August 23rd, 2026 Posted in climate changge, Front Page News, Harlem River BOA, Water Committee

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For more than 20 years, the BCEQ has been working on the Harlem River Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA). We even had the Harlem River declared a Brownfield Opportunity Area. We have promoted a more natural and inexpensive method to clean brownfields, especially along the Harlem River. That is, to use a more stringent method than required by law – which is just the minimum effort. In two words: in situ.

The existing law believes a cover system is appropriate for multi-family and park use. This is based on the government’s ability to have a deed-like hold placed on a site; this prevents a single-family home from being built at the polluted site in the future. But people will live in the building, play in the parkland, and walk along the greenway — a cover system is not the best practice to protect the public health, or clean the groundwater, soil, or river.

Other options include Track 2 moving out the polluted soil in trucks, polluting the air as it goes in and out of our community.

The plans for a site should lead to the best cleanup technique — not cost or how long it will take. We should equally protect the people of single-family, multi-family, parkland, or a greenway.

While the minimum standards for site cleanup is appropriate, the guidance states that they can be more stringent, or urge a higher level of use. The way a site will be used should be the approach to the cleanup.

— Karen Argenti, Water Committee

A recommended change in the law–2026-05-04_NYS BCP Changes to Protect Sensitive Populations revised

Here is our policy statement – Bioremediation and Shoreline Restoration from 2007 HR BOA Step 1 pp 69-73

Here is a case study (there are hundreds of pages of details, these are just excerpts)

110 East 138th Street Affordable Housing Project: