TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel Draft Upland Site Summary TBTA QUEENS MIDTOWN TUNNEL (DAR SITE ID #15) Address: 10-55 51st Avenue, Long Island City, New York 11101 Tax Lot Parcel(s): Queens Block 39, Lot 2 Latitude: 40.741437 Longitude: -73.952979 Regulatory Programs/ Numbers/Codes: USEPA FRS ID No. 110008033476, USEPA ID No. NYD982796427, USEPA FIS No, 2-9902-00084, PBS No. 2-454559, NYSDEC Spill No: 8807410, 9007411, 9201987, 9203696, 9009652, 9705809, 9706666, 9709771, 9812663, and 9313543 Analytical Data Status: Electronic Data Available Hardcopies only No Data Available 1 SUMMARY OF CONSTITUENTS OF POTENTIAL CONCERN (COPCS) TRANSPORT PATHWAYS TO THE CREEK The current understanding of the transport mechanisms of COPCs from the upland portions of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) Queens Midtown Tunnel site (site) to Newtown Creek is summarized in this section and Table 1 and supported in the following sections. Overland Transport The site is located approximately 518 feet from Newtown Creek and associated waterways. This is not a complete historical or current pathway. Bank Erosion The site is not adjacent to Newtown Creek or associated waterways. This is not a complete historical or current pathway. Groundwater Groundwater quality information for this site was not identified in documents available for review. The site is located approximately 518 feet from Newtown Creek and associated Draft Upland Site Summary Report May 2012 Newtown Creek RI/FS 1 120782-01.01 TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel waterways. Spill records indicate several spills of various petroleum products to groundwater at the site. This pathway is potentially historically and currently complete. Overwater Activities This site is not adjacent to Newtown Creek or associated waterways and has no overwater activities. This is not a complete historical or current pathway. Stormwater/Wastewater Systems Information regarding on-site stormwater infrastructure and management was not identified in files available for review. This site is within the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) sewershed. Stormwater and wastewater discharges from the site flow into a combined municipal sewer system. When the combined flows exceed the system’s capacity, untreated combined sewer overflows (CSOs) are discharged to Newtown Creek at Outfalls BB-043, BB-014, and BB-013 (NYCDEP 2007). There is insufficient evidence to make a historical or current pathway determination for direct discharge of stormwater, wastewater, and sewer/CSO. Air Releases The site is registered as a state air facility (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [USEPA] 2011), although no permits or air emissions data were found in available site records. There is insufficient evidence to make a historical or current pathway determination. 2 PROJECT STATUS No records containing environmental investigations were identified for this site in available documents. 3 SITE OWNERSHIP HISTORY Respondent Member: Yes No Draft Upland Site Summary Report May 2012 Newtown Creek RI/FS 2 120782-01.01 TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel Owner Years Occupant Types of Operations Cargo handling buckets, coal chutes, G.L. Stuebner Iron Works ca. 1898 industrial cars, and gray iron castings New York Sugar Refinery Unknown American Druggist ca. 1915 Drug manufacturer Syndicate Jump House Wrecking Second-hand building materials and Unknown ca. 1915 – 1936 Company window sash storage M.H. Thompson Lumber yard Chilton Pen Co. Unknown ca. 1936 Amsterdam Bldg. Co., Inc. Storage Unknown Sawmill New York City 1936 – 1946 Tunnel Authority Interstate highway, toll booths, and Queens Midtown Highway TBTA (MTA Bridges entrance to tunnel 1946 – present and Tunnels) Notes: Bldg. – building ca. – circa Co. – company MTA – Metropolitan Transit Authority 4 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION The property occupies approximately 6.2 acres. The site is a 0.42-mile section of the Long Island Expressway (Interstate-495), including the toll booth and entrance to the Queens Midtown Tunnel. The Pulaski Bridge intersects the site. The site overlaps three blocks and is located between Borden Avenue to the south, Vernon Boulevard to the west, 50th Avenue to the north, and 21st Street to the east. The Long Island Rail Road forms the shape of the southeastern edge of the site. The area is zoned M3- 2 and M1-4 (manufacturing). M3 districts are designated for areas with heavy industries that generate noise, traffic, or pollutants and M1 districts typically include light industrial uses with buffers between M2 or M3 districts and adjacent residential or commercial districts (NYCDCP 2012). A 2010 aerial photograph of the site is presented as Figure 1. Draft Upland Site Summary Report May 2012 Newtown Creek RI/FS 3 120782-01.01 TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel 5 CURRENT SITE USE The site is currently used as an entrance and toll booth for the Queens Midtown Tunnel of the Long Island Expressway. The tunnel eventually crosses beneath the East River to the borough of Manhattan. 6 SITE USE HISTORY In 1898, G.L. Stuebner Iron Works, a manufacturer of cargo handling buckets, coal chutes, industrial cars, and gray iron castings, occupied the site at the corner of East Avenue and Third Street. Structures on the property included an iron shed, boiler shop, blacksmith, wood working area, machine shop, and various other buildings (Sanborn 1898; Chamber of Commerce 1918). The New York Sugar Refinery occupied a series of buildings near the corner of East Avenue and Borden Avenue. Next door to the refinery was a wagon shed. There were also a number of residential buildings on this block adjacent to these businesses. The northeastern portion of the site, bordered by Fourth Street to the north and Third Street (later 51st Avenue) to the south, consisted mainly of residential buildings (Sanborn 1898). Also in 1898, the western portion of the site (bordered by Borden Avenue to the south, East Avenue to the east, Third Street to the north, and Jackson Avenue to the northwest) consisted mainly of residential buildings and a few small businesses including an undertaker, a plumber, a cobbler, a bowling alley, and a barber (Sanborn 1898). In 1915, the Jump House Wrecking Company occupied approximately 41,000 square feet on Borden Avenue. Jump House sold second-hand building materials such as plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures. The site was also used for window sash storage. A 12,500-square-foot building, occupied by the American Druggist Syndicate, was located on 3rd Street (Sanborn 1915). In 1936, a sawmill occupied a building on 51st Avenue along with multiple storage buildings. The window sash storage building was still standing. The Chilton Pen Co. occupied a 5,000-square-foot building on 51st Avenue. The M.H. Thompson lumber yard had replaced the Jump House Wrecking Company and several buildings used for the storage of crates, boxes, and tires occupied the former American Druggist Syndicate site (Sanborn 1936). Draft Upland Site Summary Report May 2012 Newtown Creek RI/FS 4 120782-01.01 TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel The Queens Midtown Tunnel Authority was created in 1935, which later became the New York City Tunnel Authority. Construction of the Midtown Tunnel began in October 1936. The tunnel opened to traffic on November 15, 1940 (mta.info 2012; NYT 1940). In 1946, the New York City Tunnel Authority merged with the Triborough Bridge Authority to become the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. The current legal name of the agency remains the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, but it is also known as MTA Bridges and Tunnels and is under the umbrella of the MTA (mta.info 2012). The original brick roadway inside the tunnel was replaced with asphalt in 1995. In 2001, a $126 million project was completed, replacing lighting, wall tiles, traffic control systems, electronic signs, traffic control lights, and signals. In 2009, 27.7 million vehicles used the tunnel (mta.info 2012). 7 CURRENT AND HISTORICAL AREAS OF CONCERN AND COPCS The understanding of the current and historical potential upland and overwater areas of concern at the site is summarized in Table 1. The following sections provide brief discussion of the potential sources and COPCs at the site requiring additional discussion. 7.1 Uplands Nine petroleum tanks (seven underground storage tanks [USTs] and two aboveground storage tanks [ASTs]) have been located on site at the Queens Midtown Tunnel Service Building. Five of the seven USTs and one AST have been closed and/or removed. The remaining in-service USTs and AST have an active permit (PBS No. 2-454559) that expires December 6, 2013. Petroleum product storage and capacity is summarized in the following table (NYSDEC 2012): Draft Upland Site Summary Report May 2012 Newtown Creek RI/FS 5 120782-01.01 TBTA Queens Midtown Tunnel Date Capacity Tank ID Tank Status Tank Type Product Installed (Gallons) 1 Closed – removed 01/01/40 UST 550 Gasoline 2 01/01/99 3 Closed – in place 01/01/40 UST 4,000 No. 2 fuel oil 4 01/01/96 5 01/01/90 In service UST 1,000 Biodiesel Closed – removed 6 12/01/78 UST 265 Waste/used oil 10/01/93 7 12/01/99 In service UST 1,500 Gasoline Closed – removed 8 07/01/96 AST 5,000 No. 2 fuel oil 10/24/05 9 11/01/05 In service AST 475 Other Notes: AST – aboveground storage tank UST – underground storage tank Records indicate the site is an active Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) large quantity generator (LQG; USEPA 2011). Available hazardous waste manifest documentation indicates that between 2007 and 2009, the site shipped non-listed corrosive waste (D002), non-listed ignitable waste (D001), and lead (D008). In 1989, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2008, the site was classified as a large quantity generator and in 1999, 2006, and 2007, a small quantity generator (Environmental Data Report [EDR] 2010). No other information related to waste generation was located.