Cleanup of 'Press' site nearly finished

Reclaimed brownfield site to house printing plant

Additional steps are planned to ensure the property is clean and safe. They include capping low levels of compounds remaining in the ground, and installing a precautionary ventilation system beneath offices of the high-technology printing press and production facility.

Construction on the site is expected to begin later this year. The plant is scheduled to open in 2006.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is accepting comments on the clean-up plan, on file at the Broome County Library and other sites, until July 31.

Classes of chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs; and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs have been detected in the ground at the site. Polluted "hot spots" are being removed, Kamlet said.

As an extra safeguard, the new press building will be designed with a ventilation system below its foundation to prevent VOCs from entering through a process known as vapor intrusion, according to a work plan filed with the DEC. The system will be similar to those installed in homes and business in an area polluted by volatile organic compounds in Endicott, Kamlet said. The systems are based on the same principles as systems that keep radon out of basements.

Kamlet, an attorney who specializes in reclaiming old industrial sites called "brownfields" for new development, said the cleanup plan to redevelop the former Ranger Paracord site is extensive and effective.

"No part of this has been easy and quick. It's a complicated process that takes a lot of time," Kamlet said.

The site, with direct access to Route 17, has long been desirable for economic development, but pollution has thwarted progress. Last year, state lawmakers passed legislation that made brownfield redevelopment more feasible for business. The new program, which offers tax incentives for cleaning and reclaiming polluted land, is called the Brownfield Cleanup Program. It replaces an older state program called the Voluntary Cleanup Program.

The Ranger Paracord site is one of the first in the area to use the program, said Thomas Suozzo, an engineer with the DEC.

"The Department likes it because we are using private funds to address the contamination," he said.

The DEC expects to issue a letter approving the plan for development by the end of the month, Suozzo said. Each step of the project would then be approved by the DEC and Department of Health as it is completed, he said.

If all goes according to plan, ownership of the site will be transferred from Stella Ireland Road Associates to Gannett Satellite Information Network after the site is ready for development, before the end of July, Kamlet said. The Stella Ireland group includes the developer, Marc Newman.

Bernard M. Griffin, president and publisher of the Press & Sun-Bulletin, said cooperation between the public and private sectors was largely responsible for restoring the property.

"When we complete the final phase of paving in 2006, the Paracord site will be transformed from an abandoned brownfield industrial site to a first-class commercial real estate development," Griffin said. "The brownfield cleanup process is very expensive, but it can only happen when state agencies and private business come together with a common goal."

He credited "a great deal of hard work and cooperation" among state agencies, Stella Ireland Road Associates and Gannett Co.

Economic developers expect the project, near CFJ Park, will enhance the community's image and could encourage more brownfield redevelopment projects in the region. It will occupy about 12 acres of the 27-acre property, including the portion of the parcel that was formerly known as the Ranger Paracord plant, where EJ workers once made shoes.

The Gannett Corp. printing plant will produce newspapers and other products for the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Star-Gazette of Elmira and The Ithaca Journal.

All other newspaper operations will remain at their current locations.