The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has taken action against developers of the Queen City Landing project.
According to the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, a Notice of Violation had been issued, and a Consent Order was signed for the Queen City Landing Brownfield Cleanup Project along the Outer Harbor.
Queen City Landing acknowledged the violations and voluntarily signed the Consent Order on May 2, 2017, which included a civil penalty of $50,000.
The DEC began inspections after a concrete wall from the former Freezer Queen building fell into Lake Erie in November of 2016. Investigators on-site inspecting the building discovered multiple additional violations of the Environmental Conservation Law, according to the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper.
Queen City Landing issued the following statement Wednesday morning:
"We have made significant progress in the herculean task of transforming a challenging, privately-owned site on the Outer Harbor. The DEC recently brought certain matters to our attention, pertaining to certain specific site activities and information. We immediately, and over the course of the past several weeks, have actively cooperated with the DEC to examine all issues and answer all questions. We have removed and replaced our legal and environmental consultants in response to DEC matters. Queen City Landing's ownership had no involvement in the matters raised by the DEC, and we have addressed the issue, both internally and with the DEC."
"We appreciate the thorough and professional matter in which the DEC worked with our team. We look forward to continuing and completing our remediation activities at the site, in full compliance with the standards of the DEC's Brownfield Cleanup Program, which is an essential component to this once-in-a-lifetime development opportunity along the Outer Harbor."
The Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper says it has submitted additional Freedom of Information requests to the DEC for all data, reports and correspondence related to the Consent Order as well as the tax-payer supported Brownfield Cleanup Program at the site.
