By Kathianne Boniello
Not so fast — that’s what U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) had to say to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week when the group gave him a report on mercury contamination at Fort Totten in Bayside without outlining its potential danger to human health.
Ackerman sent the report back to David Brouwer, project manager of the Totten cleanup for the Army Corps, and requested the inclusion of information on the impact of mercury on humans at the Civil War-era fort within 30 days.
“It is totally unacceptable for the Army Corps to present a report that does not indicate whether or not the contamination poses a danger to human beings,” Ackerman said in a statement. “A human risk analysis is critical to determine whether or not a human health threat exists.”
Brouwer said Ackerman’s request that the report be withheld until the human health risk assessment is included means that the Coast Guard Restoration Advisory Board will not be able to discuss the results at its May 3 meeting.
The civilian RAB has been considering the test results on a piecemeal basis and members have repeatedly called on Brouwer to present a full report as soon as possible.
Brouwer said the Army Corps had always intended to include a human health risk assessment in the report, but such information had not been included by the time Ackerman’s office requested an update on the project.
Mercury was discovered at the fort in 1985 in a drainpipe of Building 615 by the Coast Guard, which shared the base with the Army.
The Army, which vacated the base in 1995, agreed to remediate the mercury in May 1998. The city is slated to take over the base for use as parkland in less than a year and a half. This year Brouwer has maintained that he could not uphold the clean-up promise until he knew the results of this summer’s testing.
Member of the civilian Coast Guard Restoration Advisory Board have been waiting for a full report on the summer 2000 testing for months and have only seen early, unstudied versions of the data.
Bob LoPinto, head of the Coast Guard RAB, said he was aware of Ackerman’s request to withhold the report.
If the report had been released, LoPinto said “at least there would have been an opportunity for us to read it before the meeting and start asking some questions. From my point of view, I would rather see it released.”
LoPinto said there is a possibility the RAB, which meets every other month, would consider scheduling a June gathering if the report was finished by then.
In his statement last week, Ackerman called the Army Corps report “incomplete and inconclusive because it fails to include an appraisal of the mercury’s health risk to humans.”
The report did contain an assessment of the contamination’s effects on the environment, Ackerman’s office said.
Jordan Goldes, a spokesman for Ackerman, said in a telephone interview Monday that the Army Corps report had “nothing about what this means for humans.”
Brouwer said the Army Corps had been working in a way that “presented the RAB with information as it became available,” and prior to Ackerman’s request the agency was prepared to present the incomplete report to the civilian group.
Last summer’s testing included an examination of fish and other maritime life in Little Bay as well as an exploration of the bay’s sediment to determine the extent of the mercury contamination.
Brouwer said, “I’m optimistic — I’m not absolutely certain” if the report will be done by Ackerman’s deadline.
LoPinto said the RAB would discuss several topics at its May 3 meeting, including bylaws, the budget for the Totten cleanup, the status of the report, and a review of maps presented at the group’s March meeting.
The Coast Guard RAB’s May 3 meeting was slated to be held at 7 p.m. at the Adria Hotel at 220-33 Northern Blvd. in Bayside.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
