Developers sought brownfield credits, but had excavated and remediated site before DEC denied claim. 377 Greenwich LLC, developers of a seven-story luxury hotel and restaurant at Greenwich and North Moore Streets, conducted soil tests on the site and discovered two 550-gallon unregistered underground storage tanks. The developers applied in 2004 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to have the site recognized as a brownfield under a newly enacted brownfield law that offered substantial tax credits. At the time of its application, the developers, with principals Robert DeNiro, Ira Druckier and Richard Born, held an approved remediation plan from DEC that addressed findings from the tests.

Under the brownfield law, if DEC determines that the site is a brownfield, it prepares a remediation plan with community comment. With DEC’s investigation pending, the developers at 377 Greenwich excavated and remediated the site. The developers then submitted new soil tests showing that the contamination covered 50 percent of the site and cost $1 million to remediate. (read more…)