A half-century after radioactive waste seeped into the soil under a Queens chemical plant, the government is planning a $39 million cleanup of the Superfund site.
The effort will displace several businesses on Irving Avenue in Ridgewood, where chemicals for the atomic bomb were once processed.
Between 1920 and 1954, the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company processed chemicals for the federal government, as part of a program that got its start with the Manhattan Project and led to testing nuclear weapons during World War II.
Owners of the businesses currently located at the site — including car repair shops, a deli and a Mexican tavern — are hoping to get some government compensation to offset the cost of moving and higher rent.
“We hope the government is going to take care of us, since they created the problem originally, even if it was not intentional,” Sandy Frayman, owner of the Celtic Custom NYC motorcycle repair shop, told Bloomberg.
Plans call for evaluating the site and then razing the buildings. An exact date for the cleanup hasn’t been set. [Bloomberg] — E.B. Solomont