THE WORLD READS WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER — 8,324,077 VISITS IN ONE YEAR | 2,905,611 VISITORS VISIT 8,324,077 TIMES 3 TIMES EVERY DAY IN ONE YEAR. HIGHEST ACTIVITY IN WPCNR HISTORY.White PlainsCitizeNetReporter lifted its worldwide visits from unique visitors to wpcnr.com to 8,324,077,a 1,306,419 increase in visits in one year from 7,017,658 visits to the site last year which covers White Plains and Westchester County. The 8,324,077 visits were made by 2,005,611 unique visitors who visited wpcnr an average of 3 visits a day. ON JULY 20- -2026 visitors have accessed wpcnr and made 3,072 visits an average of 1.6 visits. In the last week 33,495 individual vistors made 54,458 visits, averaging 1.6 visits. In the last month, 152,940 visitors recorded 229,338 visits (1.5 visits)

WP Housing Authority Demands BP North America “IMMEDIATE REMEDIATION” OF ALL ALLEGED “MIGRATING” GASOLINE CONTAMINATION UNDERGROUND LEAKING FOR 40 YEARS INTO WINBROOK CAMPUS FROM BP GAS STATION

Posted on August 22, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR WHITE PLAINS LAW JOURNAL. By John F. Bailey August 22, 2017:

City of White Plains Corporation Counsel John Callahan confirmed to WPCNR Monday evening that the White Plains Housing Authority, owner of the Winbrook residential complex, located in a quadrangle between South Lexington Avenue,Fisher Avenue, Fisher Court, Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard and East Post Road is suing BP Products North America in a damage complaint filed August 18, last Friday in U.S. Federal Court in White Plains.

In a written statement, Callahan wrote:

“This was an action instituted by the Housing Authority. This City is not a party to the action. I would have to direct you to the Housing Authority for any information on this matter.”

In the official court papers filing the complaint examined by WPCNR, Case 7:17-cv-06250-UA, The Housing Authority plaintiff seeks “declaratory relief, injuntive relief, damages,declaratory relief and attorneys’ fees and costs for Defendent BP Products’ contamination of Plaintiff’s (Housing Authority) property located at 33 Fisher Court, White Plains.N.Y.”

The contamination was first discovered three years ago in September 2014 in connection with a remediation of a separate groundwater plume by Tyree Environmental Corporation (a consultant to the Getty Properties Corporation), on property West of the BP Station.

In the course of this remediation by Tyree, two monitoring wells were installed; MW-110 and MW-0111. The first samplings taken on or about September 19,2014 showed soil samples including 280 ppb benzene and 79,000 ppb 1,2,4-Trimethlbenzene exceeding NYS Department of Environmental Conservation soil cleanup levels.

In April 2015, First Environment, the Housing Authority’s Environmental Consultant drilled six more monitoring wells on portions of the Housing Authority adjacent the BP Station

Results from extensive monitoring were reported in December, 2016 to the DEC which issued a Petroleum Spill Number for the BP Station at 34 East Post Road, “Spill number 16-8924” which reported according to the court papers on page 8, “petroleum contamination affecting both soil and groundwater, and significant soil and groundwater contaminiation off-site.”

The suit alleges “the presence of lead in the soil under the BP Station and in the groundwater under WPHA’s adjacent property confirms that lead was discharged into the environment from the BP Station during the period it was owned or operated by Defendent BP products.”

Contaminants from the BP Station have allegedly leaked into the soil surrounding Building 33 to the right in the Winbrook complex, right, and possibly the playground foreground

HydroEnvironmental Solutions, the environmental consultant for the current owner of the BP Station in January 2017, performed a subsurface intestigation at the BP Station, and made seven test borings. HES reported that concentrations of petroleum-related contamination at concentrations exceeding the respective NYSDEC soil cleanup levels, including ethylbenzene; isopropylbenzene; 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, 1,3,5- Trimethylbenzene and zylene. Lead in soil was detected in three soil borings under the BP Station property.

The HES report “reflected its belief that the petroleum-related impacts at the BP station are not recent in nature.”

The Housing Authority complaint announces “On information and belief Defendent BP Products has known or should have known of the potential migration from the BP Station of solid and hazardous waste beginning as faer back as during the period 1977- to 1979 and has been on actual notice since 2015 when it received from the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) endangerment notice of migration onto WPHA’ property.

The suit notes: “the presence of soil contamination and groundwater contamination from from the BP Station on the WPHA’s property will materially interfere with and/or increase the cost and complexity of the financing for construction of this project in the vicinity of Building 33, and may adversely affect the financing for construction of other buildings and amenities to be constructed on the WPHA’s property.

No court has been set yet.

Mayor and Democratic-Nominated Council Candidates Will Not Appear at Neighborhood Association Forum This Evening.

Posted on August 22, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2017. by John F. Bailey. August 22, 2017:

John Sheehan of the Gedney Association confirmed to WPCNR this morning that Mayor Thomas Roach’s Campaign Manager, Barry Caro had in an email informed him the Mayor would not attend tonight’s Democratic Primary Forum at 7 PM at The Woman’s Club of White Plains.

Mr. Roach’s three running mates, incumbent Councilman John Kirkpatrick and John Martin and first-time council nominee, Justin Brasch would also not attend, Sheehan said.

Last Thursday he received an e-mail from Caro saying the Mayor would not attend. Sheehan said the Mayor has been give a choice of three dates, the 8th, 15th and 22nd, but no response had been received before last Thursday.

Sheehan said the Mayor challenger, Milagros Lecuona, and council challengers, Michael Kraver, Arthur Goldman and Saad Siddiqui had been willing to come on all three dates and would be attending this evening.

Sheehan noted that the candidates who are coming will be asked why they are running, and asked about some southend town issues.

He said if any of the “no-show” candidates wanted to change their mind at the last minute they should just walk on in.

The Mayor was said to have a prior personal committment.

Will the Common Council 8-Year Eclipse End and Bring a Ray of Sunlight in White Plains, NY, USA?

Posted on August 21, 2017 by John Bailey

WPCNR NEWS AND COMMENT. By John F. Bailey. August 21,2017:

After an 8-Year Total Eclipse of leadership on the Common Council in favor of procrastination, lipservice to residents, smiles without sincerity, and overly compliant with the city administration wishes , White Plains has the opportunity to infuse the Common Council horseshoe in city hall with some new blood, new perspective, should they wish to do so. Or at least stay with the same tired but comfortable and lovable team of plowhorses clip-clopping along.

On Tuesday, August 22, tomorrow at 7:30 at The Woman’s Club of White Plains, 305 Ridgeway an Election Forum sponsored by the Gedney Association, North Street Area Civic Association and the Rosedale Residential Association will be held featuring invited candidates who are competing in the September 12 Democratic Party Primary:

Invited are the Democratic Party official nominees: incumbent Mayor Thomas Roach, incumbent councilpersons John Kirkpatrick and John Martin and first time runner for Council, Justin Brasch.

Also invited are the challengers to these official nominations, Mayor hopeful, present Common Councilmember, Milagros Lecuona, who is also nominated by the Republican Party to run in November on the Republican slate, so she will face the Mayor anyway regardless of the primary result. Then there are the three council challengers, Alan Goldman, Michael Kraver and Saad Siddiqui who are aiming to wrest the Democratic Party line from the the two incumbents Kirkpatrick and Martin, and the newcomer Justin Brasch.

The Primary was declared “go” last week when Judge Lawrence Ecker validated the disputed petitions of Milagros Lecuona, Mr. Goldman, Mr. Kraver, and Mr. Siddiqui. The Democratic candidates declined to appeal the Judge’s decision.So here we are.

At the beginning of this Democratic Primary Candidates’ Forum, being characterized by some in the Democratic Party as an anti-French American School of New York inspired effort, WPCNR would like to suggest a few questions that the moderator of the debate, Allen Flissler, President of the North Street Area Civic Association, might consider which would be a complete departure of these forums from forums of the past.

WPCNR suggests ask those who would be Mayor or Councilperson, what they would do (if elected), how hard can they work; would they listen, who would they listen to? what they would seek to achieve on specific issues? Why is the city in need of your leadership?

And Incumbents: Would you begin to pay attention? Would they stand on principle and what is right? There’s more to leadership than earnestness, mindful compassion and a smile. (As a politician, the first thing you learn to do is put on a smile, you’re never completely dressed without it it’s so essential to seducing people’s confidence in you.)

Along these thoughts:

Issues:

DEVELOPMENT:

Continue current pace of multi-apartment, mixed use complexes or declare moratorium.

Require performance bond when a project is improved.

Reverse long Common Council habit of renewing site plans for years instead of removing approval.

Transit District Construction: What Should Be Built on Battle Hill? How Big Should New Metro North Station Be—What does Metro North Want?

TAXES—

Should there be a moratorium on Payments In Lieu of Taxes for developers applying for new projects?

Do you support a no tax increase policy similar to the Astorino policy of the last 8 years?

CITY ECONOMY

The White Plains City sales tax receipts are down 5% in the last three years. Taking inflation into account, that should be at least even, but instead are a good 10% below what they should be. What will you do to reverse this trend? Should we wait and hope the new developments save the economy? (That is 6 years away.) Or start fixing things to attract people to White Plains again—if so, what?

TRAFFIC

Are you in favor of the city’s bicycling and pedestrian friendly downtown, traffic flow redirections going forward? Is mass transit needed to a greater degree?

CITY INFRASTRUCTURE

FOR incumbents are you confident the city is infrastructurally ready for our increased population in the downtown? What needs to be addressed?

For those who would be taking office for the first time: What are the infrastructure issues you feel, based on your knowledge that are not being addressed by the present administration?

ILLEGAL, OVERCROWDED HOUSING

What would you do about cleaning up illegal overcrowded housing in the city?

SCHOOLS

The school district will be most impacted by the 5,000 new apartments coming into town. If 10% of the new apartment dwellers coming to down in the next 6 years bring new children into those apartments this would equal 500 new students in the White Plains Schools in the next 6 to 7 years, requiring at least one new elementary school to accommodate the input. If 20% bring new children, you would need two new schools.

This potential tax impact due to new construction upwards of $100 Million has to be thought about. Do you defend the present growth in residential? Do you feel city should use its bonding power to contribute to new school expansion.

Just trying to be of help.