Comment EI-17677
Received or sent (printed as 5/7/2009)
I have serious concerns about the list of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in the Embankment soil as recorded in the perfunctory Dresdner Robin Subsurface Report completed over 10 years ago. Even with the most stringent of clean-up policies, the unearthing and transport of more than 200,000 cubic yards of soil and sandstone blocks would without doubt result in sending particles of arsenic, hydrocarbons, lead, mercury, antimony into our heavily polluted air. In such a densely populated urban area, with thousands of children attending schools within blocks of the structure, it is absolutely essential that a full Environmental Impact Statement is conducted before any ruling is made. According to the Ferderal Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry: What happens to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) when they enter the environment? In soils, PAHs are most likely to stick tightly to particles; certain PAHs move through soil to contaminate underground water. PAH contents of plants and animals may be much higher than PAH contents of soil or water in which they live. How likely are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to cause cancer? The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that some PAHs may reasonably be expected to be carcinogens. Some people who have breathed or touched mixtures of PAHs and other chemicals for long periods of time have developed cancer. Some PAHs have caused cancer in laboratory animals when they breathed air containing them (lung cancer), ingested them in food (stomach cancer), or had them applied to their skin (skin cancer).
Submitted by: Reynold M. Bolivar · Jersey City, NJ
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/AB-167/sub/1189X/comment/EI-17677 · back to the docket sheet