The future of a public housing complex at the center of a local environmental battle in Cohoes could soon be determined.
The clock is ticking on a 60-day window the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation gave Norlite in mid-February to submit a plan to control fugitive dust leaving its property, install and operate new off-site air monitoring and increase recording, reporting and training requirements regarding fugitive dust, which Democratic Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler hailed as “welcome news.”
"For two years I've been urging Norlite to cover their piles and contain the fugitive dust," Keeler said. "I've been sounding the alarm about what is contained in the company's so-called black mix and other dusts coming from their operations. In an effort to make our communities safer I urged DEC to install air monitors and more closely track Norlite's fugitive dust, which area residents have complained about for decades."
Norlite has been the focus of public scrutiny for some time over emissions from its smokestack that have been a constant cause for concern at the Saratoga Sites, which sits in its shadow.
Earlier in the month Keeler formally requested the Cohoes Housing Authority's Board of Commissioners approve the sale of Saratoga Sites to the city.
In the days that followed, Norlite revealed it was invited by the Housing Authority to offer a proposal as an adjoining property owner. A spokesman for Norlite says the company propsed to purchase the property for $45,000 — more than its appraised value. It would assume ownership once all of the Sites residents are relocated to new homes.
Former EPA Regional Administrator and WAMC commentator Judith Enck has been following the chain of events:
"Norlite has heavily contaminated Cohoes, and in fact the entire Capital Region, to the point that 70 families living at the Saratoga Sites public housing complex, will be forced to move and relocated because of the pollution." Enck said "An impressive list of environmental organizations and the majority of the Common Council in Cohoes wrote to the Cohoes Housing Authority, urging them not to sell the Saratoga Sites property to Norlite."
A DEC spokesperson tells WAMC the agency is "aware of the proposed relocation of the residents of the Saratoga Sites Public Housing apartment complex, but DEC is not part of that process."
Norlite says it envisions redeveloping Saratoga Sites as a state-of-the-art research laboratory where its scientists and engineers would pursue the development of technologies for waste recycling, reuse and energy recovery. Enck says "it's 25 years too late for that."
"The organizations are interested in the lands being sold to the city of Cohoes," said Enck. "The Cohoes Housing Authority met on Tuesday evening. There was a public comment period. Every single person who testified opposed selling the Saratoga Sites land to Norlite. The Cohoes Housing Authority Board then went into executive session for an extended period of time we were expecting them to vote, but instead, they said that they will put off the vote until Monday, February 28th."
Norlite also has until Monday to submit completed permit applications to DEC in order to keep operating its kiln.
A spokesperson for Mayor Keeler says the city’s position has not changed: it still intends to purchase the property, but the decision rests with the Cohoes Housing Authority.
In Keeler's letter to the authority he says Cohoes would purchase Saratoga Sites for $35,000 and then spend $600,000 to demolish it.
In its proposal, Norlite sweetened the pot by offering to bear the costs of the demolition and removal of the existing buildings and other debris. Keeler's letter and Norlite's proposal are posted below:
Mayor Keeler Ltr to CHA Re Intent to Purchase Saratoga Sites Post HUD Disposition (Feb 1 2022)
