The "Fells Point/Harbor East is about to become unlivable for 2 years" thread (Baltimore: 2014, condominiums)

[HarborEastGuy]

A Full-on 2 year war zone is about to commence:



Beatty Development Group LLC is notifying neighbors of the 27-acre Harbor Point site that heavy construction activities will start by mid-June on the Exelon Corp. regional headquarters.

In a fact sheet being distributed to neighbors, the company led by Harbor East developer Michael Beatty said “loud pounding sounds” will soon be heard in the area as workers begin driving piles into the ground. The piles help form the foundation for the 20-story, 648,000-square-foot building.

Once it begins, construction is slated to take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on the site, and neighbors should expect to see increased truck traffic on Caroline Street, Beatty Development said.

There will also be temporary road closures at times on Lancaster Street, Central Avenue and Caroline Street. About 1,000 workers could be on the site during the two years of construction.

[HarborEastGuy]

Proposed Harbor Point Tower on Chromium site could make Baltimore an Environmental Crash Test Dummy with real lives at stake



Baltimore may be the first city in the country to knowingly puncture a capped chromium dump in order to build a 23 story tower, making city folks either guinea pigs or participants in a pioneering remidation project, depending on your perspective.

If it works then the nation’s developers will suddenly have a way to build heavy on what was seen as taboo territory, highly toxic brown fields such as the 25 acre Allied Signal Chromium site on the Harbor. But if it fails the city, the Maryland Department of Environment and the EPA would have willingly broken open the cap designed to protect the public from hexavalent chromium or Chromium 6, an officially recognized carcinogen. And that public has gotten increasingly crowded around this site as the city’s waterfront has been built up since the cap was completed in the early 1990s with corporate headquarters, condominiums and a high end shopping district, Inner Harbor East pressing on all sides.

Full Story:
Proposed Harbor Point Tower on Chromium site could make Baltimore an Environmental Crash Test Dummy with real lives at stake | Baltimore Wire Service
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[HarborEastGuy]

EPA rejected this project in Nov 2013 over "contamination monitoring concerns".
Yet it's somehow is proceeding anyway? Was someone bought off?

Full Story:
EPA rejects Harbor Point construction plans over contamination monitoring concerns - Baltimore Business Journal
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[HarborEastGuy]

Black Olive owner says he wants to do his own test — set up by a Johns Hopkins researcher — to keep developer 'honest'




Full Story:
Across from Harbor Point, an unofficial air-monitoring effort - Baltimore Sun
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[HarborEastGuy]

Residents seek answers to potential health risks at Harbor Point:




A group of Fells Point residents is seeking answers to what they say has been masked during the public debate – the human health risks associated with opening the site to construction.

Most of the project, including the Exelon Tower, will be built over land poisoned by a century’s worth of residues from the processing of chromium.

So hazardous are the tailings that environmental regulators ordered the soil sealed off by a five-foot-deep cap and a perimeter barrier when the Allied Chemical factory was razed 20 years ago.

The fact that the plastic and clay cap will be breached by more than 1,000 pilings for the 22-story Exelon Tower alone has raised alarm among some residents about the massive project planned by developer Michael Beatty.


Full Story:
https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2013/0...-harbor-point/
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[HarborEastGuy]

The dust from driving 1,200 piles into this chromium dump site could cause cancerous chromium dust to blow all over the downtown area.

Residents of Silo Point, Fed Hill, Harborview, the Ritz Carlton condos, downtown, Harbor East, Fells Point, Canton, etc will all get to breath this nasty stuff. Anyone mad yet?

[Zea mays]

Originally Posted by HarborEastGuy

A full-on 2 year war zone is about to commence. About 1,000 workers could be on the site during the two years of construction.

Jobs are good.

Originally Posted by HarborEastGuy

Proposed Harbor Point Tower on Chromium site could make Baltimore an Environmental Crash Test Dummy with real lives at stake. Baltimore may be the first city in the country to knowingly puncture a capped chromium dump.

As I've always said, living in Baltimore is exciting.

Originally Posted by HarborEastGuy

EPA rejected this project in Nov 2013 over "contamination monitoring concerns." Yet it is somehow proceeding. Was someone bought off?

As we say in Chicago, "the fix was in." Some are always bought off. Welcome to corporate America.

Originally Posted by HarborEastGuy

Residents of Silo Point, Fed Hill, Harborview, the Ritz Carlton condos, downtown, Harbor East, Fells Point, Canton, etc will all get to breath this nasty stuff. Anyone mad yet?

Is anyone in Gary mad at Chicago? We don't care. Move to Dubuque if you want fresh air.

[picardlx]

I appreciate your passion and thank you for sharing.

[HarborEastGuy]

Please get the word out..

If enough people get evolved (especially the rich owners of Harborview or Ritz Carlton),
they will have the resources make sure this this project halts if Chromium releases into
the air exceed EPA Standards.

[baltplanner]

Your complaints are a classic example of NIMBYism. This project will create jobs, tax revenues (that is after the TIFF period), a new beautiful waterfront park, and will grow and enhance two already amazing neighborhoods (Harbor East and Fells point). Not to mention new construction tends to add excitement and sense that city isn't just stagnant.

I loovvvveee the idea that we're creating and growing high end neighborhoods. Who knows, if we get enough wealthy, taxpaying, law abiding people actually living and working in this city we may be able to shake off some of the ghetto culture that has crippled it for so long.

In short I think you're complaints are alarmist (I've been reading alot about this project.. the environmental dangers have been dealt with appropriately). Your other complaints about construction disturbance are true of any large capital project.

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW. HERE HERE FOR A NEW BALTIMORE!