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Flushing River wetlands project may be soaked
John
Lauinger, Daily News, Queens, Tidal marshland along the heavily polluted Flushing River is being reborn, but the painstaking project is not the work of eager environmentalists. Credit for the riverbank's plant-by-plant regeneration goes to a frequent enemy of the environment - a highway project. The state Transportation Department is restoring 2-1/2 acres of marshland along the river's west bank, which borders the grossly contaminated Willets Point industrial zone. The marshland is being rebuilt to replace wetlands lost during a $178 million project to revamp an accident-prone drawbridge that carries the Whitestone Expressway northbound over the river, said John Elias, the project's lead engineer. More than 90,000 native marsh grasses known as Spartina alterniflora were planted by hand along the lower tidal portion of the riverbank, Elias said. Another marsh grass species and a marshland shrub were planted along the higher tidal portion. And the upland, nontidal stretch is soon to be planted with about 60 plants and shrubs. But before plantings could be made, Elias said, the riverbank was cleared of invasive species and partially excavated. "There was no contaminated soil," Elias said. But James Cervino, a marine biologist at Pace University who has studied the Flushing River extensively, questioned the findings. "I don't believe them," he said. "The soil all around that whole site is contaminated." Cervino took surface samples in the vicinity showing high levels of lead and mercury - most likely from surface runoff from the Iron Triangle in Willets Point, he said. He also questioned the timing of the project. Given that the city is pushing to redevelop Willets Point, Cervino said the marshland reconstruction should not have been undertaken until after the "poison bed" that is Willets Point is addressed. "I'm not saying that what they did is not going to survive," Cervino said. "But if you are talking about true restoration and true protection of the wetland ... the right thing to do is to remove the contamination." Lori O'Connell, a spokeswoman for the state Environmental Conservation Department, which issued permits for the project, said the marsh grasses will be monitored through 2012. Three parallel bridges are being built over the Flushing River to separate accident-prone northbound traffic merging onto the Whitestone Expressway from the Van Wyck Expressway, and the Grand Central Parkway and Astoria Blvd. The Grand Central and Van Wyck spans, to be completed in September 2009, will have separate exits for Linden Place, an exit on the north side of the river. Currently, all traffic goes across the bridge in five lanes, leading to a high accident rate as motorists weave across the highway to exit at Linden Place. *************************************
Dr. James M. Cervino ************************************
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