More than six months after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the "manor house" condominium development on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, the 12 units remain vacant. Yet another test of the air there -- the fifth, at least -- revealed elevated levels of volatile organic compounds in their basements.
The timeline for occupancy of the apartments, the first offering of its kind in the town's affordable housing program, was first derailed in December, when the appraiser for one of the units' buyers noticed an odor in some of the basements. People's United Bank, which had hired the appraiser, then required that the air be tested prior to closing. The town engaged Silver Wolf Environmental Inc. of Shoreham to test the air quality.
That test failed.
Following a period of ventilation and an effort to "cook off" the odors by heating the basements, a second test was conducted. The result was similar: the compounds in question exceeded the federal Environmental Protection Agency's regional screening levels.
Then, as now, off-gassing of the insulation foam and/or fireproof paint was the suspected culprit.
Informed of the situation, the contractor, JNS Development of Wading River, conducted a round of tests using another environmental services company, Air Quality Insights of Brookhaven. In April, that company's principal told the contractor that "the air quality within the unit locations . . . is acceptable for most individuals to occupy these spaces," with the exception of one unit.
On April 30, the town board resolved to direct the town attorney to "take any and all actions necessary to compel the contractor" and/or its bonding company to "take appropriate remedial actions to bring the manor house condominium units into compliance with acceptable air quality standards, so that such units may be transferred to, and safely occupied by, the purchasers" and their families. That same day, Air Quality Insights wrote to JNS Development to say that a subsequent test of the one unit that had failed its test now revealed air well within the range considered normal and "acceptable for most individuals" to occupy.
At the time, Tom Ruhle, director of the town's Office of Housing and Community Development, questioned the timing of the report deeming the unit's air quality normal and acceptable, citing the town board's resolution on the same day. On Monday, he said that Air Quality Insights' test was conducted "according to an entirely different set of standards than the tests we did. Ours were based on E.P.A. recommended residential limits. . . . Ours was substantially more detailed and went substance by substance." The town board does not consider Air Quality Insights' conclusions valid, he said.
Using Silver Wolf Environmental, the town, "out of an abundance of caution," Mr. Ruhle said in a June 2 email, conducted a third set of tests. All of the units failed again. "Obviously this will delay the closings," Mr. Ruhle wrote in a June 10 email.
"We're exploring options," he said on Monday, with mechanized ventilation of the basements among the mitigation strategies under consideration. The town "has been speaking to environmental counsel concerning what our options are," he added. Asked if the town would take legal action against the contractor, he said, after a long pause, "Hopefully this can be resolved without anybody litigating anything."
Nick Zoumas, a principal of JNS Development, responded by email to telephone and email inquiries on Monday. "On 4/28/20 a test of the elevated airborne total volatile organic compounds was conducted by a [New York State] certified testing firm," he wrote. "The test revealed that the air quality was within acceptable standards. There is no issue with the air quality which is preventing sales."
While town officials once hoped that off-gassing would eventually subside, "At this point, it seems pretty clear that just doing nothing isn't going to fix the problem," Mr. Ruhle said. "It's highly likely something's going to have to get done. Whatever that something is will take a while. . . . If we're here a month from now, it wouldn't surprise me."
Of the units' 12 prospective buyers, at least one is facing homelessness after being notified of eviction by their landlord. The town board is aware of that situation, Mr. Ruhle said.
"This is not what we wanted for an answer," he said of the latest round of tests. "But we've got it, and we're dealing with it."
Editor's note: Christopher Walsh is one of the prospective buyers for a unit at the condominium complex.
