Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Gov. Lamont (center), Kim Harris (left), and Harris Tucker school students celebrate the newly cleaned lot.
71 Shelton Avenue: Now nuclear-free.
Gov. Ned Lamont, a dozen middle school students, a local landlord, and two Newhallville alder candidates walked onto a vacant lot — to celebrate that now, after decades of contamination, the site of a former Shelton Avenue nuclear manufacturing site is finally clean and ready to be repurposed.
That celebratory press conference and site visit took place Monday afternoon at 71 Shelton Ave.
A year and a half after remediation work on the property first began in October 2019 — and 500 trucks, 10,000 tons of removed materials, and 100 soil samples later — the site was officially approved for “unrestricted use” in March.
Lamont joined Newhallville neighbors and state and federal officials at the site on Monday to fete that cleanup, and to imagine what might one day stand where a long-dilapidated former nuclear fuel manufacturing facility has since been removed.
The $14 million cleanup was funded by the federal Department of Energy (DOE), and was overseen by the site’s former owner, General Electric (GE). The property is now owned by local landlord Schneur Katz. The DOE plans to install historical panels on the back end of the property to recognize the legacy of the site.
Click here, here, and here for more about the full history and remediation of 71 Shelton Ave.
Jeffrey Semancik: “GE did a great job.”
“GE did a great job of listening to our input and making sure that we did it right. This site’s got a long history as a big part of helping us in the Cold War, but that’s the legacy you want on the site, not what’s left behind on the site,” said DEEP Radiation Division Director Jeffrey Semancik on Monday.
Semancik said that as asbestos, lead dust, and residual enriched uranium debris were removed, they ensured it was all packaged and sprayed down so as not to travel out or contaminate the community.
DEEP Supervising Radiation Control Physicist from the Radiation Division Michael Firsick said that after extracting remnants of manufactured radioactive material, any amount of radioactive material left now is of a “natural background” level.
Michael Firsick.
He said they conducted close to 100 soil samples across the property to confirm those levels.
“The amount of radioactive material we found here wasn’t a public health and safety risk to the neighborhood or the environment but it was material that you wouldn’t want to ingest. And if the building collapsed, you wouldn’t want people walking through it,” Firsick said.
Semancik and Firsick show Gov. Ned Lamont (right) old photos of the lot.
Firsick and Semancik spoke about the process and showed Lamont photos of the lot before the remediation while welcoming him to the now-clean site.
A group of young students from Harris and Tucker School summer camp presented the governor with a certificate of appreciation.
Lamont praised the cleanup work and the collaboration between organizations and community leaders involved.
“It brings the community back to life and hey, kids, it also shows you we really love you and care about you. That’s why people put in a lot of effort to take this place that was sort of messy, unhealthy, and unsafe and you guys decide what should be here next. It’ll be something a lot better than what we had here before.”
Rev. Boise Kimber.
“They did a good job, but we’ve got other sites in this community that we need to talk about,” Rev. Boise Kimber said at Monday’s event.
“They did an excellent job, they kept the community informed on every step. We felt like we were a part of what you were doing. This community has suffered over the years with contamination and so this is a beginning.”
What’s Coming Next?
Addie Kimbrough.
Shepard Street block watch captain, community gardener, and Newhallville alder candidate Addie Kimbrough visited the site every month. She said the organizations working on the cleanup sent out thorough reports and always came to management team meetings.
Kimbrough said she would like to see affordable housing in the empty lot — “very affordable housing.” Additionally, she said there should be a way to incorporate some kind of community space.
“Even if you have affordable housing here you can have a park where the children can play. It doesn’t have to take up the whole space.”
Secretary for the Newhallville Community Management Team, state legislative aide, and fellow Newhallville alder candidate Devin Avshalom-Smith said he would like to see business spaces or housing spring up in the lot. “Something that would generate revenue that would stay in the community.”
Community Management Team Chair Kim Harris, who runs Harris and Tucker School, said the kids took a poll on what they want to see built in the property. They landed on a farm with lots of animals, a playground, or tennis courts.
Harris grew up in Newhallville and said she still remembers how dilapidated the lot looked when she was a kid. “To see it now with all the possibilities is beautiful.”
“You really help to elevate the community by keeping us in the loop. We just want to keep these types of things happening in our neighborhood where we become more educated, where this generation really has a chance to make a difference in how they live.”
Spirite Watson.
Eleven-year-old Spirite Watson who is from Newhallville came with the Tucker and Harris School group Monday afternoon.
As for her vision of the lot, Watson said, “I hope that it turns into a playground so more children can play.”
Schneur Katz.
Local landlord Schneur Katz, who owns the property and the office building next door at 91 Shelton Ave., also attended Monday’s event.
Katz said he is currently “exploring different options” for the lot.
Watch a video on the remediation from DEEP below:
Kimbrough said she would like to see affordable housing in the empty lot—"very affordable housing." Additionally, she said there should be a way to incorporate some kind of community space.
"Even if you have affordable housing here you can have a park where the children can play. It doesn't have to take up the whole space."
This is the only thing coming to Newhallville.
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