City of Rochester
News Release
(May 21, 2009) - Empire State Development (ESD) today announced the ESD Board of Directors awarded the contracts to perform asbestos abatement and air monitoring services at the Midtown Plaza site to Cambria Contracting, Inc. and Paradigm Environmental Services, Inc., respectively. These contracts are being funded by ESD through a $55 million Upstate City-by-City grant that was awarded to the Midtown Rising development effort.
“We are reshaping downtown Rochester and the Midtown Rising project is the cornerstone. Our rebirth would not be possible without the continued commitment and dedication of Gov. Paterson – we are extremely grateful.” said Mayor Robert J. Duffy. “I am pleased that the abatement contractor will be putting local people to work and that the air monitoring contractor is a city firm. It is vitally important that we use local workers in this stressed economy.”
ESD Upstate President Dennis Mullen said: “ESD is very pleased with the selection of these two companies for this important component of the Midtown redevelopment effort. Without Governor Paterson’s continued support of this effort, we would not be able to continue moving forward with our goal to revitalize downtown Rochester. Today marks a significant milestone in this development effort, as we are now able to start preparing the Midtown site for demolition. ESD looks forward to continuing our strong relationship with our partners in this effort to ensure our development timeline remains on target and that progress is furthered along.”
Cambria Contracting, Inc., headquartered in Lockport, New York, is a highly experienced, full-service demolition, dismantlement, asbestos abatement, recovery, salvage, environmental remediation, recycling and site preparation services company. Cambria has pledged to hire local labor for this project through local unions, advertising and interviews.
The $34.1 million asbestos abatement contract will consist of the removal, transportation and disposal or recycling of all asbestos-containing materials, hazardous wastes and universal waste from the locations indicated in the specifications or as directed by ESD and the City of Rochester. The asbestos abatement contract secures the services of a qualified asbestos abatement contractor to perform all asbestos removal activities necessary to prepare the Midtown Plaza buildings for demolition.
Paradigm Environmental, Inc., which has offices in the city of Rochester, has over 18 years experience in asbestos inspection, air monitoring and design services for all abatement and demolition services, including the recent $240 million “Footprint Reduction” program at Kodak Park.
The $1.69 million air monitoring contract secures the services of an independent Asbestos Monitoring Consultant that will provide project monitoring and air sampling to support the asbestos removal, decontamination and demolition of the buildings collectively known as Midtown Plaza. The consultant will also provide oversight and tracking of all other hazardous materials removed during the pre-demolition abatement and building cleanout.
At the peak of this process, lasting for approximately six months, there will be double shifts with up to 200 people per day working on the site. The entire asbestos abatement process is scheduled to begin this summer and will conclude approximately 14 months after the date of commencement.
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News Media: For more information, call Michael Keane, City of Rochester, at (585) 428-6064 or Katie Krawczyk, Empire State Development, at (716) 846-8247.