New contamination found at Sag Harbor Bridge Street site, review continues

New state testing has turned up volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and PFAS at the Sag Harbor Bridge Street site, a 0.95-acre parcel at 7 and 11 Bridge Street that contains both a residential building and a commercial building. The findings push the property back into a formal cleanup review under the state Brownfield Cleanup Program and keep fresh attention on a block long linked to the former Sag Harbor manufactured gas plant next door.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said subsurface soil samples contained VOCs and PAHs above cleanup objectives, with impacts reaching to about 15 feet below grade. Groundwater also showed VOCs, PAHs and PFAS above applicable standards, and PFAS were detected across the entire footprint of the site. Soil vapor and indoor air testing found several VOC constituents associated with former manufactured gas plant operations and chlorinated solvents, a finding that matters because it points to contamination that can move through soil, water and indoor spaces used by residents or workers.

The Bridge Street parcel sits beside the former Sag Harbor MGP site, the local “gas ball” property that National Grid says manufactured gas for cooking, lighting, heating and commercial use beginning as early as the 1860s and continuing into the late 1920s. National Grid also says the property later served for gas storage and distribution. Village records say Lot 11 is subject to an environmental easement tied to the adjacent National Grid remediation at 5 Bridge Street, underscoring how closely the parcel remains connected to the old industrial cleanup. Local reporting has said the nearby former gas ball lot, at 5 Bridge Street, underwent a major remediation about a decade ago.

The DEC said it has approved the investigation report, and the next step is for the applicant to prepare a remedial action work plan. That plan will be reviewed by the DEC and the New York State Department of Health before it is opened to a 45-day public comment period. The site is part of a broader redevelopment fight on Bridge Street, where 11 Bridge Street LLC is seeking approval for a mixed-use building with 48 residential units, 8,500 square feet of commercial space and a ground-level parking garage in a structure the village file says would total 81,257 square feet.

The Village of Sag Harbor Planning Board accepted the project’s draft environmental impact statement as complete on March 24, 2025, then held public hearings in April and May 2025 and extended written comments through June 27, 2025. Opponents raised flooding, parking, traffic and contamination concerns during that review, and the new DEC findings ensure those issues will stay central as the next cleanup plan is written.