Queens Tribune

Lead particles from work on the Throgs Neck Bridge are pervading the air, and can even be seen by the naked eye collected on nearby vehicles parked overnight, according to Queens scientist Dr. James Cervino.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels, which is overseeing work on the bridge, said claims of dangerous airborne dust are the baseless allegations of one individual.

Cervino, who in addition to being a scientific advisor to Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) and Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), and who is a scientific expert in various other civic capacities, is a Visiting Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and teaches at Pace University. He said he has done tests of the windshield debris to confirm the presence of an unspecified amount of lead and zinc.

The rogue Queens scientist has also tested water near the bridge to confirm an unspecified amount of lead and mercury. Lead is collected by a plastic sheet under the bridge, according to Cervino; a method which he says is ineffective. “I don’t want to bash the MTA. All I want to say we want a better collection method,” he said.

“Did they notify the community board?” Cervino asked, answering rhetorically, “No. Did they notify all people whose kids play sports under the bridge?”

Cervino was especially concerned for babies living in the Le Havre apartment complex in Whitestone, which is a stone’s throw from the Throgs Neck, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay. Small children are at special risk for mental development issues brought on by lead poisoning. High levels of exposure can lead to other problems as serious as kidney damage and death. Cervino said residents of Le Havre have complained to him of headaches. One friend who lives in the complex tested for high metal levels in her system.

Several Le Havre residents – including one ninth floor resident who said she often leaves her windows open in warm months—hadn’t noticed any strange accumulation of dust. Resident Jan Bargas said she thinks she had noticed more dust than usual clinging to her window. The Le Havre co-op board did not respond to an inquiry about similar complaints made directly to them.

The lead paint removal is part of a $96 million restoration project, taking place between April and November, which a Bridges and Tunnels spokeswoman said will finish in the spring when the temperature warms back up.

In a letter written by to Padavan, Bridges and Tunnels Vice President Catherine Sweeney writes that Cervino “does not have a complete, scientific sampling. Instead, he has a small sample taken from several car windshields parked overnight ‘around the neighborhood’ that show evidence of some lead and zinc although he did not specify levels. He admitted that he cannot say where they came from, and he did not specify any figures.”

Bridges and Tunnels has a $1 million contract with KTA-Tator engineering services based in Pittsburgh to monitor the environmental impact of bridge work. The MTA said none of the 103 tests done on days when paint was removed exceeded the “allowable level and that if tests had exceeded State and Federal environmental requirements there would have been further testing.

Citing client confidentiality, a representative from KTA-Tator engineering who lives in Bayside said of Bridges and Tunnels, “They’ve asked us not to comment” on air testing. Bridges and Tunnels released a document from KTA-Tator which summarized its October air testing report, but said the full report is a ream of paper thick, and too lengthy to send out. A spokeswoman offered to make the reports available in hard copy – in the MTA office. November test results were not yet available to the agency, the spokeswoman said.

Water and soil testing, Cervino said, is an imperative which the KTA-Tator report summary indicates were not done. Bridges and Tunnels would not specify whether water tests were done, instead emphasizing that the test results samples did not exceed regulations.

“Zero exceedances. Yes, we know,” said Cervino, lamenting the agency’s reticence to be more specific. “They don’t want you to know the number level.” He believes the lead content may be grazing the legally permissible limit.

“When you’re blasting paint chips into the air, it’s going into water and soil and where people go fishing,” said Cervino, explaining one way hazardous metals could confront humans. Mercury levels in fish have been a great dietary concern in recent years.

Cervino’s tests indicating the presence of hazardous metals in the water were not sensitive enough to produce a result. He is raising funds to do his own independent testing with quantitative results.

Reach Reporter Lori Gross at lgross@queenstribune.com, or (718) 357-7400, Ext. 124.