Occupancy of a 12-unit condominium development on Accabonac Road in East Hampton, the first of its kind in the town’s affordable housing program, has been delayed due to the detection of elevated levels of several solvents in the units’ basements. The compounds in question exceed the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s regional screening levels, which a letter to buyers from the town’s Office of Housing and Community Development last Thursday noted are recommendations, rather than regulatory.
The development’s first occupants were expected to move in before the end of 2019, town officials said at a Dec. 6 ribbon-cutting event. Ten days later, however, a letter from Tom Ruhle, director of the town’s Office of Housing and Community Development, informed buyers that an appraiser for one of them had noticed an odor in some of the units’ basements. People’s United Bank, which had hired the appraiser, required that the air be tested prior to closing. “We believe the odor comes from the paint used to cover the insulation in the basements,” Mr. Ruhle wrote, adding that the town was securing a third-party air quality expert to test all of the units. “This last minute development will delay the closing until after January 1, 2020,” he wrote.
The town received air test results on Jan. 22. Last Thursday’s letter to buyers detailed results of 11 tests; one of the canisters used to collect samples had malfunctioned.
The tests looked for more than 90 chemicals, according to the letter. “All 11 units tested above the U.S. E.P.A. residential regional screening levels . . . for ethyl acetate,” a solvent with low toxicity but one that can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, and can cause severe damage at very high concentrations. Two units tested above the recommended limit for chloroform, a byproduct of water chlorination and a suspected carcinogen. Two units tested above the recommended limit for isopropol alcohol, a skin irritant that is used mostly as a solvent for coatings or industrial purposes and is common in antiseptics, disinfectants, and detergents.
One unit tested above the recommended limit for 1,1,2- Trichloroethane, which is used to make synthetic fibers and plastic wraps and is used in adhesives, Teflon tubing, and lacquer and coating formulations. Its manufacturer says it is toxic if inhaled and is a suspected carcinogen.
“Neither our consultant, the lab, or the E.P.A. are willing to say definitively what is causing these failures,” Mr. Ruhle wrote of the test results last Thursday. The likely cause, he said, is off-gassing of the insulation foam and/or fireproof paint, but he added that there is no proof of that. Off-gassing happens when new manufactured products release volatile organic compounds and other chemicals, and commonly happens with furniture and cabinetry, mattresses, carpeting, flooring, paint, and insulation, among other products.
The insulation foam cannot be removed as it is integral to meeting the structures’ energy rating, Mr. Ruhle wrote. The basements had been sealed prior to the tests to prevent the pipes from freezing, he wrote, and would be aired out as weather allows.
Don Matheson, an East Hampton builder who was not involved in the manor house development’s construction, felt that the conditions described are unlikely to present a significant problem. “Every newly painted house has a ‘new house’ smell, and our heightened awareness of threats may be causing undue alarm from early gassing that people have endured with only minor effect for many years,” he said this week. “Any out-gassing will slow down over time, and ventilation should clear it up quickly.” If further investigation suggests a health hazard, he said, a sealer on top of the paint might solve the problem.
A meeting for buyers was scheduled for last night at the senior citizens housing complex at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Amagansett, where individual tests were to be detailed.
The manor house development comprises three buildings, each with a single one-bedroom condominium apartment, two two-bedroom apartments, and one three-bedroom apartment. Sale contracts are underway for each of the units, prices for which range from $126,835 to $267,850.
Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, who attended the Dec. 6 ribbon-cutting event, called the project “a unique and innovative approach to add to the affordable housing inventory that’s so important for our local economy and to keep East Hampton as vital and lively as it is.”
The property is to be dedicated to the late Barbara Jordan, a member of the town’s housing authority who “worked tirelessly for the concept of continuing affordable housing within this community,” Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said at the ribbon-cutting event.
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Editor’s note: Christopher Walsh is one of the prospective buyers for a unit at the condominium complex.
