A resident was walking by the house on the corner of Alfred and State Street as they were cutting down the trees on that property. That resident got into a friendly conversation with one of the workers and was told property owners are being informed they should remediate because if they sell, the buyer will not be able to get a mortgage or title insurance from the banks since the property will be considered contaminated.

Not having heard of any problem like this, I talked with FMC since they have the Home Value Assurance Program. According to FMC representatives there is no problem they know of with selling houses in Middleport. In fact it seems the houses covered under their plan are selling at or above appraised value and typically within 60 days of listing.

In addition to FMC, I talked with three real estate agents from two companies. None had heard or experienced any problems with purchasing homes in Middleport or the new owners getting the necessary mortgage and insurance. The realtors actually appeared puzzled the question was being asked.

Perhaps the Agencies (DEC) are once again arm twisting to get owners to commit to remediation. Someone told a worker or workers there was this problem and now it's getting spread. This has been done in the past and the DEC has told me it wasn't them and they would never do it but here it is again.

Owners should understand there is no reason to remediate unless they are concerned about the arsenic in their soil.

There was a reported problem where a sale did not go through because the buyer could not get a mortgage but that was reported to be caused by a financial situation not contamination.

Posted by Bill Arnold