By Kathianne Boniello
Past meetings of the RAB have been dominated by internal bickering and arguments with David Brouwer, the Corps' project manager, over how the testing and possible cleanup of mercury and other toxins at the fort was to progress. Several members have resigned in the past year, citing the slow movement toward removing toxins from the fort.
The gathering at the Queens Women's Center at the Civil War-era fort was intended to be a formal training for the new RAB, which recently added about eight new members. Its last formal meeting was in May.
Things got off to a rocky start last Thursday when Bayside civic leader Frank Skala, a former RAB member who served on the selection committee for the new group, accused the Army of not wanting to clean up Fort Totten.
“I don't believe they're going to do anything to clean up Fort Totten,” said Skala, who contended Brouwer and Donna Stratford of Chaloux Environmental Corporation Inc. were trying to remove civilian Richard Jannaccio from his position as the co-chairman of the RAB. The group was slated to hold elections at its next meeting.
Over the summer Jannaccio had asked for Brouwer's removal as the Army co-chairman of the Restoration Advisory Board.
Brouwer initiated the proposal to reform the RAB in May with CEC, a group that acts as a liaison between the Army and RABs across the country. Brouwer said the goal of the reorganization was to formalize the group and increase attendance at RAB meetings.
Mercury was discovered at the Civil War-era fort in 1985 by the Coast Guard, which shared the base with the Army. Army Corps officials said the metal was present after years of repairs to mercury-filled torpedo guidance systems maintained at the fort.
The Army, which left the base in 1995, agreed to remediate the mercury in May 1998. Brouwer has not said whether or not he would be able to uphold that promise.
The city was slated to take over the base as parkland. For more than a year, spokesmen for the city Parks Department have said it would take one to two years before Totten became a park.
After Skala spoke, Stratford attempted to begin her introductions, but was loudly interrupted by RAB member Ray Beckerman, who questioned her authority to run the meeting.
A few minutes later, Beckerman made a motion to remove Stratford from the group and CEC Inc. as its liaison.
The dissension was momentarily quelled when it was revealed that no formal motions could be made during a training session. RAB members have expressed dissatisfaction with CEC because of meeting minutes that they said are not timely and do not reflect the objections of the community.
Larry Ordine, vice chairman of the RAB, urged calm.
'”We are not going to get a pristine environment from a place that was an Army base for 150 years,” he said. “The Army has their point of view and we have our point of view. We function at the behest of the Army and by their regulations.
“The only power we have here is public relations and diplomacy,” he said. “We cannot reach another impasse.”
Just as the group was beginning to get down to serious business, it had to disband and suspend the training in midstream because the building was scheduled to close about 9 p.m.
