And according to an environmental assessment done on behalf of the JCRA, the soil and groundwater at 445 Ocean Ave. is contaminated with perchloroethylene, or PCE, a chemical used frequently by dry cleaners.

Crazy_Chester wrote:
Either Mr. Ibrahim or his attorney, or both, failed to do their homework. He should take the $72k offer and know that it could have been a lot worse. And with a little effort, I would bet that the owner of the dry cleaners could be tracked down.

what was to be his first home and source of income has turned into a nightmare as he battles the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, which seeks to seize his house using eminent domain and force him to pay roughly $300,000 in clean-up costs associated with contamination left by a previous owner

He says he didn?t know the storefront was once Grant Cleaners & Dyers, which operated on the site from 1953 until as late as 2008, according to property records.

And according to an environmental assessment done on behalf of the JCRA, the soil and groundwater at 445 Ocean Ave. is contaminated with perchloroethylene, or PCE, a chemical used frequently by dry cleaners.

The JCRA, in an April 8, 2011 letter sent to Ibrahim, stated he is responsible for the cleanup costs, which could range from $206,040 to $361,560, according to the environmental assessment.

?I said, ?I just bought this house. I don?t know anything about this,? ? Ibrahim said. ?They said, ?No, you?re the owner now.? ?

Not only did Ibrahim not know the property once housed a dry cleaner, he said he didn?t even know it was in a zone slated for redevelopment, a declaration that can lead to seizures via eminent domain.

The attorney who handled the closing of the sale declined to comment.

The JCRA wants Ibrahim?s property and the other two row houses and two vacant lots on the same block so it can create a low-income housing complex. It has offered Ibrahim $72,000 for his property. A hearing in front of the county Condemnation Commission is set for tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. at the Brennan Courthouse, 583 Newark Ave., in Jersey City.