OGDENSBURG — Contaminants and gas tanks soon will be removed from city property in the marina district.

Four underground storage tanks will be taken away from the former Montgomery properties in early January by Paragon Environmental Construction Inc., Syracuse. It will cost the city about $20,000.

"There's still potential environmental damage, but we're moving forward with the tanks," Development and Planning Director J. Justin Woods said.

The Montgomery properties include the former Montgomery and Clickner buildings, and the former gas station that was once in between them. The site is part of the city's plans to redevelop the marina district.

When several buildings in the district were taken down last year, including the gas station, removing the tanks was not part of the demolition, Mr. Woods said.

When the state Department of Environmental Conservation inspected the property in September, it found the underground storage tanks with several inches of petroleum inside. DEC ordered the city to remove the tanks before any further environmental testing can occur.

There are grant applications pending to further examine the environmental quality of the property, Mr. Woods said.

After the land is cleaned up, the city will begin to develop requests for proposals to bring investment and interest in the marina district.

"You have to think of these as one parcel," City Manager Arthur J. Sciorra said at the Joint Economic Development Committee meeting Nov. 20.

The plans are aimed at bringing commercial investment to the district.

Another property will be cleaned up along the marina as well. Similar materials will be removed from the former Tackle Box Marina property, now owned by William Hosmer, Mr. Woods said. The property also was a gas station.

The environmental problems will not affect the redevelopment potential of the property, Mr. Woods said.

"It complicates it, but it doesn't hurt it," he said.

Although it may draw out the redevelopment process, the extra cleanup could make the city more attractive for further redevelopment grants, Mr. Woods said.