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COURIER LIFE, MARCH 25-31, 2022
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
The federal Environmental
Protection Agency
has finalized its decision
to designate Greenpoint’s
Meeker Avenue Plume a
Superfund site, setting the
stage for a federally-supervised
scrub of the site, possibly
funded by the companies
responsible for
polluting the neighborhood.
Bounded roughly by
Norman Avenue to the
north, Kingsland Avenue
to the west, the Newtown
Creek to the east and Withers
Street to the south, the
roughly 50-block Plume
is comprised of soil and
groundwater contaminated
with dangerous chlorinated
volatile organic
compounds, or CVOCs, left
behind by now-shuttered
businesses including metalsmiths
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T: 9.6”W X 5.35 B: NA L: 0.5” mar gin 4c
and dry cleaners.
Two of the compounds
in particular — tetrachloroethylene
and trichloroethylene
— are known carcinogens
and can cause
short-and-long term health
issues with continued exposure.
Of particular concern to
the EPA, the state Department
of Environmental
Conservation, and community
members, investigations
have found contaminated
air inside homes and
businesses atop the Plume
as a result of what’s known
as “soil vapor intrusion.”
EPA officials proposed
adding the Plume to the National
Priorities List last
September, after New York
State referred the site to the
agency “because groundwater
and indoor air contaminated
with CVOCs require
cleanup to protect
human health and the environment,”
according to the
site listing narrative.
While DEC has been investigating
the Plume and
installing mitigation systems
to keep contaminated
air out of affected homes
and businesses since 2007,
additional resources are
needed to make the area
safe. Additional state and
federal cleanup options
were considered, according
to the listing narrative,
but were not viable.
“Hundreds of residents
and workers are exposed to
the indoor air contamination
that results from vapor
intrusion into the structures,”
the document states.
“Contaminated groundwater
in the underlying aquifer
flows east northeast and
possibly discharges to Newtown
Creek.”
Now that the site’s place
on the list has been finalized,
the EPA will begin a
remedial investigation and
feasibility study to identify
the full extent of the contamination,
assess potential
threats to human health
and the surrounding environment,
and begin planning
the eventual cleanup.
“Working collaboratively
with DEC, our federal
partners will deploy
the best available science
and resources to protect
the Greenpoint and East
Williamsburg communities
by addressing the soil,
soil vapor, and groundwater
plume in the vicinity
of Meeker Avenue, and
continue the critical work
of preventing potential exposure
to the public,” said
DEC Commissioner Basil
Seggos, in a release.
The Superfund program
was founded in part
to allow the federal government
to identify the parties
— often, large companies
— responsible for the pollution
and charge them for
the cleanup, rather than
The former Spic and Span Cleaners, one of the sites identified by
the state as contributing to the toxic Meeker Avenue Plume.
File photo by Tom Callan
paying for it themselves.
Past investigations have
named a number of businesses
who contributed to
the contamination, though
it’s not clear whether any
of them will be designated
PRPs by the federal agency
as they begin their own investigation.
“Our neighbors in
Greenpoint and Williamsburg
have been dealing with
hazardous vapor intrusion
for decades due to dumping
and industrial manufacturing,”
said local Councilmember
Lincoln Restler.
“Now, the EPA Superfund
designation will ensure our
health is finally prioritized
with the overdue cleanup of
our community.”
This story has been edited
for brevity. For more,
visit BrooklynPaper.com.
Feds designate Greenpoint’s Meeker
Avenue Plume a Superfund site
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