Today is your chance to learn about the toxins lurking underneath the area surrounding our beloved McGolrick Park.
The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is holding a public meeting to answer your questions about the Meeker Avenue Plume. State reps will be on hand to talk about the ongoing investigation at the site outlined in black on the map above.
The information session takes place today (Thursday, December 1st) at the Polish and Slavic Center located at 176 Java St., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The chemical compound trichloroethylene (TCE), a known human carcinogen, was first discovered in the area during the initial site investigation in 2005.
The revised Nov. 2016 fact sheet released by the DEC raised concerns with the inclusion of McGolrick Park and P.S. 110 inside the investigation boundaries. The good news is that surface soil at the park is free of TCE according to test results, a DEC spokesman told DNAInfo.
The vaporous chemical has been detected primarily north and east (also the direction of the groundwater flow towards Newtown Creek) of McGolrick Park, and residents can contact the DEC if they would like testing conducted on their property.
To compound the environmental damage caused by the ExxonMobil Oil Spill, dry cleaning businesses such as Spic and Span Cleaners (closed mid-1960s) and Klink Cosmo Cleaners (closed 1995) routinely dumped toxic byproduct into the ground near McGolrick Park according to the DEC.
The dumping of waste continues to impact the neighborhood, thanks to our proximity to Newtown Creek. As recently as last year Greenpoint was named the ‘king’ of illegal dumping.