The school is slated to sit on the corner of Dupont and Franklin Streets, across the street from NuHart Plastics, which was declared a state-level super-fund site in 2010 because it is highly contaminated with thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals, including two underground plumes of trichloroethylene (TCE), and as much as 60,000 gallons of uncontrolled phthalates, which have leeched from the site out toward surrounding streets.
According to NAG’s petition, “exposure to these chemicals have been linked to liver and kidney damage, congenital heart defects, central nervous system defects, changes in sex hormones, low sperm count, obesity, reduced female fertility, birth defects, low birth weight, and altered behavior in toddlers.” Continue reading →
New York City is a super city. We have it all. But sometimes, having it all means warts-and-all, as is the case with the city’s three Federal Superfund sites. Superfund sites are areas designated by the federal government as hazardous toxic waste disposal sites. The Superfund program holds polluting manufactures liable for the waste their businesses leave behind, and provides compensation, cleanup and emergency response services for the environment and communities surrounding the sites. New York’s Federal Superfund sites — The Gowanus Canal, our very own Newtown Creek, and the Wolff-Alport chemical site in Ridgewood — are a potent reminder of the city’s industrial past, and, perhaps, a new cause celebre in Washington. Continue reading →
It’s Friday; instead of “Netflix and chill,” why not “Superfund and chill?” After all, you can’t spell “Superfund” without “super fun” — ask CityFox to explain.
In what proved to be a fateful pre-scheduled meeting, the Neighbors Allied For Good Growth (NAG) and Council Member Levin’s office hosted a post-Halloween Superfund meeting at the Polish & Slavic Center in Greenpoint.
Local residents fielded their questions to: representatives of Dupont Street Developers, Council Member Levin, the Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Health, City Office of Environmental Remediation and Assemblyman Joe Lentol’s office, in addition to NAG board members Mike Schade and Rita Pasarell.
NuHart Superfund Meeting – Greenpoint 11/02/15. Image: Mike Schade
As a result of the Halloween fiasco, CityFox and Dupont Street Developers LLC are now facing city and state investigations.
NAG provided a copy of CityFox’s permit applications and approvals from the NYS Liquor Authority and the NYC Department of Buildings.
Dr. Peter deFur, the Greenpoint community technical consultant hired by NAG through a state grant, gave a presentation available here on what’s lurking beneath the surface at NuHart.
On the latter note, stay tuned for more coverage to follow.
Last night Cityfox, mega-party organizers behind Bushwick’s smash-hit Brooklyn Mirage, selected Greenpoint’s NuHart Plastics facility to host the ghouls and gals as they danced into the pale Halloween moonlight.
To the horror of the 4,500-plus ticket holders, the dancing was dead on arrival; the party organizers didn’t secure proper permits, and the Fire Department intervened, shutting the party down while people lined up to enter the Superfund Site around midnight. Continue reading →
Recent developments are underway to turn the festering superfund site into affordable luxury apartments. Disturbed at that thought? Chew on this: Beneath Nuhart’s property there is a 40,000 to 60,000 gallon pool of thick plastic phlalates deep enough to swim in and two large plumes of TCE (a volatile organic compound) SPREADING to nearby streets. All of these chemicals are considered hazardous to human health.
In the very near future these toxins will be unearthed and removed, and yes, we neighbors need to know how we will be affected. Come meet our new community advisor, and superfund guru, Dr.Peter deFur, this Monday night and find out what Nuhart’s clean-up means for residents in the upcoming months.
A few months ago, Greenpointers were alarmed to hear that Nuhart Plastics on the corner of Dupont Street had been sold to a Chinese developer who plans on turning the site into residential condos. Many of us were familiar with Nuhart’s former life as a plastics plant, but a lot of Greenpointers did not realize the site is a Class-2 Superfund site complete with a phthalate plume.
According to the 2013 NuHart Plume map–which shows liquid plasticizers 5ft deep in some areas–the plume is in fact moving. With a recent study tying prenatal phthlate exposure to lower IQ’s and a host of other health issues, we should be very concerned and vigilant about what is happening at the Nuhart site.
Tonight at 6pm at the Dupont Senior Center the Department of Environmental Conservation (the agency who is responsible for the Superfund’s oversight) will be briefing neighbors about Nuhart and any clean-up efforts that have been conducted in recent months. Also 0n hand will be Greenpoint Landing and 77 Commercial Street representatives giving their own brief updates on their mega developments.
If you have questions, concerns, or comments about the Nuhart plant or our new neighbors Greenpoint Landing & 77 Commercial Street–I know I sure do–then you’ll make it your business to attend tonight’s meeting at the Dupont Street Senior Center (entrance on Eagle Street) between 6-8pm.
For those you can’t make it tonight, Greenpointers will be providing folks with an update. Stay tuned for more details to come.
The other day I sat down with my friend, fellow Greenpointer, and hardcore environmental justice advocate, Mike Schade, to get the skinny on Nuhart Plastics–one of the most toxic sites in the hood–which recently got sold to a developer with plans to convert the festering Superfund site into fancy condos.
When it comes to converting a Superfund site into residential development, gentrification should be the least just one of our concerns. What’s happening at Nuhart is really serious business because the potential exposure to toxic chemicals is real and something all Greenpointers need to know about.
