Public comment period opens on a cleanup plan for contaminated site on the Gowanus Canal
The state Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is inviting the public to comment on a proposed plan to investigate contamination at a site in Gowanus.
Dubbed the President Street Properties site and bound by President, Bond and Carroll streets and the Gowanus Canal, the 1.24-acre site has a long history of housing businesses like auto salvage dismantling operations, which entailed draining gas, oil, power steering fluid, antifreeze and transmission fluid into barrels.
Records regarding salvage operations and waste product removals were lost in 1989-1990 when the property and its contents were seized by the federal government. The property was subsequently returned, but the records were not.