[CPEO-BIF] Building houses on brownfields

["Robert Hersh" <b_hersh@verizon.net>]

Brownfields eyed for low-cost housing

BY HUGH SON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Dozens of contaminated lots in Brooklyn's former industrial neighborhoods
could one day have apartments, retail shops and parks built on them - but
dangers can remain even after environmental cleanup, experts warned.

Neighborhood groups in East New York, Red Hook, and Sunset Park are
identifying potential brownfields - empty lots and abandoned factories that
are polluted with chemicals - with an eye for badly needed housing.

"It's a very real conflict because there is a need for housing, [but] what
free space exists is often contaminated," said Joel Shufro, executive
director for the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

"It's a matter of grave concern if you're building residential sites where
children will live. What we are finding in some cases is that contaminants
remain in the soil and at a later date become vaporized and intrude into the
facilities that are built."

State Department of Environmental Conservation officials insisted cleanup
standards were high enough to protect public health.

To read the article, see:
http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/296899p-254198c.html


Bob Hersh
CPEO



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