[CPEO-BIF] "Cleanup of mercury, gas tank at Seaport [Manhattan, New York] lot draws concerns from neighborhood"

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Cleanup of mercury, gas tank at Seaport lot draws concerns from neighborhood
“Who wants their children to run around next to where they’re pulling mercury out of the ground?”

By Caroline Spivack  
Curbed New York
March 6, 2019

The Peck Slip School sits across from the 250 Water Street lot slated for an environmental cleanup. Caroline Spivack/Curbed NY
Parents at the Peck Slip elementary school are considering pulling their children from the sought after public school in anticipation of a developer’s plans to cleanup chemicals that have leaked into a nearby block-sized lot—fearing their children will be exposed to hazardous materials kicked up during construction. 

The sprawling 250 Water Street parcel currently functions as a parking lot but was bought by the Howard Hughes Corporation last June. In January, the developer unveiled plans to enter the state’s Brownfield cleanup program to address environmental contamination on the property that once hosted a thermometer factory and a gas station. But the lot is on the door step of the Peck Slip School and runs along several apartment buildings, and neighbors fear the work may impact the area’s air quality.

“I just feel like I’m in the dark about how they’re going to make sure the air we breath is safe,” said Sara Williams, whose son attends fourth grade at Peck Slip. “I’m honestly thinking about finding a new school for him because this site is right next to where the kids come out and play—who wants their children to run around next to where they’re pulling mercury out of the ground?”

…

For the entire article, see
https://ny.curbed.com/2019/3/6/18252180/seaport-howard-hughes-brownfield-cleanup-peck-slip-school-concerns

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650/961-8918 
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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