[CPEO-BIF] "Gowanus [Brooklyn, New York] faces a hidden threat beneath its neighborhood boom"

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Gowanus faces a hidden threat beneath its neighborhood boom
With 141 residential buildings on the way and an increased risk of flooding, residents worry about contaminants underground.


By EMMA ROSENBERG
City & State New York
JANUARY 20, 2026


In early October, Gowanus residents and agency officials packed into the auditorium of P.S. 372, The Children’s School, for a monthly Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group meeting. The school sits on a site monitored for toxic contaminants by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. With poster boards mapping out testing for contamination in the surrounding blocks, officials from the Department of Environmental Conservation and state Department of Health fielded questions from worried residents about pollution as well as the pace of testing and cleanup across the neighborhood amid rapid redevelopment.

As climate change intensifies, New York City has seen an increase in heavy rainfall from intense storms known as cloudbursts. Gowanus lies in a high-risk flood area with a shallow water table, meaning groundwater sits close to the surface. Residents and experts said worsening flooding, redevelopment and legacy industrial pollution are colliding and being met with inadequate solutions. Advocates have raised concerns about potential contamination in the neighborhood’s groundwater, soil and indoor air.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2026/01/gowanus-faces-hidden-threat-beneath-its-neighborhood-boom/410787/?oref=csny-homepage-river&utm_source=chatgpt.com


—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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