There was a meeting last week about the future and plans for the horrendously polluted Public Place in Gowanus that is the future location of the planned Gowanus Green development. One of the headlines is that a big warehouse that currently occupies part of the site is being demolished this month. The site was once home to a Manufactured Gas Plant that left toxic coal tar as deep as 130 feet. The pollution is so bad that a total clean up would take a decade and be prohibitively expensive. Per the Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s summary:

Coal tar is a toxic, foul-smelling substance with the consistency of motor oil which was a by-product of the production of gas for home use. The Dept. of Environmental Contamination (DEC) will be spraying the coal tar-contaminated soil that is removed from the site with an odor-controlling foam to eliminate the smell. One good thing about the strong odor is that it is unlikely anyone would inhale it without knowing it (but as was said, this is highly unlikely due to the precautions being taken). Clean up of the site, including the DEC’s oversight of the project, is being led and paid for by National Grid. Gardiner Cross of the DEC reported that in addition to the coal tar in the soil under Public Place, the substance also seeps into the canal. Currently, they are doing core borings on the site to determine how the retaining walls, built during the Revolutionary War, were constructed; subsequently, the DEC will be designing a barrier wall between the land and the canal to keep further coal tar from traveling into the canal.

Remediation is slated to start in Spring 2010. In the meantime, National Grid, which is the successor to KeySpan and is responsible for the cleanup when plans are finally approved, has set up a website for tracking the plans.