Today’s Times pays some attention to Public Place, the big empty property in Gowanus that is the former home of a Manufactured Gas Plant and the site of serious toxic issues whose scope remains unknown. Here’s an excerpt from the piece:
It is what’s under the ground that makes the site noteworthy and explains why it has sat dormant since the 1950s. The property, the location of a gas plant long since demolished, is too contaminated for habitation, and though the city has owned most of the property since 1975, the toxic waste has remained largely buried.
Slowly, however, changes are coming. In 2003, KeySpan agreed to clean up the site because its predecessor, Brooklyn Union Gas, once owned the factory there. The company has been working with the State Department of Environmental Conservation to study the land, and this month, representatives of both are scheduled to meet with city government officials to discuss cleaning up the land and development options, which include housing, commercial space or a park.
Toxics on the site go as deep as 120 feet and the mess is thought to have migrated underground to the other side of the canal. Another plume of toxicity might be slowly moving in the direction of the trendier part of Smith Street. The coming battle will be whether to build residential housing as part of the mix of development on the site.
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1 response so far ↓
1 Eric // Feb 11, 2007 at 8:22 am
A few years ago, it was difficult to find synthetic motor oils, and equally difficult to
find someone who admitted to using them. Nowadays, however, you can find synthetic motor
oils on the shelves of Wal-Mart, and other retailers, and the number of people turning to
synthetic motor oils, particularly in light of the recent events affecting fuel prices, has
risen greatly.
So why do people use synthetic motor oils rather than sticking with the old petroleum based
stand-bys which are admittedly cheaper?
1. Let’s start with the cost per quart issue. Synthetic motor oils ARE more expensive at
purchase. However, these oils last longer, requiring fewer oil changes. As a synthetic motor
oil outlasts several changes of petroleum based lubricants, the ultimate out-of-pocket cost
of the lubricant is less. This cost savings becomes even greater if you have someone else
change your oil for you rather than doing it yourself!