"Known in state records as the 459 Smith Street Brownfield site (Site No. C224012B), part of the K-Citizens MGP-Carroll Gardens complex, it's classified as posing a "significant threat to public health or the environment," according to New York's Department of Environmental Conservation. Decades of gas production left coal tar and associated contaminants in soil, groundwater, and soil vapor, and helped create the toxic canal sediments often described as "black mayonnaise.""
"Yet the site is being handled under New York's voluntary Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP), rather than the State Superfund framework generally used when the state seeks stronger enforcement leverage and long-term accountability at highly contaminated sites. That choice of program, and the development planned on top of it, raises fundamental questions about who is protected, who pays, and what we mean by "sustainability" in practice."
Redevelopment along the Gowanus Canal includes a federal Superfund cleanup, sewer upgrades, and rezoning for thousands of apartments, while the 3.81-acre 459 Smith Street parcel carries a legacy of manufactured gas production and fertilizer operations. NYSDEC and National Grid investigations documented substantial coal tar, groundwater contamination, and soil vapor impacts, and DEC classifies the site as posing a "significant threat" to health or the environment. The parcel entered New York's voluntary Brownfield Cleanup Program in 2019; remedial work has included excavation, removal of impacted material, and canal-edge controls. The site's hydraulic connection to the canal and the voluntary cleanup approach raise concerns about enforcement, long-term accountability, community protection, and equitable redevelopment benefits.
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