[CPEO-BIF] Meeker Avenue Plume update, Brooklyn, New York

[Lenny Siegel <Lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

MEEKER AVENUE PLUME COMMUNITY GROUP SHARES LATEST UPDATES ON SUPERFUND SITE

By Pamela Rafalow Grossman
Greenpointers (NY)
April 29, 2025

Though a second Superfund site is not what anyone was hoping to add to the Greenpoint landscape, necessary research continues at the site of the Meeker Avenue Plume—which was designated a Superfund site in March 2022, joining the neighborhood’s Newtown Creek in that distinction. The Meeker Avenue Plume Community Action Group (CAG) met on April 9 at St. Nicks Alliance (2 Kingsland Ave.) to discuss the latest findings.

The main chemicals being studied at the site, Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), are industrial solvents that commonly become groundwater contaminants; they’ve ended up in the area due to years of local industrial waste. They’re also volatile—and therefore can rise as vapors to contaminate indoor air, in a process called “vapor intrusion.” Exposure to TCE and PCE may increase the risk of certain types of cancers. TCE, in addition, has been shown in animal studies to have potential developmental effects, such as increases in heart defects and effects on the developing immune system; therefore children and pregnant women need protection from it.
 
The CAG meeting discussed the vapor-intrusion sampling that the EPA has completed in recent months. In December of 2024, they sampled 10 properties; one has been recommended for additional sampling. Last month, they tested 21 properties; results of that testing will be available later this year. 

…

For the entire article, see
https://greenpointers.com/2025/04/29/meeker-avenue-plume-community-group-shares-latest-updates-on-superfund-site/

—

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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