Murky Waters

Four years after The Hatch Institute co-published a sweeping report on environmental threats posed by New York City’s most polluted canal — and one of the dirtiest waterways in the nation — a grand plan to revitalize the Gowanus area of Brooklyn has been put on hold. At least for now.

State and federal officials were compelled to re-examine the merits of ambitious development along the banks of the Gowanus Canal last year after a study found airborne toxins in a building to be 450 times the health safety levels set by New York State.

That discovery by a private environment firm prompted the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation to begin testing the soil and air in houses, businesses and public spaces covering roughly 100 blockes in the neighborhoods where the Gowanus flows. That process began in September and continues.

A series of legal battles are also in play, with a host of troubling revelations referenced in court filings. Claims filed by a community group, The Voice of Gowanus, seek to halk development based on its concerns that not enough has been done by authorities to clean up pollutants in the ground and water. Additional matters of law have been reported by The Brooklyn Paper and  The Gothamist

As we detailed in our story, a partnership with The New York Times, former mayor Bill de Blasio spearheaded the effort to construct acres of new housing, some of it for low-income New Yorkers, along the Gowanus Canal, a fast-tracked plan that continues to test how the city might satisfy host of competing interests. And likely help shape the future of New York.

Whether a solution can be found that guards against health threats and floods, provides desperately needed low-income housing and encourages growth and diversity in the area remains to be seen.

We encourage you to read the story, co-reported by Mihir Zaveri, a Times staff reporter, Jo Corona, a freelancer working for The Hatch Institute, and Brad Hamilton, editor-in-chief of The Hatch Institute.

Let us know what you think.