State wants to test for cancerous vapor in polluted Gowanus but can only search buildings with owners ok

Residents living near Brooklyn’s toxic Gowanus Canal will be able to find out within weeks if their building is contaminated with cancer-causing vapors – but only if they can talk their landlord into letting the state come on their property and do tests, The Post has learned.Building owners have the right to bar the Department of Environmental Conservation from entering their land to search for hazardous chemicals such as trichloroethylene — and so far only one-in-five Gowanus owners have agreed to the inspections.DEC has now resorted to telling tenants its up to them to beg their landlords to give the ok for the tests.

“If you are a tenant, please have a conversation with your landlord to see whether or not access has been granted,” DEC Deputy Commissioner Patrick Foster said at a public meeting Thursday night at Gowanus’ P.S.372, where cancerous fumes and other hazardous substances — including benzene and xylene — have already been found.

“And you’re having a hard time with that conversation, please let us know, and we will do more outreach to your landlord.” The DEC has already tested hundreds of buildings and, by next month, will be sending out letters to all building owners in roughly 100 blocks around the infamous, pollution-choked Gowanus Canal asking for permission to do tests on their property.“If you are a property owner, we have forms that you can fill out to give us access,” Foster said.

State law requires landlords to notify tenants if hazardous chemicals are found — and do costly mitigation efforts, Foster said.But such hazards can only be looked for with the “cooperation and consent” from the owner, according to state documents. And few landlords so far have apparently been willing to take the risk that something might be found.

Of the 610 buildings solicited for testing during the first phase of the contamination study, only 20% granted access for testing, records show.Of those, about 113 buildings completed t...