NYC considers building new elementary school across from toxic Superfund site in trendy Greenpoint nabe

Well this stinks.The New York City School Construction Authority is considering breaking ground on a new elementary school in Brooklyn – across the street from a state Superfund site with a history of carcinogens.The site on Dupont Street in Greenpoint, the former location of vinyl and plastic facility NuHart Plastics, was designated in 2010 due to its dual underground plumes with toxic phthalates and trichloroethylene, or TCE – the same carcinogen found around the notoriously-toxic Gowanus Canal.“Being across the street [from a Superfund site] looks bad from a perception standpoint, but from an environmental standpoint, this is the cleanest site we found in Greenpoint,” a rep from the SCA told The Post.“None of those [alternative] sites were feasible for school construction,” the rep added.“Greenpoint as a whole has a long history of heavy industrial uses – the kinds of problems you find in Greenpoint, you find all over Greenpoint.”Despite the site’s proximity to the proposed Franklin Street school, the SCA said it is going “above and beyond” code requirements to keep students safe should the project move forward – including last year’s addition of a hydraulic barrier between the two locations to prevent future contaminants.While the agency says there’s no risk of toxic vapors rising from the soil, the construction authority plans to build a protective slab over the ground anyway – and won’t include a basement or cellar in the plans.The contaminants “will never reach the school site” and it’s impossible for the public to come into contact with the hazardous material as it’s 12 feet underground, an SCA rep declared.“NuHart Plastics has never impacted our site, and in our opinion, it never will,” the rep added.Despite the confidence, the proposal isn’t without its critics — which panned a previous iteration of the plan in 2019 due to concerns over the school’s proximity to the hazardous waste (the Dupont Street sit...