A development planned in Greenpoint will be built in the vicinity of a former NuHart Plastic Manufacturing site, though the toxic soil left behind by the company will remain under the building, keeping it as one of Brooklyn’s most polluted spots.
Developers and state environment officials canceled their plan to completely remove the deeply contaminated underground soil before beginning construction on the development property, as it reportedly goes too deep.
Earlier this month, crews began laying the foundation for the eight-story complex named NuHart West, after the company’s former site on Dupont Street in Greenpoint, which produced, stored, and shipped plastic and vinyl products for more than 50 years.
Though the soil and groundwater under the facility are filled with hormone-disrupting phthalates, which are typically added to plastics to make them more pliable, and trichloroethylene, or TCE, a known human carcinogen. The chemicals were leaked from a number of underground storage tanks that were discarded in 2004 by the factory’s initial operators, according to a state assessment of the site.
NuHart polluted the ground so much that the Department of Environmental Conservation deemed the area a state Superfund site in 2010.
Originally, a contractor hired by the developer and approved by the state DEC, began to remove the toxic soil ahead of construction four years ago, yet this process was cancelled in January when the site’s developer, Madison Realty Capital, discovered the soil was deeper than they first estimated.
After deciding that continuing to dig could cause structural damage to the building, the developers and state regulators settled on a solution that expedited the construction process. This included mixing the remaining contaminated soil with concrete blocks 20 to 25 feet below the building’s foundation, according to legal documents about the site’s cleanup and comments at several recent public meetings.
Similar construction plans have been used before at other polluted sites around the city, such as Gowanus.
While it’s common for the public to be notified of a change in remediation plans before it’s actually implemented, it’s not legally required by the city.
“It’s disappointing that the cleanup isn’t going to be to the same level that it was originally proposed, but, hopefully, this new method is protective of public health,” said Lael Goodman, a program manager at North Brooklyn Neighbors, who will be working with NYU’s Division of Environmental Medicine to study health and environmental effects of the NuHart site.
According to Madison Realty Capital officials, they’re on track to meet a June 15, 2026, deadline for the completion of construction.
