Gowanus Whole Foods Site Clean-Up Action To Begin In Early January 2010

Future Gowanus Whole Foods Site?
photo credit jeremoss on Flick

Originally proposed design for the Whole Foods supermarket
for Third Avenue/ 3rd Street from BL Company

image credit: Carroll Gardens Diary

Just as 2009 was coming to an end, there came a surprise announcement regarding the Whole Foods supermarket site at the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street: the New York State Department Of Environmental Conservancy notified residents that a clean-up action on the heavily polluted site along the Gowanus Canal would begin on or around January 11th and will take approximately 3 months.

The work will proceed under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program and will include excavation and disposal of soils impacted with contaminants, the removal of underground tanks, the installation of a soil cover consisting of several feet of new fill, as well as ground water monitoring.

The approximately 2.15 acre site is situated in the Gowanus Canal area, one of the most toxic places in the city. Over a century, it has been contaminated with a plethora of industrial waste from a former coal yard and petroleum oil company and freight company.

Under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program, Whole Foods "will receive tax credits to offset the cost of performing cleanup activities and for redevelopment of the Site."

The Whole Foods project has seen little action since 2006, when the national organic food purveyor announced that it was planning to build an approximately 77,000 square foot footprint commercial building housing a supermarket, along with a total of 414 parking spaces, including a 3 level parking garage.The store was tentatively supposed to open in 2008.

It is interesting to note that the NYSDEC announcement states that there was a:

minor modification to the planned site clean-up that will allow the cleanup action to be completed before the site redevelopment plan is finalized. The Volunteer ( Whole Foods) originally planned to complete the remediation of the Site in conjunction with the construction of a Whole Foods Market Store. However, the construction of the buildings will not take place at this time. Therefore a soil cover will be installed at the site following remedial excavation.

In other words, the clean-up is on its way, but there are no immediate plans to build a food market.

Rather interesting, don't you think?

Check out the new blog Carroll Gardens Diary, for their related post: Whole Foods To Begin Brownfield Cleanup At Third And Third

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