DEC Invites Public Comment About Brownfield Application and Draft Investigation Plan for Site on Rockaway Ave., Brooklyn

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has received a Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) application and Draft Remedial Investigation Work Plan from Brownsville Arts Owner LLC for a site known as 366 Rockaway Ave. Cabinet Furniture Manufacturing, site ID #C224357. This site is located in the Brownsville neighborhood of the Borough of Brooklyn, within the County of Kings, and is located at 366 Rockaway Avenue.

Access the application, work plan and other relevant documents online through the DECinfo Locator: https://www.dec.ny.gov/data/DecDocs/C224357/. The documents also are available at the document repository located at Brooklyn Public Library-Brownsville Branch, 61 Glenmore Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11212 and Brooklyn Community Board 16, 444 Thomas S. Boyland Street, Rm 103, Brooklyn, NY 11212.

There are several ways to comment on BCP applications and work plans. Comments can be submitted to the site Project Manager Madeleine Babick at NYSDEC, 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City, NY 11101-5401; via email at madeleine.babick@dec.ny.gov or by calling 718-482-4992. All comments must be submitted by May 6, 2022.

Site information can be viewed by entering the site ID noted above at: https://www.dec.ny.gov/cfmx/extapps/derexternal/index.cfm?pageid=3

What is the Brownfield Cleanup Program?

New York’s Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) is designed to encourage private-sector cleanups of brownfields and to promote their redevelopment as a means to revitalize economically blighted communities. The BCP is an alternative to “greenfield” (land not previously developed or contaminated) development and is intended to remove some of the barriers to, and provide tax incentives for, the redevelopment of brownfields. Since its inception (2003), the BCP has catalyzed the cleanup of more than 500 contaminated sites statewide and incentivized redevelopment. There are more than 550 active sites in the BCP.

Additional information on the State's Brownfield program is available at DEC’s website: https://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/8450.html