BROOKLYN
The grassy fields of a park in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn are contaminated with PCBs at a level 110 times what New York environmental agencies consider safe, according to court records filed in a lawsuit by New York and six other states against bankrupt Chemtura Corp, according to Bloomberg.
Linked to liver cancer, low birth weight and loss of motor skills, PCBs pose a threat to park visitors and nearby residents, said Judith Schreiber, chief scientist in the State Attorney General's Environmental Bureau.
State and city health and environmental agencies declined to comment or said they weren't aware of the risks at the 58-acre park, a popular spot for soccer games and family picnics.
Chemtura has resisted demands by the state environmental bureau that it clean up contamination from a leak at its plant, which abuts the park.
"Contamination at the site and in or near the recreation area is at unacceptable levels from a human-exposure perspective," Schreiber wrote in an April 22 affidavit in Manhattan federal court.
Seven states, including New York, have sought to force the Middlebury, Conn.-based company, the country's largest maker of plastic additives, to clean up nine polluted sites, including the Red Hook facility.
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