CARROLL GARDENS — In the wake of environmental tests detecting contaminants in the air in the rectory of St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, New York State is taking steps to address the problem.
Msgr. Guy Massie, the church’s administrator, said tests conducted in April by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) detected issues with the air quality in the basement and on the first floor of the rectory.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we’ve moved the rectory staff to the parish hall,” Msgr. Massie told The Tablet.
The New York State Department of Health installed industrial-sized air purifiers in the rectory building as a temporary solution. Re-testing conducted in May after the purifiers were put in found that the air quality had “improved significantly,” Msgr. Massie said.
However, a long-term solution is still needed. The air purifiers will remain in place for the foreseeable future while a comprehensive plan is developed.
“Hopefully, it will be taken care of for us, and they will install an apparatus, pipes or whatever, that will pull those vapors into an exhaust,” Msgr. Massie said.
In addition, contaminants were found in vapors emanating from the soil beneath the rectory and church buildings, although the air quality in the 169-year-old church was deemed to be acceptable.
According to Msgr. Massie, the DEC will develop a long-term plan to deal with the vapors and pay for the remediation.
“We will continue to work closely with them on this important and essential initiative,” he wrote in a June 26 letter to parishioners.
The findings came about when the DEC examined a 100-square-block section of Brooklyn near the Gowanus Canal. St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, at 467 Court St., sits just three blocks from the polluted canal and was included in the testing area.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the 1.8-mile-long Gowanus Canal — which is bordered by Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Gowanus — has been one of the most polluted waterways in the U.S. for decades.
Officials said the pollution is primarily due to the waterway’s use as a dumping ground for toxic waste for more than a century.
The EPA declared the canal a Superfund site in 2010, putting it on a list of places targeted for environmental cleanup. A total of 626 properties are located within the area that the DEC is testing for air quality.
According to Msgr. Massie, while parishioners of St. Mary Star of the Sea were surprised by the findings, they expressed no alarm.
“They have been very supportive of our efforts to work through this,” he added.
Msgr. Massie told parishioners the testing was ongoing and urged residents to cooperate.
“If NYS approaches you for testing your property,” he wrote in a letter, “I encourage you to cooperate as part of our shared responsibility for caring for our environment.”