Mystery, fear surround Roebling Street sludge

(04/02/07) BROOKLYN ? It?s toxic, it smells and it keeps oozing from the ground. Oily sludge coming out of the ground at a Williamsburg construction site has some residents concerned about pollution

News 12 Staff

Apr 3, 2007, 1:05 AM

Updated 6,397 days ago

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(04/02/07) BROOKLYN ? It?s toxic, it smells and it keeps oozing from the ground.
Oily sludge coming out of the ground at a Williamsburg construction site has some residents concerned about pollution in the area. The site is the future home of a condominium complex and current home of what some residents have dubbed the ?Roebling Street Oil Field.?
Resident Robert Guskind said the oil continues to ooze out of the ground, meaning there must be an active source of the contamination.
Geologists are now setting up test wells to find the source of the contamination. Residents believe the smelly sludge is made up of oil and gasoline from a nearby site.
?The other concern is that testing hasn?t been done, so no one is really sure what?s down there,? Guskind said. ?When contractors start to excavate, oil could come through the ground.?
The condo developer, Isaac Schwartz, said it will take several weeks to determine the source of the contamination.