Is it safe here? Newtown Creek, the oil spill, the plume, and the tap water

Three separate things get mixed together in this conversation, and they have different answers. This page keeps them apart and quotes the official wording rather than paraphrasing it, because the paraphrases in both directions are worse than the source.

Newtown Creek is a Superfund site

A 3.8-mile tidal waterway on the Brooklyn–Queens border, contaminated since 1856 by refineries, petrochemical plants and raw sewage, and on the federal National Priorities List.

What the EPA's risk assessment actually found: unacceptable risk to human health from eating fish and shellfish taken from the creek. There is a State fish consumption advisory. A 2014 public health assessment found full-body immersion — swimming, diving — could harm health, while kayaking and catch-and-release fishing were assessed as lower risk with precautions: wash your hands, do not swallow the water.

The EPA's own performance measure for the site says human exposure is not yet under control. That phrase means contamination that could expose people has been detected and the cleanup is not finished. It does not mean the neighbourhood is unsafe to live in. The findings above are about contact with the water and eating what comes out of it — they are not statements about the air you breathe or the water in your tap, which are separate questions with separate answers below.

A decision on combined sewer overflows was issued in April 2021, accepting the city's long-term plan, which includes a storage tunnel that cuts overflow discharge by more than 60%. The sediment cleanup decision has not been finalised.

The 1978 oil spill is a different thing

Discovered by the Coast Guard on 2 September 1978. An underground plume of petroleum across more than 50 acres beneath Greenpoint, historically estimated at up to about 17 million gallons.

It is being actively pumped out, and has been since 1979Four recovery systems are running. Through 2025, more than 13.2 million gallons of product recovered and more than 7.8 billion gallons of groundwater treated.
Who is responsibleOverseen by the State Department of Environmental Conservation under 1990 consent orders with ExxonMobil.
On vapourThe investigation concluded that petroleum-related compounds in this plume "are not expected to harm people's health via the soil vapor intrusion pathway." That finding is about this plume. It is not about the one below.
Where to read itnysdecgreenpoint.com, last updated 29 June 2026.

The Meeker Avenue Plume is a third, separate site

Chlorinated solvents — PCE and TCE, the chemicals of dry cleaning and degreasing — not petroleum. Added to the National Priorities List in March 2022, making it the city's fourth Superfund site. Investigated jointly by the EPA and the State.

There is a decision and it is being acted onOn 30 September 2024 the EPA finalised an interim decision on vapour intrusion: sub-slab depressurisation systems and foundation sealing for up to about 100 qualifying buildings, expected to take at least five years.
The study area is not fixedThe EPA says the boundary may be modified as data comes in. Streets named in its outreach include Van Dam, Meeker, Apollo, Driggs and Kingsland.
There is no address lookupThis is the honest answer and it is frustrating. There is no public tool that tells you whether your building is in the study area. The route is the EPA's community involvement coordinator for the site, Anna Drabek, 212-637-3586, Drabek.Anna@epa.gov.

The tap water

The water is not the problem. The pipe in your building might be.

Where it comes from19 reservoirs across a 2,000-square-mile upstate watershed, through roughly 7,000 miles of aqueducts, tunnels and mains that contain no lead.
The city's own sentence"There is no lead in New York City's water distribution system, but DEP cannot control the variety of materials used in the plumbing in your home."
Where lead actually comes inThe service line into the building, or the plumbing and fixtures inside it. Buildings from before 1961 may have a lead service line.
Free test kitOne per household, requested through 311. It arrives in about 10 business days, unmarked, with a prepaid return label. Results are mailed within 30 days of the lab work. A landlord needs a separate request for each apartment.
Service line mapnyc.gov/dep/lead. The city notes it is built largely from historical plumbing records, supplemented in some cases by inspection — treat it as a strong hint, not a certificate.

The air, with actual numbers

The city runs the Community Air Survey, which publishes averages by community district. Greenpoint and Williamsburg are Brooklyn Community District 1. For 2024, against 2009:

Fine particulates, PM2.57.5 micrograms per cubic metre, down from 12.0.
Nitrogen dioxide16.8 parts per billion, down from 27.0.
Black carbon0.8 micrograms per cubic metre, down from 1.5.
Summer ozone33.2 parts per billion, up from 25.5, following a citywide rise.

What no official source will tell you

Which specific blocks have had depressurisation systems installed and which are still waiting to be sampled. Which buildings here are known to have lead service lines beyond what the map shows. How long the lead kit actually took to come back.

Where this came from

Checked 1 August 2026 against the EPA Superfund site profile for Newtown Creek and its health and environment tab, the EPA decision on combined sewer overflows (12 April 2021), nysdecgreenpoint.com (updated 29 June 2026), the EPA announcement on the Meeker Avenue Plume (2 October 2024) and its community update of 30 November 2023, the DEP Drinking Water Supply and Quality Report 2025 and Lead-Free NYC brochure, and the NYC Environment and Health Data Portal Community Air Survey appendix (13 January 2026).