Study questions safety of developing Gowanus Canal area

A month before the city is expected to announce a developer for the area along the Gowanus Canal, a Columbia University study is questioning the safety of allowing development there because of toxins in the soil. The city wants to see 1,000 units of housing, retail and open space in an area that had been the site of heavy industrial uses over the past 100 years. The study said the toxins in the ground would remain a health hazard despite the city’s clean-up plan.