Construction of Brooklyn's first Whole Foods began in November, 2006 on 2.1 acres at the corner of 3^rd Avenue and 3^rd Street (11).  Over the past 200 years, the site has hosted an ice company, coal yards, lumberyards, a petroleum oil company, a trucking company, a junkyard and a freight depot (12).

The Whole Foods site is polluted with underground PCBs, cadmium and - as was discovered a month into remediation - an underground, toxic plume of benzene that is migrating toward Park Slope (13, 14).  The remediation of the project has already resulted in the removal of 11,000 tons of contaminated soil, but not all of the toxins are scheduled to be removed from the ground (13, 14).  Protective membranes and extra clean fill will be used to protect the food store from the remaining underground toxins (13).

The problem?  Eighty percent of Whole Foods will be underground - you know, with the remaining toxic pollution (15). 

The local community has also raised concerns about traffic and roof-top parking arrangements (12).  The new Whole Foods store will have 68,000 square-feet of parking and, according to traffic engineer Brian Ketcham, could attract up to 1,800 vehicles a day (16). 

Community concerns about these toxins and parking issues remain unresolved. Construction continues.