As a child in New Cassel, Darinel Velasquez wondered if it was normal to grow up close to so many industrial sites.

Velasquez, 27, lived with his parents and two siblings in a room of a three-bedroom home with two other families. Within walking distance of his house, there were several manufacturing facilities.

A foul stench hung in the area’s air that only worsened during the summer, he said.

“It smelled like construction, like somebody was breaking cement, and there was the feeling of dust in the air,” Velasquez recalled.

WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND

For years, residents of New Cassel have complained of environmental issues in the Nassau County hamlet. DEC studies have helped community members gaining insight into the pollution they live with.

The New York State Department of Environmental

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