I am sure that the EPA will be super impressed by a developer such as Toll Brothers calling its reputation into question and urging the federal agency to refrain from listing the Gowanus Canal on their National Priority List as a Superfund Site.
But that is exactly what David Von Spreckelsen, Toll Brothers V.P. is doing. Von Spreckelsen submitted the testimony below to the EPA, as part of the agency's public submission process on the Gowanus nomination.
In his submission, he is urging the EPA to let the City go ahead with its rather shaky alternative clean-up plan.
No surprise there!
The Toll Brothers' VP has been working hard to move the developer's condo project at 363-365 Bond Street forward. First, Von Spreckelsen spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the New York City Council, the City Planning Commission, the Brooklyn Borough President, Brooklyn Community Board 6, the Mayor's Office and the State Assembly, to facilitate the rezoning from manufacturing to residential of the two blocks along the Gowanus Canal on which the Toll Brothers' wanted to build.
Not surprisingly, the spot-rezoning was approved at every step during the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (U.L.U.R.P.), despite the protests of community members who pleaded with city officials to first clean the Gowanus Canal thoroughly before rezoning its shores. To no avail. The New York City Council approved the spot-rezoning in March, 2009, ahead of a general rezoning of the Gowanus area.
But just when it looked as though the last hurdle had been removed and that the Toll Brothers' Bond Street project could get started, the EPA stepped forward and announced that the Gowanus Canal was one of the most polluted waterways in the country. In April, the federal agency proposed placing the canal on its list of Superfund sites. That was welcome news for most local residents.
But not for the Toll Brothers. David Von Spreckelsen went into over-drive. Just days after the EPA made its announcement, he was quoted in countless newspapers as opposing the listing. He told everyone who would listen, that the Toll Brothers would walk away from their Gowanus project if the canal were to be listed. He hired a consulting firm and joined forces with a handful of Gowanus property owners to oppose the EPA Superfund designation. The Clean Gowanus Now! Coalition, as they called themselves, printed up slick anonymous fliers filled with misinformation. The Coalition hired a young man, named Daniel, to knock on the doors of local residents to spread more untruths about the Superfund program. Daniel freely gave out a telephone number that could be tracked right back to David Von Spreckelsen.
It is unlikely that the EPA will listen to the Toll Brothers' spin. The agency after all is more interested in science and in protecting the public from harmful chemicals, than in covering up facts to help a developer.
The EPA's Public comment period will end on July 8th. If you have not yet sent in your own testimony, I urge you to do so.
Please help insure that the Gowanus Canal becomes a Listed Superfund Site. You can participate by doing the following:
- Go to www.superfundgowanus.org and sign the online petition to our representatives.
- Go directly to the EPA Website and submit your comments under the Public Comment period that runs until July 8, 2009. http://www.epa.gov/region2/
superfund/npl/gowanus/
For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking
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10 comments:
What is odd and questionable about Toll's CleanGowanusNow website is the way they are going about their names-gathering for their petition. The website (Toll, Scottos, etc) is asking people to email their names to be added to their petition. All they say is "If you agree with us, we encourage you to send us your name and address for inclusion on our petition to the elected officials listed on the right side of this page." There IS NO PETITION THERE, the site does not show their petition. So HOW CAN A PERSON KNOW WHAT HE OR SHE IS SIGNING??? Is this a legal way to create a petition? Shouldn't there be more transparency? Why all the secrecy with this group? What are they hiding? At SuperfundGowanus you not only see what you are signing, you can also see names and comments of others who have signed. And Katia, I think they spent hundreds of thousands lobbying the city - not just thousands. Around 350K, I believe.
Good point, Margaret. It was hundreds of thousands of Dollars. Will correct the post to reflect that right now.
Toll should know all about adverserial process - there is a whole blog with nothing but complaints about how they do business: http://tolltruth.blogspot.com/
But I didn't have to go there to know that Toll just bullies its agenda onto unwilling communities, etc..I saw it first-hand here in Gowanus. When Superfund came, Mr. Von S. said something to the effect that the canal wasn't really that dirty. And Buddy Scotto said it was clean enough to build on. I'll never forget that, and for that reason alone, they will never have any credibility with me. They revealed their real motivation in Gowanu$$$$. Toll promised to go away if Superfund came. Don't let the door hit your back on your way out.
Interesting (and telling) to note that this letter refers to "development community" standing to lose everything with EPA Superfund - not people community.
Toll STILL hasn't closed on the property. I wonder if they were planning to sell it to another developer with the new zoning place or are trying to renegotiate the purchase terms with the current owner. Toll is now offering a year of free living at their Northside Pier project so things don't seem to be going so well for them in Brooklyn.
Funny that Toll never seemed too concerned with the CSOs when this was going through the ULURP but then why should it since it didn't bother most of CB6 (those who voted in favor should be purged when the time comes), Marty Markowitz, CPC, and the entire City Council with the exception of Tony Avella. I think the current bitching about CSOs by those opposed to the superfund is another red herring similar to Toll Brothers' threat to pick up their marbles and go home because they certainly didn't seem too concerned before the EPA stepped in.
Now all of a sudden David Vonspeckelsen is acknowldedging that the canal is an open sewer because it suits he current purposes.
Toll Brothers needs to exile Mr. Vonspeckesen to Wesley Chapel, FL. where he can develop McMansion tract homes.
When I consider how much has been spent on lobbying, this is a very expensive letter. It's badly written, illogical, and distorts the facts. Toll's behavior has been deplorable and disingenuous. The city is a duplicitous, dirty comrade. In other words, they are dumb and dangerous.
I pray that the EPA will use science and not succumb to the shit that is being spewed around, whether sent through sewage overflows or the United States Postal Service.
I find this statement very very interesting: "through re-zonings, the City will pave the way for private developers to invest in properties along the Canal which will result in site cleanups and in the creation of new sewer systems that will keep storm water out of the combined sewer system, which will also help to alleviate the CSO events."
Exacty how does David V. know about these re-zonings? Has he received assurances from OUR local elected officials that the Gowanus re-zoning is a done deal when it hasn't even begun the ULURP? And we will just be wasting tax payer dollars and our time and energy through the process. I guess it is more palatable for Von Spreckelsen to mention the use of future deveopers' private funds than it is for him to mention that the City's plan relies heavily on funding through WRDA which is funded through federal tax dollars and is not a very feasible source of funding for the canal.
Notably, the CITY did not mention anything about private funding from potential future developers in their recent presentations to Gowanus home and business owners. Instead, the City focused on funding through the WRDA. Either the city is in discussions with developers behind closed doors in which case Cas Holloway should have owned up, and he certainly had the opportunity to do so, or this is specualation and fantasy on Von Spreckelsen's part.
Toll & City: dastardly duo distributes deceitful doctrine = DOLLARS
Great short video explaining City vs EPA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZc96eE_GWg&feature=related
Now that we've stopped Toll, how do we organize and fight the 3rd/Bond project? It looks like people will be moving in this fall to a contaminated property!
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