Pardon Me For Asking: Delegation Of Environmental Officials From China Visits The Gowanus Canal

EPA's Gowanus Canal Remedial Project Manager Christos Tsiamis and EPA Legal Council Brian Carr during a visit by a delegation from China

EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Natalie Loney with Chinese delegates.

On the 3rd Street Bridge

Melissa Dimas, EPA Regional Manager of the International Affairs Program talking about real estate development along the Gowanus

The Gowanus Canal and its designation as an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site continues to garner attention from the international science community.
Yesterday morning, a delegation of high level environmental officials from several provinces in the People's Republic of China visited Gowanus and were given a tour of the canal by Christos Tsiamis, Brian Carr, Natalie Loney and Melissa Dimas of EPA Region 2.

The delegation was headed by Ms. Zelin Wang, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Standards, Division of Environmental Technology, in the Ministry of Environmental Protection in Beijing.
According to Tsiamis, EPA's Gowanus Canal's Remedial Project Manager, the officials were interested "to see a complex Superfund site, learn about the process of the cleanup, and be informed about the method for selecting cleanup technologies."

As part of the tour, the officials were shown the 4th Street Turning Basin, located near Third Avenue, next to the Gowanus Whole Food store. A debris removal Pilot Project was conducted at the basin in 2016, which will be followed by dredging of toxic material at this site. Tsiamis explained that the pilot project and the dredging at the 4th Street basin will allow EPA to fine tune the different techniques that will eventually be applied to the clean-up of the entire canal.

I would like to thank the EPA team for allowing me to join the tour to document the visit yesterday. It is always a thrill to learn that the eyes of the world are on the Gowanus Canal and its environmental remediation.