EPA Issues Administrative Order Requiring City to Construct Sewage Retention Tanks for Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Cleanup

The Environmental Protection Agency just issued the press release below,  stating that the Federal Agency has issued an important Administrative Order requiring New York City to construct two sewage retention tanks as part of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Cleanup.

This is great news for the Gowanus community, which has long demanded that the City of New York cease the use of the Gowanus Canal as an open sewer.

As part of the EPA Record of Decision for the Gowanus Canal Superfund clean-up, the EPA had mandated that the NYC Department of Environmental Protection construct two retention tanks to control untreated sewage from entering the canal during heavy downpours.

NYC DEP has tried to delay the tank's construction for the past few years. Just recently,  DEP's Commissioner Vincent Sapienza told EPA Region 2 that the completion date for the larger of the two tanks at the head of the canal would have to be pushed back to 2032, citing "the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the city's finances and water revenues."

This EPA order legally compels the City to complete the smaller retention tank on the Salt Lot near 2nd Avenue in 2028 and the larger 8 million gallon tank by 2029.  If the City fails to comply to the order, it will face stiff fines.

It is important to note that the two tanks only address CSO discharges into the canal under current conditions. This is significant given the fact that NY City is currently pushing for a massive rezone that would bring about 20,000 new residents into the area. However, the EPA has publicly assured the community that will carefully monitor sewage discharge from any future residential development to insure that the City does not recontaminate the Gowanus Canal.

NEW YORK (March 30, 2021) 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered the City of New York (city) to construct and operate two Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) retention tanks to control contaminated solids discharges at the Gowanus Canal Superfund site in Brooklyn, New York, which is a key component of the Gowanus Canal cleanup. The EPA’s order follows previous orders that EPA issued in 2014 and 2016 to require the city to find a location for and design the two tanks. Controls to reduce CSO discharges and prevent other land-based sources of pollution, such as street runoff, from compromising the cleanup are a critical part of the site’s cleanup plan.

“This order will ensure that EPA’s cleanup efforts will not be undermined by uncontrolled combined sewer overflow discharges that have contributed to the chemical contamination of this waterway and impacted this community for the past century and a half,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Walter Mugdan. “To ensure the integrity of the dredging work, the retention tanks will control New York City’s sewer outfalls over the long-term.”

The administrative order, issued on March 29, 2021, requires the city to construct one 8-million-gallon tank, located at the head of the canal, and one 4-million-gallon tank, located at a New York City Department of Sanitation Salt Lot near the middle of the canal.

The order also requires the city to, among other things:

• Ensure that developers comply with municipal stormwater regulations within the Gowanus area to prevent additional sewer volume from impairing the effectiveness of the CSO tanks; • Provide treatment for separated stormwater discharges;

• Perform monitoring of sewer solids discharges to ensure protection of the dredging remedy; • Perform associated maintenance dredging, if determined by EPA to be necessary; • Construct a bulkhead on City-owned property to prepare for the second phase of dredging work; and

• Adhere to an overall schedule for remaining tank design work and construction.

The 2013 cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site includes dredging to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of the canal, which has accumulated because of industrial activity and CSO discharges. More than a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and copper, are present at high levels in the Gowanus Canal sediments. Dredged sediment that contains high levels of liquid tar will be thermally treated at an off-site facility and disposed. The less contaminated dredged sediment will be processed at an off-site facility to transform it into a beneficial use product, such as landfill cover. Certain areas of the native sediment, below the original canal bottom, that contain mobile liquid tar and are too deep to excavate, will be mixed with cement and solidified to prevent the migration of the tar into the water of the canal. Following dredging and solidification of areas of the native sediment, construction of a multilayer cap in dredged areas will isolate and prevent migration of any dissolved chemicals remaining in the deep native sediments.

To view EPA’s administrative order, as well as other information and documents concerning cleanup activity and EPA’s efforts at the site, please visit www.epa.gov/superfund/gowanus-canal Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://facebook.com/eparegion2

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Dredging In The Polluted Gowanus: Two Whole Cars Were Just Fished Out Of The Canal

Mention the Gowanus Canal to anyone in the Gowanus neighborhood and they will inevitably wonder aloud what one may find buried beneath its fetid waters. History buffs have guessed that the toxic black sludge that has accumulated over decades at the bottom of the canal may hold artifacts from the Battle of Brooklyn which was fought nearby. Author Jonathan Lethem describes the Gowanus Canal as "the only body of water in the world that is 90 percent guns" in his book Motherless Brooklyn. 

And many old timers mention bodies....lots and lots of bodies, including, perhaps, that of famous teamster Jimmy Hoffa.

The speculations increased last month when dredging in the upper portion of the canal began this past November 16 as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund clean-up of the canal.  Since that day, excavators on barges have been digging up the contaminated material one shovelful after the other. It is a fascinating sight.

So, one can imagine the surprise of the excavator operator on site last Friday when he 'hooked' a whole car, possibly a Mercedes, on the East side of the canal between the 1st Street Basin and the Carroll Street Bridge (see the yellow dot on the map below).

What is even more amazing is that yesterday a second car was pulled out just feet away from the first one.

This one was located a bit nearer the 363-365 Bond Street development at Second Street, 

Car #2

The Police was called by the contractor, but apparently the detective in charge did not know what to do about the discovery and needed to talk to his supervisor.

In the meantime, both cars have been transported to an off-site facility to be cleaned. There are no reports of findings inside the cars yet, but we will keep everyone updated when we find out.

If you are as fascinated by all things IN the canal, you might want to read these PMFA articles.

From 2016:

It Came From The Gowanus: Viewing Debris Recently Removed From 4th Street Basin

From 2018:

It Came From The Gowanus Part II: More Items See The Light Of Day After Being Dredged From The Bottom Of The Canal

From 2009: 

Car Plunges Into Gowanus Canal Early On Saturday Morning

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Hear Directly From The EPA Regarding Dredging In Gowanus Canal At Tuesday's Gowanus CAG Meeting

The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group will be hosting its general meeting on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 6:30pm via Zoom. Come and hear directly from the Environmental Protection Agency about the Superfund clean-up of the polluted waterway. The dredging of the toxic 'black mayonnaise' in the canal has just recently started, so we are sure it will be interesting to many to get an update from the federal agency 

All meetings are open to the public.

Zoom Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83249420669
Call-in option:
(929) 436-2866. Code 832 4942 0669#

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Reality Check! EPA Warns City Gowanus Area Upzoning Cannot Compromise The Canal Clean-up

Just hours before the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group's October meeting this past Tuesday,  the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to New York City warning that the proposed upzoning of the Gowanus neighborhood cannot compromise the EPA Superfund clean-up of the 1.8 mile toxic waterway. 

The letter, written by EPA Region 2 Administrator Peter Lopez informs the New York Department of City Planning and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection that his agency anticipates a significant increase in wastewater generated as a result of the rezoning from manufacturing to residential.

EPA estimates that waste water will increase from the present 178,795 gallons per day to 1,977,302 gallons per day once the proposed development has been completely built out. 

This should not come as a surprise to the City since the EPA had addressed the same concerns in its comments on the Gowanus Neighborhood Rezoning Draft Scope of Work for an Environmental Impact Statement (DSOW) back in May 2019.

The EPA is very clear that it does not get involved in land use issues. However, anticipating future use is an important component of designing the Superfund remedy. The Federal Agency is also protective of its environmental remedies and will get involved if there is a risk of re-contamination to a Superfund site.

The City of New York is one of the major polluters of the Gowanus canal, as a result of allowing sewage to discharge into the canal when waste water exceeds the capacity of our treatment facilities during periods of heavy rainfall.  To remedy the situation, EPA has mandated that the City construct two retention tanks to capture the waste water during these rain events.

The City has been dragging its feet and using one delaying tactic after another to avoid taking responsibility for polluting the canal. As it stands, NYC DEP now anticipates the completion of the first tank in 2032.

EPA, for its part, is moving ahead at full speed.  In November, the dredging of the toxic material in the canal will begin, followed by the installation of a multi-layer cap at the bottom of the waterway.

Since the City has not yet begun building its tanks, solids from the waste water discharges risk recontaminating the Superfund site.

It will be interesting to see how the City's Departments of Environmental Protection and Planning will try to engineer their way out of this, given the fact that the City has not yet managed to capture current CSOs into the waterway, let alone 10 times the amount.

Once again, it would appear that the EPA is stepping in to protect the environment and the health of the Gowanus community. The same cannot be said about Mayor deBlasio, as well as Councilmen Brad Lander and Steve Levin, who are all pushing for the rezoning before environmental remediation.

Below is Administrator Lopez's letter to the City.

Dear Director Lago and Commissioner Sapienza:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in receipt of public notices indicating that
the Department of City Planning (DCP) has resumed the Gowanus rezoning process,
commencing with the public meeting on October 22, 2020 before the Brooklyn Community
Board 6 Land Use Committee.

As you know, the proposed rezoning affects an area surrounding the Gowanus Canal, which EPA
placed on the Superfund National Priorities List in March 2010. The Gowanus Canal Superfund
Site (Site) is defined as the approximately 100-foot wide, 1.8-mile-long Canal, and also includes
any areas that are sources of contamination to the Canal.

In 2013, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the cleanup of the Canal that included the
dredging and off-Site disposal of much of the accumulated contaminated sediment within the
Canal, the capping of certain contamination remaining below the dredged material, and the
control of upland sources to prevent the recontamination of the clean Canal. See
https://semspub.epa.gov/workl02/692106.pdf

Such upland sources include certain contaminated sewer solids discharged into the Canal during
Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) events when stormwater and sanitary sewage capacity is
exceeded within the approximately 1,758-acre Gowanus Canal watershed. The CSO portion of
the EPA-selected remedy requires the City, a potentially responsible party for the Site, to
construct and operate two CSO retention tanks. Pursuant to several EPA administrative orders,
the City is required to design those CSO tanks and to participate in the first stage of the dredging
and capping work. The City will be required to construct the CSO tanks pursuant to a future EPA
enforcement instrument.

EPA does not have a direct role in local land-use or zoning decisions. However, accounting for
current and anticipated future local land use is an important component in EPA's planning of
response actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and
Liability Act ("CERCLA" or "Superfund"). EPA also has a role in ensuring that future land-use
changes do not adversely affect the integrity of Superfund cleanups, including the ongoing work
at the Gowanus Canal. Accordingly, in May 2019, EPA provided comments to DCP on the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) scoping documents for the rezoning, and also directed the
New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to provide rezoning-related
information to EPA as part of the CSO tank design process.

The first phase of the dredging and capping is to begin in mid-November 2020 in the upper
Canal, which is in the area where DCP has proposed rezoning for residential use. Progress on the
Canal cleanup is among the factors cited by the City in support of the rezoning.
Progress on the CSO tanks, however, has been delayed by DEP, as noted in recent EPA
communications to DEP. In June 2020, DEP requested that EPA grant an extension of time to
complete the CSO tanks. EPA is reviewing that request, which may impact the effectiveness of
the remedy and have implications on the rezoning.

In light of community interest associated with the start of dredging, DEP's CSO-related delays,
and the resumption of the rezoning process, EPA believes that it would be of assistance to the
City, the community, and other stakeholders to reiterate the cleanup-related discharge parameters
of the ROD.

In anticipation of potential redevelopment, the ROD requires that any future activities that fall
under the City's purview, including development, do not compromise the effectiveness of the
Gowanus Canal remedy. Among other things, the ROD specifically states:

Current and future high density residential redevelopment along the banks of the canal and

within the sewershed shall adhere to NYC rules for sewer connections (Chapter 31 of Title 15

of the Rules of the City of New York) and shall be consistent with current NYCDEP criteria

(NYCDEP, 2012) and guidelines to ensure that hazardous substances and solids from

additional sewage loads do not compromise the effectiveness of the permanent CSOcontrol

measures by exceeding their design capacity. For example, redevelopment

to take mitigation measures to prevent or offset additional sewer loadings. Separated

storm water outfalls will also require engineering controls to ensure that hazardous

substances and solids are not discharged to the Canal. [ROD at page 84.]

In EPA's May 2019 comments on the EIS scoping documents, EPA noted that the City

preliminarily projects a significant increase in the wastewater generation in the neighborhood as

a result of the proposed development. Specifically, for residential development, wastewater

generation is estimated to increase from 178,795 gallons per day (gpd) at present to 1,977,302

gpd once the proposed development has been completed. (See Gowanus Neighborhood

Rezoning and Related Actions at Table B-1).

Consistent with EPA's May 2019 comments, the EIS process should accurately determine not
just the total wastewater generation, but also the incremental sanitary and stormwater volumes
and what appropriate mitigation measures, or combination of measures, are required to prevent
added CSO-related discharges to the Canal and adverse effects on the Canal remedy. In
particular, EPA believes that DEP must determine whether any infrastructure serving the parcels
that are to be rezoned requires upgrading to provide adequate conveyance and prevent overflows
to the Canal. EPA will review all such determinations and other relevant information related to
the impacts of the proposed rezoning on the Superfund Canal remedy and will assess whether
any mitigation measures proposed as part of the development, as a result of the rezoning, would
indeed be protective of the Canal remedy.

EPA acknowledges the City's authority to engage in land-use planning and zoning. With that
said, however, EPA respectfully submits that any rezoning impacting the Canal must proceed in
a manner that is protective of human health and the environment, as envisioned in EPA's Canal
remedy.

EPA looks forward to engaging with the City, the community and other stakeholders in a
cooperative manner so that the appropriate information is available for a productive
consideration of rezoning issues.

After the rains! Raw sewage floating on the Gowanus Canal 

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Large Amount Of Coal Tar And CSO Pollution Flowing Into The Already Remediated Gowanus Canal 4th Street Basin

The Gowanus Canal's 4th Street Basin near Whole Foods earlier this year

Coal Tar sheen clearly visible on the surface of the water at Gowanus' 4th Street Basin

Looking Towards Whole Food's parking lot

CSO and Coal tar visible from Third Avenue, looking at the 4th Street Basin

From Whole Food's Esplanade.

The photos and videos above were taken early this morning in Gowanus.  They were taken byBrad Vogel of the Gowanus Dredgers and clearly show a large amount of Coal Tar and Combined Sewer Overflow at the Gowanus Canal's 4th Street Turning Basin near Whole Foods and 3rd Avenue.
The Environmental Protection Agency was immediately notified of today's condition.

The sight is heartbreaking. Why? Because the 4th Street Turning Basin was the first portion of the canal to be cleaned and capped as part of the EPA's Superfund remediation of the polluted canal.  The basin had been chosen for a  Dredging and Capping Pilot Study, the results of which informed and helped EPA fine-tune different techniques that will  be applied to the entire canal.
E.P.A.'s plans to begin the dredging of the main canal sometime in late 2020.

The pilot study was completed in late 2018 and represented a huge milestone. The work consisted of dredging the contaminated sediment at the bottom of the basin and capping it to prevent recontamination.  It was the first time in over 100 years that a section of the Gowanus was clean of debris and toxic 'black mayonnaise', the thick coal tar sediment at the bottom of the canal, which is a result of heavy industrial use in and around the Gowanus over centuries.

This is why the sight of new coal tar and CSO floating on this remediated section this morning is so upsetting. The pollution was flowing into the Basin from the main canal.  Perhaps Wednesday's heavy rains are to blame for the current conditions?

This illustrates the complexity of remediating such a polluted body of water . It also demonstrates  the fragility of the environment after decades of abuse.
Surely, the sight of little ducklings swimming around on the polluted water in Vogel's video above is just so sad.


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EPA Explains Superfund Clean-Up Sequence For The Upper Gowanus Canal. Work To Begin This Fall

Christos Tsiamis, EPA's Gowanus Canal project manager

On Tuesday, January 28, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to the six major corporations that bear the most significant responsibility for the canal's pollution. The order compels these Responsible Parties to begin the important work of dredging and capping of the upper portion of the Gowanus Canal and to restore the First Street Basin, which was illegally filled a few decades ago.

At last night's Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group's meeting held at Mary Star of the Sea Senior Home on First Place, the EPA gave the community a one-and-a half-hour presentation on the actual clean-up sequence for this upper portion of the Gowanus Canal.

Christos Tsiamis, the EPA project manager, began the lengthy and detailed presentation by saying:
"It has been a long time coming for me and for you, this moment when I stand here in front of you to discuss specific steps that we will take for cleaning up the canal in a timeframe that is within sight. So I am very happy to be here tonight."

Indeed, it felt like a huge milestone to finally be talking about dredging the main canal after so may years of planning.

With the lessons learned during the Pilot Study in the Fourth Street Basin near Whole Foods in 2018, the EPA has made some adjustments to the original clean-up plan and estimates that the work on Remediation Target Area 1, which covers the top of the canal from Butler Street to the Carroll Street Bridge, will begin sometime in late August/ September of 2020.

The work, as Tsiamis explained yesterday, needs to be carefully choreographed. Before the toxic material at the bottom of the canal can be removed, new bulkheads need to be installed to provide structural support to the shore. Also, work on the Fulton Bulkhead Barrier Wall Construction at the head of the canal is still ongoing. The sealed wall will serve as an environmental barrier, preventing liquid coal tar from the former Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant from recontaminating the canal after the Superfund clean-up is completed.

In addition, the Union Street Bridge and the landmarked Carroll Street Bridge need to be stabilized with pipe piles in order to not compromise them during dredging.  The Carroll Street bridge will most likely stay in an open position for three to four months and will be closed to traffic. The Union Street Bridge, however, will be passable.

Once all the support work has been completed, dredging of the soft, toxic sediment at the bottom of the canal will begin between the two bridges.

One major change in the clean-up plan has to do with the capping, which serves to keep toxins deep in the native soil from percolating back up into the water after the dredging. As Tsiamis observed as part of his work on the canal, there is a significant amount of upwelling of ground water.  In order to deal with this, the contractor will:

-first dredge most of the contaminated soft sediment and debris

-inject a cement layer into the most contaminated pockets of native sediment to stabilize these areas

-add an oleophilic clay layer 

-add granular activated carbon (to absorb any chemical pushed up from below) and a sand layer. The thickness and content will vary to match the expected dissolve phase flux through the cap and to provide an even surface for the top.

-finish with an articulated concrete armor top

Most of the toxic dredged material will be transported out of the community by barge on the Gowanus to New Jersey where there is sufficient space to separate and treat it before disposal.

The work on this upper portion is expected to take about 30 months and is estimated to cost $125 million. Upon its completion, the clean-up will continue on the middle and lower parts of the canal. 

Tsiamis told the CAG that work on the design for RTA2, the most polluted part of the canal, is already underway.

This big step signals the true beginning of the clean-up of this long neglected waterway. It will be a pretty momentous occasion for Gowanus and for this community.

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Environmental Remediation Of Gowanus Canal Moves A Giant Step Forward As EPA Issues Order To Begin Superfund Clean-Up

The long awaited environmental clean-up of the Gowanus Canal has just moved a giant step closer. 

On Tuesday, January 28,  the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Unilateral Administrative Order to the six major corporations that bear the most significant responsibility for the canal's pollution.  The order compels the Responsible Parties to begin the important work of dredging and capping of the upper portion of the Gowanus Canal and to restore the First Street Basin, which was illegally filled a few decades ago.

Though the beginning of the dredging work in that portion of the canal is still six or seven months away, the EPA is giving the PRPs advance lead time so that contractors can be hired, equipment can be procured and moved into place.

The work on this upper portion is expected to take about 30 months and is estimated to cost $125 million.  Upon its completion, the clean-up will continue on the middle and lower parts of the canal. Most of the toxic  dredged material will be transported out of the community by barge on the Gowanus.

Currently, bulkheads are being replaced from Butler Street to the Union Street Bridge to prevent the collapse of the uplands during dredging. Work on the Fulton Bulkhead Barrier Wall Construction at the head of the canal is also ongoing. The sealed wall will serve as an environmental barrier, preventing liquid coal tar from the former Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant from recontaminating the canal after the Superfund clean-up is completed.

This big step signals the true beginning of the clean-up of this long neglected waterway. It will be a pretty momentous occasion for Gowanus.

Below is EPA's press release on the order:

EPA Issues Administrative Order Requiring Start of Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Cleanup

NEW YORK (January 28, 2020) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the issuance of an administrative order requiring the start of the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund site in Brooklyn, New York. This is a major milestone in the cleanup of the site. The order, which covers both the cleanup of the upper canal – denominated as Remediation Target Area (RTA) 1 – and the 1st Street turning basin, is based on years of detailed engineering, scientific studies and design work. The work required by the order involves full-scale dredging and capping of RTA 1, as well as restoration of the 1st Street turning basin. This important work is estimated to cost $125 million and is expected to take about 30 months to complete. EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) are coordinating closely on the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal and the surrounding area. The NYSDEC has primary responsibility for addressing contamination at the upland properties adjacent to the Canal.

“This order will ensure the remediation of a portion of the heavily-contaminated waterway, which is the centerpiece of a revitalized neighborhood,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “By addressing Superfund sites in densely populated urban areas such as the Gowanus Canal, EPA is protecting public health and the environment while supporting Brooklyn’s continued economic redevelopment.”

“We’ve come a long way to achieve this significant milestone in cleaning up the Gowanus Canal. With pilot dredging tested, full-scale dredging, capping and restoration of the canal can proceed, starting with the first third of the canal,” said U.S. Representative Nydia M. Velázquez. “We are on an ambitious timeline for cleanup as compared to other Superfund sites throughout the nation. Most importantly, we are cleaning up Gowanus the right way, in a manner respectful of community needs, and responsible parties are shouldering the cost. I would like to thank all the EPA regional staff for their tireless work for the health and benefit of Brooklyn and New York.”

The remediation of RTA 1 is the first of three areas of the Canal that are targeted for cleanup. The restoration of the contaminated filled-in former 1st Street turning basin will serve as the primary wetlands area for mitigating or offsetting incremental encroachment into the Canal created by construction of deeper and more robust bulkheads along the Canal that are needed to allow dredging to take place at the necessary depths. The start of dredging required by the order is currently scheduled for September 2020, contingent on completion of bulkhead upgrades.

EPA, NYSDEC and the New York State Department of Health will be overseeing the work, which includes plans for community health and safety monitoring. The order is being issued to six parties that EPA determined have the largest shares of responsibility for the contamination at the Gowanus Canal site: Brooklyn Union Gas Co. d/b/a National Grid New York; the City of New York; Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc.; Hess Corp.; Honeywell International Inc. and The Brooklyn Improvement Co. EPA is seeking to enter into cost recovery settlements with about 30 other private and federal government entities that have significantly smaller shares of responsibility.

More than a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals, including mercury, lead and copper, are present at high levels in the Gowanus Canal sediment. The cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site includes dredging to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of the Canal, which has accumulated because of industrial and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges. Following dredging, construction of a multilayer cap in dredged areas will isolate and prevent migration of any remaining chemicals in the deep native sediments. Certain areas of the native sediment, below the original canal bottom, that contain mobile liquid tar and are too deep to excavate will be mixed with cement and solidified to prevent the migration of the tar into the water of the Canal. Controls to reduce CSO discharges and prevent other land-based sources of pollution, such as street runoff, from compromising the cleanup are also included in the cleanup plan.

The Superfund program has been providing important health benefits to communities across the country for nearly 40 years. Superfund cleanups also strengthen local economies. Data collected through 2017 shows that at 487 Superfund sites in reuse, approximately 6,600 businesses are generating $43.6 billion in sales and employ 156,000 people who earned a combined income of $11.2 billion.

To view EPA’s administrative order for the site, please visit: https://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/02/586740

Learn more about the Gowanus Canal Superfund site here: www.epa.gov/superfund/gowanus-canal

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Tugboat Partially Sinks On The Gowanus Canal On A Rainy Sunday

The little white tugboat on the canal this past Thursday, before it sank.

****See 10/27/2019 update below the post****

Heavy rains may have been the reason a small tugboat partially sank on the Gowanus Canal this afternoon.
The boat was being used for work related to the  Fulton Bulkhead Barrier Wall construction at the head of the canal.

The construction work is part of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund clean-up of the heavily polluted waterway.  It is being performed by contractors for  National Grid under EPA's supervision and began in late August.

Photo taken late Sunday afternoon

photo credit: Brad Vogel

Photo credit: Brad Vogel

The photos above of the sunken tugboat were sent to us by friend and Gowanus Canal Dredgers Canoe Club member Brad Vogel, who told us that It happened during the storm earlier today.  Oil spill prevention booms on it by the time it was first noted

The incident has  been reported to both EPA and National Grid and oil spill prevention booms have been placed around the boat.

Below is the sunken barge from another angle taken by David Waitz before the booms were put in place.

Photo by David Waitz via Gowanus Dredgers

It seems odd for a tugboat to sink even on a  rainy day like today.  It will be interesting to find out the reason this could have happen.

 Update:
The photo of the tugboat below was taken on Monday, October 27th, after it was lifted out of the water. It was sent to us by Christos Tsiamis, EPA project manager for the Gowanus Canal Superfund clean-up

According to Tsiamis, "the reason for its partial sinking was that the bilge pump (that pumps water out of the boat) failed during that big rainfall (while no work was being done) and all the water stayed on the boat…"

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Latest EPA Update On Gowanus Canal Superfund: All You Need To Know

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

Christos Tsiamis

EPA Region 2 Gowanus Canal Project Manager

EPA Fact Sheet on Fulton Bulkhead Barrier Wall

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group gathered this past Tuesday for its October General Meeting to receive an update on work currently performed in and around the canal under the supervision  of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Christos Tsiamis, the EPA project manager for the Gowanus Canal Superfund gave the CAG an overview on the Fulton Bulkhead Barrier Wall Construction at the head of the canal. The sealed wall  will serve as an environmental barrier, preventing liquid coal tar from the former Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant from recontaminating the canal after the Superfund clean-up is completed. The work is being done by National Grid contractors  and consists of "880 feet of steel sheet piling to be placed in front of the bulkheads along the eastern side of the Gowanus Canal and will extend from the canal head end to the Union Street Bridge."

Work on the wall began in late August 2019 and has been progressing as planned, except for a small  delay caused by repairs to the Union Street Bridge. However, the NY City Department of Transportation has assured EPA that it will open the bridge so that barges carrying material for the wall construction can get through. EPA does not project a significant delay because of the bridge repair.

"The conclusion is that we are on track to finish that wall by August 2020," Tsiamis told the CAG.

DoT at work on the Union Street Bridge this morning

Recently, the group of Potentially Responsible Parties (Polluters) handed EPA 90% of the design for the clean-up of the upper portion of the canal. EPA is in the process of reviewing in detail  all aspects of the canal design and will send back comments to the PRPs shortly.

"I mention this because we have had some differences with the PRPs, in particular National Grid and their contractor in regards to the approach of that particular clean-up. We had objections to the schedule that they were presenting." Tsiamis stated.

EPA believes that the dredging at the head of the canal can begin in August/ September 2020, whereas National Grid is pushing for a start date in May 2021.

"We still believe that the head of the canal clean-up can start by sometime in 2020. We are looking carefully at the design that they have submitted and we will let you know how things are going at the next CAG meeting." Tsiamis added.

Regarding the two retention tanks that NY City's Department of Environmental Protection is mandated to build to keep Combined Sewer Overflow out of the Canal during rain events  (one 8 million gallon tank at the head of the Canal and a 4 million gallon tank on the Salt Lot on Second Street), Tsiamis mentioned that the City has just provided EPA with the 90% design for the larger of the two tanks.  Again, the Agency is currently reviewing the plans.

"I am also looking forward to resuming work on the middle of the canal retention tank," he told the CAG.

When asked how DEP had reacted to a recent decision by EPA Region 2 Regional Administrator Lopez to disallow the City to shift from constructing the two CSO tanks to a tunnel,  Tsiamis answered: "That matter is finished on the part of the EPA. and we are moving forward."

"The EPA has spent nearly a year and a half and lots of resources looking at what had been presented to us. We offered our input to the Administrator. He considered everything and he made his decision.  That decision is very well summarized in the letter that was sent by him to [DEP's] Commissioner."

{see letter below}

"We now have to really focus all of our efforts on getting on with the work, finalizing the design, initiate the design, hopefully in an accelerated fashion, and cleaning up the canal, which is not a small task.," Tsiamis concluded.

Letter from EPA Regional Administrator Lopez To DEP Commissioner Sapienza 

regarding CSO tunnel decision.

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