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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Third Street Bridge In Gowanus To Close Intermittently For Repair This Tuesday

The notice above comes from the New York City Department Of Transportation via Community Board 6.
The Third Street Bride in Gowanus will be closed intermittently in each direction on Tuesday, February 2nd from 9 am to 4 pm for needed post-Sandy repair work.
Delays may result, so you may want to avoid the area during those hours. Use the Carroll Street Bridge or the 9th Street Bridge if you can. And, of course,  allow extra time if you need to cross the canal on Tuesday.



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Gowanus Community To Lightstone Group Regarding Gowanus Project: "You Can't Give Us Enough Sympathy For What We Are Going Through"

Scott Avram,  Lightstone Group Senior Vice President of Development

Lee Weintraub, Landscape architect for Lightstone Group

Community Board 6 Manager Craig Hammerman

Councilmember Brad Lander

It was standing room only at Mary Star of the Sea's community room last night as Lightstone Group representatives updated local residents on the construction of their mega development at 363-365 Bond Street between Carroll Street and Second Street on the banks of the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal.

The meeting was a small concession to the community, which had to deal with months-long pounding noise and vibration from pile driving during Phase One of the project at 365 Bond Street.   Local residents made numerous calls to local elected officials and to various agencies to point out all kinds of violations at the construction site this past the summer. Many complaints were made to the Department of Health by neighbors who were reporting dizziness and headaches from fumes escaping from the Brownfield site after construction crews disturbed the contamination in the ground.

Representatives of the US Environmental Protection Agency, NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Department of Health,  NYC Department of Transportation, as well as NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development also attended last night's meeting.

It is important to note that the NYC Department of Buildings, which had been asked to send representation, did not do so.

As the start of Phase Two at 363 Bond Street is imminent, Lightstone was willing to answer questions from residents and to listen to their complaints last night. But first, the community needed to sit through a presentation.

According to Scott Avram,  Lightstone Senior Vice President of Development, completed work at the 700 unit development site includes:

-environmental Brownfield  remediation at 365 Bond Street under the supervision of NY State Department of Environmental Conservation

-foundation pile driving at 365 Bond Street

-initial foundation work at 365 Bond Street

-Sidewalk bridge and fence installation.

Upcoming work includes:

-remaining foundation work at 365 Bond Street

-Superstructure work at 365 Bond Street

-Brownfield site remediation at 363 Bond Street

-Test piles at 363 Bond Street

-Surveying and layout.

Avram acknowledged that the company had gotten complaints from the community regarding noise and vibration from pile driving, idling trucks at 6 AM in the morning on nearby residential blocks, after- hour and week-end work at the site, and fumes from  petroleum product that was being dug up during the environmental remediation and then trucked through the neighborhood.

"Your many concerns brought forth this meeting, " Avram said.  However,  he was very quick to add that during construction of Phase 1, the surrounding neighborhood had been monitored by an independent third party engineering firm, using air and vibration monitoring devices.

He also pointed out that the Department of Buildings had approved Saturday construction hours from 8 AM to 5 PM.

Avram blamed the early morning idling trucks on third party contractors. He blamed a homeless man living under the scaffolding at Second Street for the pile-up of trash. As for the after-hour work reported by residents, it had been an" isolated, unavoidable incident caused by mechanical issues during a cement pour".  It seemed that the Lightstone representative had an excuse for every inconvenience, problem and violation at the site. 

As for potential  damage to homes adjacent to the building site, one resident expressed dismay with Lightstone's responsiveness.

"We don't trust you in the year you have been building this thing. We have not gotten a straight answer about anything. We have gotten lots of denials, lots of  'oh, its within the limits', 'oh, DoB approved it", or  "it's all according to code", the resident told the developer's representatives.  "We have nothing from Lightstone  that says that you will take responsibility," he added.

Avram's response? "We can just build the job.  It's been approved by the Buildings Department. " Later he added: "We don't have to monitor, we don't have to survey.  No one is forcing us.  We are doing the best we can to answer some of your questions.  We are building a big project We are trying to do it quickly.  We are trying to be as unintrusive as possible.  We are building a big building.  We understand that it is loud and noisy."

One Gowanus resident probably expressed the feeling of the community best.  She said: "You have taken on a very controversial project. I want to very much appreciate your efforts to address our concerns  You said before that you could just put your head down and not do any monitoring. I just wanted to say that, to me, it's a moral responsibility that you are taking responsibility, that you are looking at these things. And I don't think that you can underestimate how much concern, upset and anxiety this has caused.  I don't think you can give us enough sympathy for what we are going through.  You are going to have your buildings, make your money and cut off the sky.  We are going to be left with the results."

If you live near the Lightstone site and need to report a problem,  please call 311, email Community Board 6 at info@BrooklynCB6.org and call the developer's hotline at 646 362 1500.

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Skateboarders Derive Added Benefit From Wider Traffic Calming Sidewalks

As part of the Downtown Brooklyn Traffic Calming project, the New York City Department Of Transportation has recently installed wider sidewalks like the one above at the corner of Smith Street and Bergen Street. The purpose of these "neckdowns" is to provide a safer crossing for pedestrians and to slow traffic across Smith Street.

Unexpectedly, the wider sidewalks serve another purpose. Local skateboarders have been enjoying the curbs to perform some very cool tricks. They sure seems to enjoy themselves.

But then, maybe that was all part of the plan. After all, the city's web site states:

"The project's goal is to make all types of streets function better for all users of the public space."

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Connect Neighborhoods By The B.Q.E.: An Invitation To A Community Design Workshop

The N.Y.C. Economic Development Corporation is hosting the first of three design workshops to improve the connection between Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and the Columbia Street waterfront .

The BQE Enhancement Project is a joint effort between New York City and our community to "improve the pedestrian environment between Atlantic and Hamilton Avenue."

The first workshop will take place on May 4th at Long Island College Hospital. During the session, designers will solicit advice and input from neighborhood residents.

Workshop 1

Tuesday, May 4th

6:30 Pm to 8:30 PM

Long Island College Hospital

Avram Conference Center

339 Hicks Street

Please RSVP at bqe@nycedc.com

The project is sponsored by Congresswoman Nydia Velàzquez and the New York City Department of Transportation.

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How Many Trucks And Workers Does It Take ? D.O.T. Repairs A (Small) Patch On Union Street Bridge

Recently, the N.Y.C. Department Of Transportation has been doing work on the Union Street Bridge. According to a public announcement by the agency, repairs to the structural grating deck were to be performed in February and March.

D.O.T. workers were still working on the bridge on Thursday. From the distance, it appeared as though extensive work was being performed. After all, five big D.O.T. trucks were parked on the bridge. Four crew members were intently bent over part of the roadway. It seemed like complicated work.
Except, on closer inspection, the four crew members were cementing a very, very small patch of the roadway. And they were taking turns slowly, slowly, slowly smoothing it out, as one of the drivers seemed to supervise from his truck.

I looked, I really did, but there was no evidence that there was more to the repair work than that little square.
Five trucks and four workers for this? A bit overkill, no?




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