EPA's Gowanus Superfund Site Project Manager Tsiamis To Discuss Feasibility Study At Tonight's CAG Meeting

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) will hold its general meeting tonight, May 31st, in the auditorium at the PS 58, 330 Smith Street, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. On the agenda is a discussion from Christos Tsiamis, US Environmental Protection Agency's Gowanus Superfund Site Project Manager, on the upcoming Feasibility Study. The presentation will be followed by a Q & A period.

As opposed to the Remedial Investigation (RI), which was released this past January and determined the nature and the extend of the contamination of the Gowanus, the Feasibility Study (FS), assesses the treatability and analyses the clean-up alternatives for the site.

All are welcomed to tonight's meeting.

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Yachting In The Gowanus Bay...In 1877

Yacht Rendez-Vous, Gowanus Bay, Brooklyn

Yes, my friends, yachting in the Gowanus Bay...back in 1877! This beautiful hand-colored wood engraving is from the Park Slope Gallery, who has a huge collection of historic Brooklyn material.
I know it is hard to imagine, but hopefully, one day the waters of the Gowanus waterway will be clean enough so that it can be used for recreation, without fear of coming in contact with dangerous toxic materials.
To help make that a reality, make sure you sign the "Superfund Gowanus Petition."
Here is what some of our neighbors are saying on the petition about the Superfund designation of the Gowanus Canal:
As a lifelong resident of Brooklyn and a member of the historic brownstone community since 1967, I have traveled across the bridges of the Gowanus on a very regular basis. With the Industrial Revolution, and without understanding of the ramifications of the effects of chemical wastes on the health of the community, a waterway once teeming with life was reduced to a sickly green toxic mess that could give off literally poisonous fumes under certain conditions. I have been witness to the neglect of the waterway and mourned the fact that it has always had enormous potential. When repairs were made to the flushing tunnel in the 1990's, there was significant improvement, but since there was such a high degree of toxicity from the chemicals deposited over such a long period, a more comprehensive cleanup is surely necessary. The notion of further development along the canal without such a cleanup is utterly wrongheaded. The short-sightedness is mindnumbing! Let's trust scientific data, not land speculators.
The Gowanus Canal has been the victim of a combination of abuse and neglect for far too long. Although well intentioned, admirable measures have been taken, it is now painfully clear that they have been dismally inadequate. The job is simply too big, the toxins too fierce, the cross contamination too rampant. Comprehensive remediation is the only solution. The Federal Government is the only one with the tools and resources necessary to successfully tackle this environmental nightmare. We are both grateful to New York State Commissioner Grannis, of the Dept of Environmental Conservation, for recognizing the severity and scope of this problem and for being courageous enough to ring the bell and bang on the door of the US Environmental Protection Agency to ask for help.

The Gowanus Canal has a rich and colorful history. It has been polluted for well over a century. Those of us who live here haven't given up hope that one day our government will step in and use our taxes to make the waterway environmentally safe. Some attempts have been made over the years, but here we live, with a canal of toxic waste as our backyard. Please support the Superfund designation of the canal. It is time.

Until now we have heard nothing but vague assurances that the canal would be cleaned and only after the developers make their profits and we have placed people in harms way. This is exactly the wrong way to go about developing the canal corridor. First we should clean it and then develop it with confidence that no shortcuts were taken and that the area is safe for habitation. The EPA cleanup is the only way we can be sure that the emphasis will be on cleanup rather than development and a fast profit.

Please let's see the Gowanas restored to health, beauty, and public access. There is an opportunity to create and maintain is distinctive piece of green and water in our borough that will bring enjoyment far into the future. Allowing the area to be the site of even more development would deny so many of a great resource.

I have been a resident of Carroll Gardens since 1973, and I live a block and a half from the Gowanus Canal. My ancestor Adam Brouwer (12 generations ago) came to Brooklyn from Cologne in 1654 and built three tidal mills in the Gowanus wetlands. I love my neighborhood, I honor my ancestral connection to this area, and I want to see the canal returned to something resembling a clean state. The EPA must step in here, because New York City does not have the political record, the ethical will, or the financial resources to make this happen. Please make this a Superfund site and finally clean up this disgrace. Yes, EPA, Superfund me!

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Sign "Superfund Gowanus " Petition And Lets Finally Clean The Canal

The Superfund Gowanus petition is now up. I urge you to take a minute to sign it.
It reads:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees the Gowanus is an "Estuary of National Significance" and is "unbelievably highly contaminated" with tar, PCBs, sewage, lead, mercury and arsenic. The EPA has the tools to lead a comprehensive and inclusive cleanup. Our community has known for generations that this is a toxic public health hazard. Spot cleanup by developers will not achieve the job necessary for a healthy environment. Our Council Member Bill de Blasio has been quoted in the media saying the city has no plan to clean the Gowanus. It is absolutely crucial that you take the time to make your voice heard.

Join your neighbors and these supporters of a comprehensive EPA Superfund cleanup:

• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
• The Army Corps of Engineers
• Riverkeeper
• The Sierra Club
• Columbia University’s Urban Design Lab
• Friends of Greater Gowanus (FROGG)
• Carroll Gardens Coalition for Respectful Development (CG CORD)
• Friends of Bond
• Park Slope Neighbors

Join Them!

Sign Petition here

The new Superfund Gowanus web site is also up.

Go check it out at www.superfundgowanus.org

And Get Your T-Shirt here

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Send Your Comment To EPA Regarding Gowanus Canal Clean-Up

I just spent a few minutes writing a comment to the Environmental Protection Agency in regards to the Gowanus Canal's nomination to the National Priority List as a Superfund site. Below is the comment I sent to them. I urge you, dear Reader, to write in as well.

To Whom It May Concern,
I strongly support the efforts of the EPA to declare the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site. I believe that it is important to clean the canal as thoroughly as possible. I also believe that only the Federal Government has the will and the means to achieve this goal.

Our community deserves a clean Gowanus and our children are worth this investment. Our local government has failed our families and the canal miserably. For decades, our officials have promised and achieved nothing.

Their current plan would open the area along the waterway to development prior to a total clean-up. Raw sewage is dumped into the canal after every rain, yet, there are still no concrete plans to address the problem.

I have enclosed a link to photos I have taken of the Canal after a day of rain and of the resulting sewage on the water's surface.

http://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/search?q=gowanus+floating

There is only one way to clean the canal, and that is the RIGHT way. Placing the Gowanus on the Superfund list is the best hope this community has of having it done the RIGHT way.

With much appreciation,
Katia Kelly
Carroll Gardens resident

Dear Reader,

Please take some time this week to write in yourself. Below is all the information on how you can comment and get answers. With the proposal of this site to the NPL, a 60-day comment period has just started during which EPA solicits public input regarding this action.

To submit your own comment, follow the link below. You will also be able to upload attachments such as photos or documents.

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=090000648094b7d2

Or send your comment by email to: superfund.docket@epa.gov

The ID Number for Gowanus Canal is: NYN000206222

For questions, contact: Dennis Munhall, Region 2 NPL Coordinator at (212) 637-4343,
email: munhall.dennis@ epa.gov.

You can also contact EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator:

Natalie Loney - (212) 637-3639

loney.natalie@epa.gov

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Official Gowanus Superfund Statement From Councilman Bill DeBlasio

Below is the official statement from our Councilmember Bill DeBlasio regarding the nomination of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund. His District Manager Tom Gray sent it to me yesterday.

“For years I have supported cleaning up the Gowanus Canal but I
believe to make real progress we need to involve the community. The
health and safety of the surrounding residents has always been my
number one concern. I still believe local economic projects are an
essential part of the cleanup effort. As the public offers feedback
over the next two months, the Federal and Local Government must work together with the community to find the best way to clean up the
canal," said Councilmember Bill de Blasio.

The part about involving the community sounds great to me. That wasn't always the case.

What's your opinion, dear Reader?

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Mayor Bloomberg, Your Band-Aid Approach To Gowanus Clean-Up No Solution

photo credit: Laphoto1on Flickr

At Tuesday's Informational Meeting On Gowanus Superfund Designation

I don't know about you, dear Reader, but Mayor Bloomberg's opposition to having the toxic Gowanus Canal designated a Superfund site by EPA infuriates me.

After almost eight years in office, the best Mayor Bloomberg's administration could come up with as far as a clean-up plan, was to have City Planning rezone the polluted shores of the Gowanus Canal from industrial to residential, leaving it up to the developers to remove toxins before capping the soil with a layer of cement.

Obviously, that's a band-aid approach to a pollution problem of great magnitude.

Now, that EPA is stepping in, he doesn't want their help. That frankly doesn't surprise me. Allowing the federal government to take control would only shed light on the fact that the Bloomberg administration wasn't really serious about a thorough cleanup.

As someone commented yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg seems to be more concerned about cigarette smoke and trans-fats than about the hazardous toxins in the waters of the Gowanus.

Frankly, allowing development along the canal before such a comprehensive remediation is almost criminal especially since his administration knew the severity of the pollution.
If they didn't, they were just incompetent.

In my humble opinion, it is time for Bloomberg to step aside and let EPA take a shot at cleaning the canal. More importantly, he should be gracious enough to move over after two terms instead of seeking a third one.

Because if he didn't get it cleaned in 8 years, he won't get it done in 12.

What's your opinion?

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Tonight: Important Meeting Regarding Gowanus Canal Superfund Designation

IMPORTANT

Informational meeting regarding the nomination of the Canal for Superfunds
Congresswoman Nydia M. Velázquez and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
Invite you to a:

A Public Information Forum with
US EPA
Regarding the Gowanus Canal Nomination for Superfund

Tuesday, April 14, 7:00 PM

PS 32 Auditorium 317 Hoyt Street (between Union & President Streets)

Bring Your Questions

US Environmental Protection Agency
Will explain how the Superfund program works
and nomination process

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The Unusual Twists And Turns In The Gowanus Canal Saga: Buddy Scotto's Media Blitz

The waters of the Gowanus Canal with raw sewage and garbage

Buddy Scotto:

"There's no question the canal is clean enough now to support development"
(NY Post)

The saga of the Gowanus Canal has more twists and turns than its one and a half mile shoreline. Just last week, the EPA proposed to add the heavily polluted canal to its Superfund National Priority list, which would funnel federal money towards a clean-up.

That would seem like great news to a man who, for decades, worked hard to get the Gowanus Canal cleaned up. But that does not seem to be the case.

Buddy Scotto, long time Carroll Gardens activist and business owner, and founder of the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation has advocated for decades for a cleaner canal. However, these days, he seems to be more concerned with any delay to development along the canal, especially the Toll Brothers.
The national developer recently secured a spot-rezoning for a two block area along the canal from manufacturing to residential. This is in advance of a New York City Planning rezoning for the entire canal area.
Mr. Scotto is an outspoken backer of the Toll Brothers Project.

Mr. Scotto always poo pooed skeptics who argued that the canal should be cleaned thoroughly before housing is built on its shores. He stuck to his "if more people move in, it will be cleaned" approach. Now that the canal may actually get the thorough remediation it needs, Scotto is complaining to the media that placing the Gowanus on the Superfund list would delay development.

As one area resident remarked on Mr. Scotto's quotes in the news:

"Just because credible builders are interested in investing along the Gowanus, doesn't mean that the canal's pollution issues don't need to be addressed and cleaned up. He goes on and on about finding typhoid germs, etc., in the canal, and now he doesn't want it cleaned up. Go figure."

Lately, all emphasis has been on development with only vague assurances that clean up would come later. Now we may finally have a definite commitment to the clean up which should logically come first. We will find out how this will work and how long it will take and a decision will be made on scientific grounds. This has to be good for the community and city. Who would seriously oppose concrete plans for a clean up ? Who wouldn't prefer to live next to a clean canal rather than a polluted one ? Who really believes that a clean up wouldn't make the whole area more valuable ? Haven't we had enough "fast buck" problems ?

Buddy Scotto as quoted in the media last week:

"This is going to stand in the way of so many developments. The designation might scare off all of these private developers.” ( The Brooklyn Paper)

"There are political people who, for their own reasons, don't want development to happen on the Gowanus Canal" ( Daily News)

“We want to make sure they’re not precluded from building. Can the government work with the private sector? This has to be worked out.” ( The New York Times)


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