Attendees
Joan Salome-Rodriguez, (Facilitator), Lisa Bowstead, Erica Eliason, Katia Kelly, Linda LaViolette, Mark Yarish, Susan Yung, Aaron Kaufman (Gowanus Remediation Team), Irene Baker (National Grid)
You can watch a recording of the meeting here. Enter passcode yc0e7%mF.
Riverkeeper and SWIM Coalition – sign on to letter re: wet weather designations.
Victoria Sacks (EPA Regional Project Manager) replied to our letter – any follow ups? The original letter with Victoria’s answers is below, followed by the questions we came up with at the meeting, which have been sent to Victoria and Heidi Dudek (NYS Department of Environmental Conservation).
Dear EPA and DEC representatives:
At a recent meeting, the members of the Gowanus CAG Water Quality Committee discussed a February 4, 2025 groundwater survey by HRP relating to a DEC Brownfield remediation at 473 President Street. (The site includes 469 President and 514 Union St).
The survey’s purpose was to identify the impacts from the President Street site’s chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) on off-site soil vapor and on groundwater.
The investigative work on the sites was performed from October 2022 to June 2024. The report mentions that the three parcels are 12’ above sea level, and that the groundwater elevations range from .66 to 2.85’. The groundwater flow is in a west-north westerly direction, towards the intersection of Union & Nevins and the Gowanus Canal, with minor fluctuations in levels based on tides.
The elevations were mapped between January 2023 and June 2024. (see page 2, paragraph 3).
The soil samplings referenced in the report were apparently not alarming. However, the groundwater samplings were (see pages 5-6).
In an effort to better understand how the many changes in the Gowanus area have affected groundwater flow in the area, the members of our committee would like to ask the following questions:
-where is this (potentially contaminated) groundwater going now that 70’ metal bulkheads have been installed in the canal as part of the Superfund Remediation?
Victoria Sacks: Not all of the bulkheads that have been installed around the canal are sealed (i.e. watertight) and not all of the bulkheads are as deep as 70 feet. The bulkhead designs are individual engineering decisions based on contamination in the upland and land stability for the canal remedy implementation. In addition, the cap is designed such that groundwater can move upwards through the cap, trapping any NAPL and chemical contamination below.
Follow-up question: Where is the NAPL and chemical contamination going?
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