Minutes of the November 8, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality/Technical Committee

Attendees

Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez (Facilitator), Erica Eliason, Richard Lawrence

National Grid: Terri Thomson

Rep for Community Remediation through the Trust: Aaron Kaufman

Guests: Corinne Brenner (Gowanus Dredgers), Elizabeth Waldran (Park Slope resident)

The Committee’s agenda was to discuss the Turning Basins so that we can make decisions about how they will look, what we lose and what we gain.

Aaron Kaufman gave us information on the main channel bulkheads (next to Whole Foods and running parallel to 3rd and 5th Streets) and the 5th Street Turning Basin at the west side of Third Avenue. He explained that the bulkheads along the north side of the channel are sitting at an angle where the foot of the bulkhead sticks out a few feet as compared to the heads. Because they are not stabilized in any way and cannot hold back erosion of the land behind them, new vertically embedded metal bulkheads are being installed. They will be permanent and, he believes, cannot be cut down because the tie-back rods will be connected to a deadman rod to ensure the structural integrity of the bulkhead. Because of the nature of the design – intervals of deadman rods – cutbacks are not feasible. In order to dredge the area, structurally secure bulkheads had to be installed. (See photos and diagram that is not fully representative of the tie backs and deadmen below).

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Missed our October General Meeting? You can review video of the meeting here.

If you were unable to join us on Zoom for our October 2024 general meeting, you can view the video recording of the meeting below. Please note that the recording did not begin until the meeting was well under way; we apologize for the oversight.

For September’s General Meeting, you can find the video here. For our July 2024 meeting, you can view the video recording of the meeting on EPA Region 2’s Zoom page. Enter the passcode 10340836 to access the video.

And for recordings of the rest of our general meetings since April, 2020, please visit our Vimeo page at vimeo.com/showcase/gowanuscag and click on any of the videos to view the meeting video.

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Submits Reclassification Petition to NYS DEC for Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards

At its October 22, 2024 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, agreeing to submit the petition for reclassification of the Gowanus Canal’s surface waters (currently designated Class-SD, to Class-SC, meaning the waters shall be suitable for fish, shellfish and wildlife propagation and survival, as well as primary and secondary contact recreation) passed at the September 2024 General Meeting as a comment for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards.

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Minutes of the October 8, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Land Use Committee

Attendees

CAG Members: Diane Buxbaum, Hildegaard Link, Peter Reich, Joan Salome-Rodrguez, Susan Yung, Katia Kelly, Lisa Bowstead

Guests: Brian Carr, Alex Gregor, Aaron Kaufman, Theo Hirsch

The Committee discussed the following: 

– Gowanus neighborhood air monitoring done by NYCDEP and the request for EPA & NYCDEP to release the complete results to the community.

– Lisa’s draft letter to our elected officials regarding a Community meeting.

– The status of National Grid’s lawsuit and their Dispute Resolution with NYSDEC’s request for additional work to be done at the former Citizens MGP Works site.

– The status of NYSDEC’s access to Citizens Parcel 4.

– Whole Foods bulkhead

– Thomas Greene Park

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Minutes of the October 7, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality/Technical Committee

Attendees:  Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Richard Lawrence, Susan Yung, Katia Kelly, Erica Eliason, Aaron Kaufman, Terri Thomson, Linda LaViolette.

Guests:  Corinne Brenner, Theo Hirsch, Sam Asher

Agenda was as follows:  

1) Filling out the form to be submitted to the DEC with the reclassification petition.  

2) At the Committee’s previous meeting, Marlene Donnelly suggested we once again request a hydrology study.  As it turns out, in June 2024 New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reported that it “is completing a broader groundwater assessment of the Gowanus Area to better understand how the implementation of the DEC remedies and the Gowanus Canal remedy are impacting the overall groundwater conditions.” In fact, Aaron Fischer confirmed this to Joan Salome-Rodriguez at the DEC open house at PS 372 last month. So, the Committee will be discussing and possibly drafting a letter to DEC to get more details about the status of this study, whether and when it will be made public, and what use DEC intends to make of it.

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Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Petitions NYS DEC to Reclassify Gowanus Canal Surface Waters to Fishable and Swimmable

At its September 24, 2024 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, initiated by the Water Quality/Technical Committee, petitioning the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to reclassify the Gowanus Canal’s surface waters, currently designated Class-SD, to Class-SC, meaning the waters shall be suitable for fish, shellfish and wildlife propagation and survival, as well as primary and secondary contact recreation.

The resolution reads as follows:

Resolved: The Gowanus CAG resolves that the attached comments regarding reclassification of surface waters in New York will be submitted as set forth below. The CAG’s petition seeks reclassification of the surface waters of the Gowanus Canal to Class-SC (fishable, swimmable).

Background: The Department of Environmental Conservation will accept petitions for reclassification of surface waters in New York and the deadline for comments is November 4, 2024. We propose to submit the attached comments on this website: dec.ny.gov/chemical/125879.html and within this page, use the link for reclassification petition and we will email jason.fegal@dec.ny.gov.

In response to the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (ANPRM) in the New York State Register on May 8, 2024, the Gowanus Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) hereby petitions that the water of the Gowanus Canal be reclassified from its current industrial standard, which is designated Class-SD to Class-SC, primary contact recreation criteria (fishable-swimmable). Class-SD only mandates a minimal level of dissolved oxygen be maintained in the waters, but places no limit to levels of pathogens present in the waterway. As the Gowanus area has been re-zoned to a residential area, the Gowanus waters should reflect that change and be safe for both residents and wildlife.

The ANPRM solicits public input toward NYSDEC’s Triennial Review of Water Quality Standards (WQS). Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 303(c) and 40 CFR 131.20 include requirements for states to perform a formal regulatory review of WQS every three years, known as the Triennial Review. The Triennial Review is an opportunity for the Department to integrate the best available science and methods into WQS to protect the waters of the State. Regulations subject to Triennial Review are any that direct the water quality standards, waterbody classification, and anti-degradation policies and actions of the State. The effort may result in amendments to water quality standards found in 6 NYCRR Parts 700-706.

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Missed our September 2024 General Meeting? You can review video of the meeting here.

If you were unable to join us on Zoom for our September 2024 general meeting, you can view the video recording of the meeting below.

For our July 2024 meeting, you can view the video recording of the meeting on EPA Region 2’s Zoom page. Enter the passcode 10340836 to access the video.

And for recordings of the rest of our general meetings since April, 2020, please visit our Vimeo page at vimeo.com/showcase/gowanuscag and click on any of the videos to view the meeting video.

Minutes of the September 16, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Outreach Committee

Attendees: Alex Gregor, Lisa Bowstead, Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Andrew Bates, Emily Ruby, Aaron Kaufman

Lisa summarized what transpired at the meeting with Jo Anne Simon’s rep, Talia Hoch, and with Shahana Hanif’s rep, Mia Perez.  

Mia is taking the lead on setting up a meeting with all the relevant agencies to address the Nevins Street neighbor’s concerns.

Mia felt strongly the questions should be in her hands in writing so the agencies can prepare.

Emily said that City Council Member Lincoln Restler set up a task force to meet quarterly in Greenpoint.  We have a task force but quarterly is not the most effective in terms of what our neighbors are dealing with.

Joan shared Dan Goldman’s response with his “one-pagers” with all the phone numbers and names which is NOT what we want. We want ONE number of ONE person who can coordinate an agency response. NOT what Valentina is doing when she responds by saying “call so and so.”  So and so should be responding without the necessity of a second call by the community.

We worked on the Google doc attached below with the questions Mia proposed so we can get back to her and get the meeting set up.

Andrew is working on the table of resolutions in a different application. Pointed him to the website to check it against what I included in the original Excel document and suggested we should have a tab for OTHER COMMUNICATIONS and agency responses to resolutions and letters should be accessible with the resolutions and letters.

Action Items:

  • Lisa to clean up the document to finalize and send to Mia.
  • Will turn it into a letter and demand date and location since the Outreach Committee already suggested a number of locations that could be useful.
  • Lisa will ask that Senator Gounardes, Congressman Goldman, Senator Schumer, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams & Assemblymember Simon’s offices all be invited along with DEC, EPA, DOH, DEP.

Minutes of the September 10, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG Land Use Committee

Attendees:  (listed in order of appearance)

CAG Members: Andrea Parker, Hildegaard Link, Erica Eliason, Peter Reich, Linda LaViolette, Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Susan Yung, Lisa Bowstead, Louis Kleinman

Guests: Brian Carr, Alex Gregor, Oscar Fock, Terri Thomson, Aaron Kaufman

Here’s a link to the video recording of the meeting: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-tVj203tQ1gliRFYINLCmkXwDKJfrJ3f

Briefly, the committee discussed the following (please listen to the recording for more info):

  • Nevins Street air monitoring program done by NYC DEP and currently being reviewed by EPA
  • Community Meeting being organized by our elected officials and several CAG members with the expectation that all the governmental agencies responsible for work being done in the neighborhood attend.
  • Who’s enforcing EPA’s Upland Remediation Guidelines.
  • The status of National Grid’s Dispute Resolution of their work at the former Citizens MGP site and also the status of Parcel 4.

Please note: The Committee has decided to move its October meeting to the second Tuesday of the month (October 8th) so everyone can attend. 

Minutes of the September 9, 2024 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality/Technical Committee

Attendees:  Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Terri Thompson, Richard Lawrence, Susan Yung, Aaron Kaufman, Erica Eliason, Linda LaViolette, Corinne Brenner.

Agenda was simple – review the petition to reclassify the waters of the Gowanus from SD to SC (fishable/swimmable).

We went over the document word for word and Joan then sent a complete version to the full CAG for review prior to the next General Meeting on September 24 so the CAG can vote on the resolution to send the petition to the DEC.

Next meeting – the committee will begin a new resolution (again) seeking a hydrology study and holistic approach to the sources and migration of pollution in the Gowanus area.

Request whether DEC is requiring access-and-egress ladders from the canal or some other method for rescue if necessary.

Corinne is reaching out to FloodNet to see if they can give a presentation to the committee.

Action Items:

  • Linda to look for prior hydrology study requests
  • Outreach to Flood Net
  • Draft letter inquiry re ladders
  • Send resolution to full CAG (done right after the meeting).