At its January 22, 2019 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution calling for creation of a Programmatic Agreement for addressing the preservation of archaeological artifacts salvaged from the 4th Street turning basin.
The resolution, addressed to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the New York State Historic Preservation Office, reads as follows:
Resolved: EPA and the PRP’s pursuant to Section 106 be responsible for maintaining all cultural material recovered and retained from the 4th Street Turning Basin Pilot Project and currently stored on a privately- owned space. The EPA indicated the cultural materials must be removed by the end of January 2019.
Resolved: These cultural materials are of interest to the Gowanus community and the CAG members as tangible remnants of the community’s past, therefore the cultural materials recovered from the 4th Street Basin Pilot Project and cultural materials removed subsequently during the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal as the project proceeds, be addressed in the Programmatic Agreement (PA).
Resolved: The Archaeology Committee and the Gowanus community enough time to find a temporary or permanent repository for the cultural materials recovered from the 4th Street Basin Pilot Project, therefore, it is the EPA’s responsibility to secure a location and find the monies to relocate these items and store the collection until the disposition of cultural material excavated from the Gowanus Canal channel is resolved through a PA.
Resolved: The Archaeology Committee asks that EPA follow the guidelines set by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation regarding community input, consultation and review of documents, including the PA, relating to historic properties within the project’s Area of Potential Effect (APE) and cultural material recovered from the Gowanus Canal project.
Resolved: Members of the Gowanus Community, including CAG members shall be the custodians and trustees of all artifacts recently discovered and all artifacts discovered in the future in the Gowanus Canal Corridor during the remainder of the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup.
The original resolution was drafted by the CAG’s Archaeology Committee. You can download a copy of the full resolution, including relevant background information, here: Gowanus CAG Resolution 012219 Artifacts.