The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that it had rejected a proposal by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to substitute a combined sewer overflow (CSO) tunnel for the two CSO retention tanks prescribed in the EPA’s Record of Decision for the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup.
In a letter dated September 20, 2019, US EPA Region 2 Administrator Pete Lopez informed NYC DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza that after careful and lengthy review, EPA had decided against the city’s tunnel proposal. Lopez outlined several reasons for the EPA’s decision, which largely focused on concern over potential delays in the cleanup if a tunnel were to replace the tanks.
Click here to read the full letter from Administrator Lopez.