Public Comment Period Runs Until April 15, 2024
The Gowanus Canal Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council, comprised of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and the United States Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have released the draft Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan (NRDA) for the Gowanus Canal, which “describes the Trustees’ proposed approach to conducting the NRDA, summarizes existing data, and outlines potential analyses and studies that may be used to evaluate contaminants and their effects on Gowanus Canal natural resources and resource services.”
The plan will guide the Trustees in seeking monetary damages from the potentially responsible parties (PRPs, the entities held liable for the contamination of the canal) for the restoration of natural resources and resource services resulting from the contamination of the canal, and compensating the public for interim losses until restoration. The plan describes the Trustees’ “proposed approach to conducting the
NRDA, summarizes existing data, and outlines potential analyses and studies that may be used to evaluate contaminants and their effects on Gowanus Canal.”
You can download a copy of the draft Natural Resource Damage Assessment Plan here, and a copy of the pre-assessment screen, prepared in December 2014, here. A hard copy of the plan is also available for review at the Park Slope branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, at 431 6th Avenue.
You can submit your comments on the plan through April 15, 2024, to:
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Natural Resource Damages Section
c/o Alicia Pasos
625 Broadway, 14th Floor
Albany, NY 12233
E-mail: nrd@dec.ny.gov
You can read the letter from the Trustees announcing the publication of the draft NRDA here.