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X-WR-CALNAME:Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group
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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260406T190000
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UID:15641-1775502000-1775505600@gowanuscag.org
SUMMARY:Gowanus Canal CAG Water Quality & Technical Committee Meeting
DESCRIPTION:The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s Water Quality/Technical Committee will hold its regular monthly meeting on Monday\, April 6th\, 2026 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.\, via Zoom video conference. \nYou can join the Zoom meeting here: https://rutgers.zoom.us/j/9639904695?pwd=GcUgWW7PEjxxkB0gjQYCWYesko5rEz.1 \nMeeting ID: 963 990 4695\nPasscode: 479355 \nAgenda \nSewershed \nHaving gone over our last two agendas\, it seems that we need to draft an inquiry to DEP and an invite to get answers to many of the questions we have.  Things we should seek: \n\na presentation on the LTCP that was created in 2015. Has there been an update?  Does it take into consideration the LIRR development area?\nSewershed in Gowanus. Issues related to the Atlantic Yards Project and the BMT project.  Can our infrastructure take all that?  \n\nAddressing Sewer Backups – Bond-Lorraine Sewer at Public Place.  DEP should report to us on the status of that project since development is likely to damage it further.  When will the City turn to Gowanus?  Drisana C. Hughes is the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)\, appointed in January 2025. She serves as the chief liaison for community members\, stakeholders\, and elected officials in Brooklyn\, focusing on infrastructure projects\, flooding issues\, and community concerns. \n\nCSO tanks and Weir outfalls.\nWhat steps were required by DEP (DOB?) so that development projects prevent or offset additional sewer loadings? engineering controls to ensure that hazardous substances and solids are not discharged to the canal? WHAT ENTITY IS POLICING THIS?  HOW?  NOW?\nNow that some buildings are occupied\, is the City currently monitoring effluent? Where are these reports and what do they show?\nCan the Red Hook and Owl’s Head Wastewater Control Plants handle the additional loads both in dry and wet weather events?\nWhat will the City do if the tanks are not enough to maintain the current SC status of the Canal?\n\nHousekeeping \n\nLegal outfalls – which are street ends\, which are buildings\, which are the CSO tanks\, what are the WEIRS?\nPowerHouse walkway at TB1.\nWe will follow on the mounding studies once EPA presents on them again. Issue is forward looking – climate change.\n\nFollow-ups on Action Items \n\nAny acknowledgement from Fagel\, Waldron or Smith to our resolution re: DO levels?\nWhat is the objective for the level of clean water once the canal is cleaned?\n\nImplementation of the remedy will improve the surface water quality of the Canal by controlling and substantially eliminating sheens and preventing contact of the surface water with the contaminated sediment.  \nWhat about CSO’s?  Followed with Corinne. \nNOTE:  We may have wanted to direct this to EPA initially and probably still should but we should send to DEC and definitely DEP as well since Lisa Garcia\, the former head of EPA’s Region 2\, is now the Commissioner at DEP (will she recuse from all things Gowanus?).  We know the current objective per DEC is SC but the question remains – what about the CSO’s?  We know that even with the tanks\, there will still be CSO’s in the water.  What will happen to those?  Will the City have to re-dredge?   \nWon’t City re-dredging potentially damage the cap? General CAG Q.  MARK’s Q.  DEC\, DOH\, DOHMH\, DEP \nCan there be kits for residents/businesses to check basement flood waters for contamination?  Can there be monitors along the Canal such as were utilized in France along the Seine for the Olympics?  Followed with Mark Yarish whether he had an opportunity to draft an inquiry on these two related questions. \nPost-Remedy Issues \n* What is EPA’s demand for responsible parties to maintain an operation and maintenance plan (OMP) for the Gowanus Canal Clean-up strategy? Who will ensure that the OMP is done going forward? Will EPA continue to check that the water quality remains good and that the cap is intact? Does EPA have an OMP Plan? Where is it?  Katia followed on these two questions – any answer? \nHydrology \nCurrent hydraulic conditions\, including groundwater elevations and flow direction. This study by DEC was scheduled for completion in late 2024. Per Aaron DEC is working on it.  Joan\, Steve\, Emily \nTurning Basins \n\nHow much water are we losing?\n\n0.81 acres in RTA2 [that’s almost a whole city block!] and 0.12 acres in RTA1. The area that will be recovered in turning basin 1 and under the 3rd Ave bridge is about 0.51 acres. \nDue to the dredging of soft sediment in the canal\, we will be increasing the water depth along the length of the canal\, thus INCREASING the holding capacity of the canal. The volume increase in RTA1 and RTA2 excluding the area under the 3rd Ave bridge is estimated to be about 118\,000 CY or the capacity of 36 Olympic size swimming pools. \n\nHow will what we lose here be returned to us at Turning Basins 1 & 11 (near Lowe’s in RTA 3)? Does not look that way.\n\nIn coordination with EPA\, the Trust is currently designing a wetland in the former First Street turning basin to provide ecological value and recreational benefits to the community and to offset water area lost by bulkhead encroachment throughout the project area. Additional encroachment mitigation will occur beneath the Third Avenue bridge and slightly into the Fifth Street Turning Basin\, pursuant to plans which are still being developed.  At Turning Basin 11\, encroachment from the bulkhead construction is anticipated due to structural limitations from the former Pathmark building. \nFollow up question:  \n*It should be noted that the First and Fourth Street Basin were illegally landfilled with EPA / NYSDEC failing in their protective duties…  so technically up to 3.5 acres of habitat restoration would need\, legally\, to be compensated for.  \nEPA is still reviewing this and we will bring it to the CAG when we have a further response. We have no further response at this point. – ERICA – craft a question to follow up.  ERICA wrote – “As water was not fully restored in Turning Basin 1 with the sloped design\, we would like to confirm that future designs for the other turning basins and other areas of the Canal will prioritize no further loss of width of the Canal and turning basins?”  \nAll Gowanus CAG meetings are open to the public\, unless specifically noted otherwise.
URL:https://gowanuscag.org/index.php/event/gowanus-canal-cag-water-quality-technical-committee-meeting-72/
LOCATION:Zoom Conference\, NY\, United States
CATEGORIES:CAG Committee Meeting
ORGANIZER;CN="Joan%20Salome-Rodriguez":MAILTO:jblue406@aol.com
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