The Gowanus Superfund Site Explained
Did you miss the Gowanus Superfund Town Hall we hosted on November 16th?
If so, or if you were there and have grown nostalgic for that comprehensive explainer on the present and future of the U.S. EPA-led Superfund cleanup of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal, you can watch the meeting in its entirety right here.
Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
Announcements:
Doug Sarno opened the meeting at 6:35.
The September meeting summary was approved with no revisions.
Project Updates (Christos Tsiamis, EPA Remedial Project Manager)
EPA has started prep work on the pilot study, which will start a little over a month from now. They’ve opened the tunnel of the 4th street basin so equipment can get in. Today they’ve begun the sheet piling that is required to start the dredging and capping. Dredging should commence at the beginning of December, and they should complete the pilot in the spring of 2018, when for the first time in over a century a portion of the canal will have a clean bottom.
They’ll remove all the toxins that have accumulated for a century and a half and remove and replace a brand new bottom with clean material. Once we have the results from this pilot, EPA will finalize a design for the entire canal. Then we will clean out the canal from the top to the bottom.
Fourth Street Turning Basin Dredging and Capping Pilot Project
More details on the pilot study were provided by David Himmelheber of Geosyntec, the contractor working on the design. Dave presented a number of slides to give sense of what the work will look, smell, and sound like over the next few months.
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure Public Hearing – Gowanus Canal CSO Facility
Pursuant to Section 201 of the New York City Charter, the Brooklyn Borough Board will hold a public hearing on the matter of the proposed Gowanus Canal CSO Facility in the Community Room of Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, commencing at 6:00 PM on November 27, 2017. The Gowanus Canal CSO Facility is the second of two items on the agenda.
Calendar Item 2 –– Gowanus Canal CSO Facility (180065 PCK)
An application submitted by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), pursuant to Section 197-c of the New York City Charter, for the selection and acquisition of three privately owned parcels on a site at the head of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn Community District 6 (CD 6). Such actions would facilitate the construction of a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) control facility at 242 Nevins Street and 234 Butler Street through site acquisition, with a staging area at 270 Nevins Street that would be leased by the City.
Note: To request a sign language interpreter, or to request Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) services, and/or foreign language interpretation in accordance with Local Law 30, please contact Land Use Coordinator Inna Guzenfeld at (718) 802-3754 or iguzenfeld@brooklynbp.nyc.gov prior to the hearing.
The Gowanus Canal was designated a federal Superfund site in 2010, which initiated a complex, multi-year clean-up. Dredging has started this fall in the 4th Street turning basin and will continue in 2018.
Come to this public meeting for information about the canal clean-up, timeline and what to expect. Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez will give a keynote, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will present an overview and timeline. An audience Q&A session will follow the presentation.
At the Wyckoff Gardens Community Center, 272 Wyckoff Street, in Brooklyn.
At its September 26, 2017 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, originally proposed by the CAG’s Land Use Committee.
Resolution on Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Process for the Gowanus Canal and its Surrounding Environs
Whereas the EPA Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group [CAG] seeks the best possible environmental restoration for the canal and its environs, and an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) of the Gowanus Superfund site was conducted by the EPA;
Resolved, the CAG urges the Natural Resource trustees conducting a Damage Assessment to consider the preliminary sites listed below for actions promoting environmental restoration proposals that have a direct beneficial impact on the canal and its environs.
Preliminary Sites:
• Salt Lot
• Lowes Bulkhead/ Home Depot Waterfront
• Edge of Pathmark Site Along Canal
• Gowanus Bay Terminal
• Street Ends & Turning Basins
• Public Place Waterfront
• Carroll Park & Thomas Greene Playground
• Under the Tracks Playground
• RTA-1 site
• Sunset Park Piers
• Gowanus Canal Bed
• NYCHA and other publicly-owned properties within the watershed
• Bush Terminal Park
Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
Announcements:
Doug Sarno opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
The August meeting summary was approved with no revisions.
The Gowanus Town Hall with Nydia Velázquez was tentatively re-scheduled for 11/16.
Project Updates (Christos Tsiamis, EPA Remedial Project Manager)
The second phase of the pilot study in the 4th Street Basin will begin in early October, not in August as previously scheduled. The potentially responsible parties (PRP) will conduct the activities associated with this project. The first phase of the work was conducted last year to remove debris; this phase is designed to study the planned dredging and capping system according to the clean up plan.
There will be equipment and barges in the 4th Street Basin. Preparatory dredging to create enough space to allow access for more equipment further into the 4th Street Basin is planned to begin October 5. The first activities will be to stabilize the shores. Bulkhead work should occur between 10/23 and 10/31 and continue into November. By the first week of December, dredging should be ready to begin. The dredging will occur over at least two months, capping should take place by the end of April or beginning of May 2018. During this work, there will be some barges moored in the canal and the canal will be narrowed, so you won’t be able to access the 4th Street Basin next to Public Place.
EPA will conduct a meeting with the PRPs in November to discuss the 65% design for the cleanup activities related to the dredging and the capping of the upper portion of the Canal. By this design phase, the scientific and engineering questions (e.g. what kind of cap, how will the sediment be treated, where will the sediment go) have to be answered.
By November, the designs of the upper canal bulkheads that have not been completed or planned by private groups will also be released. The PRP group will submit a draft final bulkhead design by mid October.
The aim is to use results from the 4th Street Basin pilot as lessons and apply them to the entire area. EPA will incorporate lessons from the pilot into the 95% design scheduled for February 2019. EPA will try to share the lessons learned from the pilot while the studies are being conducted and compiled. There are lengthy internal reviews.
New York City government’s role in the cleanup may look something like that at the 1st Street Basin, where the city took measurements, did work, and incorporated measures for EPA to review.
Quite a bit of contaminated soil removal is about to be completed at the Powerhouse site. A cap was installed there and reviewed by Brian and Christos from the EPA. This cap is more stringent than NYS Brownfields policy requires for site development, as EPA requires additional work to prove whether any contamination will continue there.
Earlier this month, contractors working for the Environmental Protection Agency began work on a dredging and capping pilot study in the Gowanus Canal’s 4th Street Turning Basin.
The process involves installation of steel sheeting in front of existing bulkheads, followed by dredging of contaminated sediment from the canal, before the installation of a multi-layered protective cap at the bottom of the canal.
The EPA expects to complete this pilot effort in the Spring of 2018. The results of the study will be used to evaluate and finalize the elements for the dredging and capping of the entire canal.
Download a complete fact sheet here: 4th Street Dredging Factsheet FINAL
Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
Announcements:
Doug Sarno opened the meeting at 6:35 p.m.
The July meeting summary was approved with no revisions.
Project Updates
Natalie Loney, EPA, presented the updates:
Questions and Answers:
CAG Member: Will work on the 4th Street Basin occur during the weekend? The Dredgers are planning a “Gowanus Challenge” canoe and kayak event on the canal between the Carroll and Fourth Street bridges.
EPA: We do not know the work schedule yet; we will talk with the Dredgers.
CAG Member: Regarding eminent domain and the property that Alloy was going to develop – if it is going to be taken by eminent domain anyway, why do a brownfield clean up?
EPA: We don’t know the answer to that. The City is in the process of acquiring this property.
CAG Member: The Newtown Creek CAG unveiled new great multi-lingual “don’t eat” street signs (paid for by the PRPs); now that there is a template, can we create similar signs along the Canal?
EPA: There are signs at some of the outfalls.
CAG Member: Were the signs at Newtown a result of a community request?
EPA: Yes. The EPA team did a walk-through and determined how many were necessary. An EPA contractor installed and put them up – they are nicer than the CSO signs because they include EPA on them and appear more official. Signs have not been formally requested at Gowanus. A committee would need to write a resolution
CAG Member: Is there any way for EPA to start laying groundwork for that because it would be past September 26 before it could happen (A Water Quality Committee resolution to create and implement these signs is scheduled).
CAG Member: What is the Length of time for 4th Street Basin work?
EPA: At least several months because they first have to shore up the bulkheads. The work will be conducted similarly to the debris removal, and there will be a fact sheet for the community while the work is happening.
CAG Member: At the Power House site, the vegetation has been cleared away except for the largest cottonwood – do we know that that tree will remain? Can it stay?
EPA: We need to look into it, because I do not know the rationale for why it wasn’t cleared.
CAG Member: Will you be removing the boom or weir?
EPA: We will look into that and get you an answer.
Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
Announcements:
Doug Sarno opened the meeting at 6:40.
The May meeting summary was approved with no revisions.
Project Updates
Christos Tsiamis, EPA Project Manager, presented the updates.
Two things have happened since last meeting:
Over Memorial Day there was partial collapse of the bulkhead on the Lowe’s property. We understand the CAG has drafted some language regarding that collapse. Let me explain to you what happened – we were not there, but we were alerted by the community. Natalie and I went there the day after the collapse and inspected the area.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced recently that the Con Edison Third Avenue Yard will be remediated under the State’s Brownfield Cleanup Program. NYSDEC will accept public comments on the draft Remedial Investigation Work Plan through September 8, 2017.
The Third Avenue Yard is a nearly seven-acre site bounded to the north by 1st Street, to the south by 3rd Street, to the west by 3rd Avenue, and to the east by 4th Avenue. Con Edison currently uses the property as a utility service center, which includes storage, fleet fuel dispensing, a repair garage, parking of fleet and staff vehicles, administrative offices, and a truck flushing area.
The site was a tidal wetland until 1860, when it was covered with fill, and then housed Washington Park, the home ballpark of the predecessors to the Brooklyn Dodgers, until approximately 1918, when it was converted into warehouse space.
The remedial investigation will define the nature and extent of contamination in soil, surface water, groundwater and any other parts of the environment that may be affected. Elements of the investigation will include:
• Installation and sampling of soil borings to determine the extent of PCBs, manufactured gas, petroleum and urban fill contamination.
• Installation and sampling of additional groundwater wells to determine current groundwater conditions.
The investigation will inform the creation of a cleanup plan, which will also be subject to a 45-day public comment period.
The proposed Remedial Investigation Work Plan is available for review at the following locations:
Brooklyn Public Library – Pacific Branch
25 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Phone: (718) 638-1531
Brooklyn Community Board 6
250 Baltic Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: 718-643-3027
Project-related questions and can be directed, and comments on the Draft Remedial Investigation Work Plan submitted, to:
Michael Haggerty
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Division of Environmental Remediation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-7017
Phone: 518-402-9688
Email: michael.haggerty@dec.ny.gov
Site-related health questions can be directed to:
Gregory Rys
New York State Department of Health
Empire State Plaza Corning Tower Room 1787
Albany, NY 12237
Phone: 518-402-7860
Email: BEEI@health.ny.gov
Click here for a copy of the project Fact Sheet.
More information about the site and contaminants found in its soil and groundwater are available here.