Minutes of the June 28, 2016 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street

Introductions and CAG Updates

  • May minutes are approved

EPA Updates

Preliminary Design for the First Street Basin

  • The 475 foot long 1st Street Basin is currently filled (used to be next to the Power House, across from the Lightstone development)
  • One condition in the EPA Record of Decision (ROD) is the restoration and excavation of the 1st Street Basin and connecting it to the main canal
  • The work is being done by the City under EPA’s oversight (currently at the design stage)
  • The Basin is surrounded on all sides by private property – public access will be via the Canal
  • Restoration will roughly follow the footprint of existing property lines
  • Will do surveys and look at site conditions so as not to interfere with foundations
  • Water depth will match main channel depth after remediation (approximately 40 feet)
  • In past discussions, the community expressed a desire for a soft bank; EPA will construct a 10-foot wide bank alongside the Power House because that location is open land – on the other side there will be a bulkhead (there is no room due to new construction on the site)
  • With a single shelf, it may be feasible to create a terrace (EPA will look into it)
  • A cap will be installed, similar to the main Canal
  • A wetland shelf will be constructed

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Next CAG Committee Meeting: Water Quality & Technical, Monday, September 7th

The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s next committee meeting will be a gathering of the Water Quality & Technical Committee, which will take place on Monday, September 12, at 7:00 p.m.

The meeting will take place at the Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, at 41 1st Street, in Carroll Gardens.

The agenda for the meeting is TBD. All Gowanus CAG meetings are open to the public.

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Resolution on the Preservation of Marine Habitat at the Head of the Canal

At its June, 2016 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, originally proposed by the CAG’s Water Quality/Technical Committee:

The CAG calls upon the EPA to develop a design solution at the head of the canal that presents no loss of the vital resource of marine habitat in this area as a result of the imposition or construction of the “engineered shoreline” or bulkheads.

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Resolution on the Proposed Siting of the Retention Tank and Head House at the Salt Lot

At its May, 2016 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, originally proposed by the CAG’s Land Use Committee, on the proposed siting of a retention tank, head house, and related facilities at the Salt Lot at 2nd Avenue and Fifth Street, adjacent to the Gowanus Canal:

Whereas the New York City Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] has proposed the siting of a four-million gallon retention tank at the Salt Lot to help mitigate the Combined Sewer Overflow [CSO] at the OH- 007 Outfall;

Whereas New York City [City] is initiating construction of a compost facility and salt storage facility [Facilities] either on or directly adjacent to the proposed retention tank site; and

Whereas the EPA Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group [CAG] is concerned that the construction of these Facilities will potentially impede the construction of the retention tank;

Resolved, that the CAG:

1. urges the DEP to facilitate and provide a schedule for the design and construction of the four-million gallon retention tank immediately so that it is completed prior to or simultaneously with the clean up remedy in Target Area #2; and

2. urges the City to postpone the installation of the Facilities until the retention tank is installed.

 

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Minutes of the May 3, 2016 Land Use Committee Meeting

The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s Land Use Committee met on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, in the offices of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy at 543 Union Street.

CAG Members present: David Briggs, Marlene Donnelly, Rafael Gomez de Luna, Katia Kelly, Andrea Parker, Debra Scotto, Mark Shames

Item 1

Review of April 5, 2016 meeting minutes.

Action

Minutes approved with comments.

Item 2

A draft resolution was presented and reviewed. The resolution addressed concerns raised in the previous meeting about the construction of a compost facility and salt storage shed at the Salt Lot, which is the planned site of a retention tank.

Action

After some revisions, the committee unanimously accepted the resolution and agreed to present it to the CAG for approval.

Item 3

A resolution was discussed for addressing concerns raised by the draft EPA/DEP agreement for siting of the retention tanks.

Action

After much conversation, all agreed that Dave will forward a couple of comments drafted by the committee to Andrea, Marlene, and Katia for possible inclusion in a resolution that will be drafted by the Water Quality/Technical Committee.

Minutes of the May 24, 2016 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Meeting
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street

 

Introductions and CAG Updates

  • Salvatore Basile (alternate for Gowanus Alliance moving forward)
  • Also present: Eastern Effects, 280 Nevins Street, Parsons Engineering, Geosyntec, National Grid, NYCHA Residents Committee, Mayor’s Office of Television and Film, Dan Wiley (representing Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez)
  • April minutes approved

 

Project Updates (Christos Tsiamis, Project Engineer, EPA)

Debris Removal at the 4th Street Turning Basin

  • This is the second pilot, next to Whole Foods; the first pilot was a year ago
  • Cannot have successful dredging without removing debris in the Canal
  • PRPs have joined efforts to clean up the Canal, including National Grid
  • At the next CAG meeting, EPA will make a presentation, with the City, about upcoming work at the 1st Street Basin
  • Both basin projects have an archaeological component (John Vetter, EPA consultant archaeologist, will touch on these issues following Geosyntec’s presentation)

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Minutes of the May 13, 2016 Outreach Committee Meeting

The Gowanus CAG Outreach Committee met on Thursday, May 13, 2016, with discussion focused on continuing development of the CAG’s Communications Plan.

CAG members present: Sabine Aronowsky, Katia Kelly, Eric McClure, Christine Petro.

EPA: Natalie Loney

Review of Outstanding Action Items

The group reviewed the action items from the April meeting.

The full CAG approved all four requests put forth by the Outreach Committee at the April general meeting:

  • Establishment of a CAG Twitter account (@GowanusCAG) to be used to push out information available on the CAG website, such as meeting dates and times, links to web posts and CAG news.

Eric reported that he had issued invitations to the Google Group to CAG members, activated the Twitter feed, and had posted the links to the Facebook and YouTube pages.  As agreed, the links to the EPA’s Gowanus Superfund Facebook page and the CAG’s YouTube page contain the following disclaimer:  “The contents of the EPA’s Gowanus Canal Facebook page/the Gowanus Canal CAG YouTube page are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Gowanus Canal CAG.  We make no representations as to the accuracy of the information presented.”  The disclaimer appears when someone hovers over the links on the home page. Read more »