The Gowanus Superfund Site Explained
We were out Saturday at EXPOGowanus, updating attendees and passersby on the status of the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, explaining the role of the CAG, and adding people to our mailing list.
If you have a community event in which you’d like us to participate, please send us an email at gowanuscag@gmail.com.
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s Land Use Committee met on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in the offices of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy at 543 Union Street.
CAG Members present: David Briggs, Marlene Donnelly, Rafael Gomez de Luna, Andrea Parker, Buddy Scotto, Debra Scotto, Mark Shames, Sue Wolfe, Maryann Young
Guests: Terri Thompson, National Grid
Item 1
Review of March 1, 2016 meeting minutes.
Action
Minutes approved.
Item 2
The Department of Sanitation of New York [DSNY] is planning to build a compost facility and a salt storage shed at the Salt Lot, which is the planned site of a retention tank. There is confusion about why DSNY is proceeding with this work in light of the EPA’s comments at the January CAG meeting that the retention tank installations could move forward. All agreed that the design and installation of both retention tanks should proceed expeditiously and be completed prior to the dredging.
Action
Andrea and Dave will draft a resolution requesting the EPA to move forward with the OH-007 retention-tank design process and construction schedule. The draft will be circulated to the committee for review and comment. Read more »
Did you miss the April 25 EPA hearing on the draft settlement agreement with New York City for siting of the CSO retention tank at the head of the Gowanus Canal? You can watch the entirety of the EPA’s presentation, and comments made in response to it by members of the public, below.
The video is also available at the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s YouTube page.
[Disclaimer: The contents of this video, and other videos posted on the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group’s YouTube page, are provided for informational purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the CAG. We make no representations as to the accuracy of the information contained therein.]
To read more about the draft settlement agreement, please click here.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the terms of the agreement until May 31. You can submit comments by mail or email to:
Walter Mugdan, U.S. EPA Superfund Director
290 Broadway, Floor 19
New York, N.Y., 10007
mugdan.walter@epa.gov
Follow us @GowanusCAG for news, updates and meeting info.
Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Meeting
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street, Carroll Gardens
Introductions and CAG Updates
EPA Update (Natalie Loney, Community Involvement Coordinator, EPA Region 2)
Questions and Answers
CAG Member: When will selection be made?
Loney: We don’t know. There are still things that have to be resolved.
CAG Member: I thought EPA was going to start dredging and not wait on the tanks decision.
Loney: The remedy consists of multiple parts. The remedial design is still moving forward, which is the major focus of the CAG. The project is not delayed.
CAG Member: Once the deal is reached, does EPA plan to come and present to the CAG first or will there be a press conference? How will EPA inform the CAG?
Loney: We haven’t finalized any press strategy. It depends on the timing but the CAG will definitely be made aware.
Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Meeting
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street, Carroll Gardens
Presentation from Alloy Development
Alloy, a Brooklyn developer, has recently moved into Gowanus with several projects, including a new headquarters. Alloy has partnered with the owners of the Canal-adjacent properties currently under consideration as a potential site for the CSO retention tanks. Alloy is presenting a program for the site that allows the property owners to retain development and ownership rights to some of the land while allowing for public access and parkland. They want to encourage the selection of the site for the retention tanks.
Summary of the Alloy Presentation
Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Meeting
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Mary Star of the Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street, Carroll Gardens
Presentation: History of the Gowanus Canal
CAG Member Joseph Alexiou and EPA’s Natalie Loney reprised their presentation of the history of the Gowanus Canal, originally presented at EPA’s national community involvement conference, outlining the development of the Canal and corresponding areas of Brooklyn over time, up to the present-day Superfund cleanup.
Questions and Answers
Q: What is the argument for restoring the 1st Street basin?
A: Toxins that are in the site and could recontamination
Q: What about flooding?
A: Not a main reason for restoring the 1st Street basin, but will provide some benefits which is important in light of climate change?
Q: What about smells and air pollution exposure? We are looking for stronger protections from certain exposures for the very young and the very old.
A: Superfund looks at future exposures over a timeframe of 30 years so the effects of chemicals in the past are less relevant and more emphasis is placed on the future.
Q: Environmental Justice Concerns – can you explain this a bit more? Does the CAG or EPA have certain roles or responsibilities with specifically impacted communities?
A: Superfund involves Environmental Justice by necessity, one major component or the remedy was thought out with the Environmental Justice community in mind. EPA became familiar with the neighborhood and noted that communities of color seem most significantly impacted. Read more »
The Gowanus CAG Outreach Committee met on Thursday, April 14, 2016, with discussion focused on continuing development of the CAG’s Communications Plan.
CAG members present: Stefan Doerring, Katia Kelly, Eric McClure, Maryann Young.
Guests: Terri Thomson, National Grid
Review of Outstanding Action Items
The group reviewed the action items from the March meeting. Eric McClure reported that he wasn’t able to reach a solution for including a Google Alert-based RSS feed on the CAG home page, but that Josh Skaller, who created the website, believes it would be relatively easy to do and is willing to help with that. Josh also is willing to update the “Join the CAG” form that’s linked from the home page, and Eric will send him the full form so that he can revise the form on the site.
Eric reported that he had posted the Land Use Committee resolution on CSO tank siting approved at the March CAG meeting to the website, but had not received the Water Quality/Technical Committee resolution requesting that the EPA establish a comment period once a decision is made on the location of the tanks. Maryann responded that she had sent the resolution to Doug Sarno, and shared it via email with Eric (it has subsequently been posted to the website).
The Outreach Committee identified several items to bring to the full CAG for approval at the April general meeting. Read more »
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the City of New York have reached a proposed agreement on the siting of two sewer and storm water retention tanks intended to reduce combined sewer overflows into the Gowanus Canal.
In addition, the EPA announced that it will hold a public meeting about the agreement on April 25 at 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 32, at 317 Hoyt Street in Gowanus, and will accept public comments on the proposed tank siting until May 31, 2016. Comments can be made in person at the public meeting or mailed or emailed to:
Walter Mugdan, U.S. EPA Superfund Director
290 Broadway, Floor 19
New York, N.Y., 10007
mugdan.walter@epa.gov
The full press release issued today by the EPA is below. You can read the full draft Settlement Agreement between the EPA and New York City here.
EPA Proposes Locations for Two Sewage Retention Tanks as Part of Gowanus Canal Cleanup
Public Encouraged to Provide Comments
Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov
(New York, N.Y. – April 14, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed agreement with the City of New York that establishes the location for two sewage and storm water retention tanks, included as part of the cleanup for the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site. The agreement sets out a schedule for the design of the larger of the two tanks. It also requires New York City to undertake activities to prepare that location for the tank installation, and to pay EPA oversight costs. Prior to finalizing the agreement with New York City, the EPA is accepting public comments. The proposed administrative settlement agreement and order released today allows New York City to locate an eight million gallon retention tank in New York City’s preferred location, known as the “Head-of-Canal” location, but it also holds the city to a strict schedule. The EPA can require New York City to place the tank in the Thomas Greene Park location instead, if certain activities do not occur on schedule, including if New York City is not able to acquire the land at the Head-of-Canal location within approximately four years. The EPA is accepting public input on the work contained in the proposed agreement for the next 30 days and will have a public meeting on April 25 to discuss the work being secured under the agreement.
At its March, 2016 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed the following resolution, originally proposed by the CAG’s Water Quality/Technical Committee, requesting a 30-day public comment period once the EPA and New York City on the siting of a CSO retention tank and related facilities at the north end of the Gowanus Canal:
The CAG believes that pending EPA decisions may effectively change the Record of Decision. Such a potential deviation warrants the establishment of an official Public Comment Period.
The CAG hereby resolves and requests that the EPA include a Public Comment Period as part of any CSO tank agreements made with New York City, and for any impending actions affecting remediation plans for the upland Fulton MGP site.
In response to the CAG’s resolution, the EPA has agreed to establish a 30-day comment period, as outlined in the agreement on siting of CSO retention tanks that it announced on April 14, 2016, and communicated to the CAG in a letter from EPA Region 2 Emergency & Remedial Response Division Director Walter Mugdan dated April 13, 2016. You can read that correspondence in its entirety here.
To see past resolutions passed by the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group, click here.