video recording of the meeting here<\/a>. Please enter code bK&51$#6 when prompted for access.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHousekeeping:<\/b>
\n1) PowerHouse<\/b> walkway at TB1. NO INFO YET \u2013 Brian says we need community advocacy on this.
\n2) Mounding:<\/b> Just waiting.
\n3) Dissolved Oxygen Levels:<\/b> Any acknowledgement from Fagel, Waldron or Smith to our resolution re: DO levels? No. Erica followed up 5\/4\/2026.
\n4) OMP:<\/b> What is EPA\u2019s 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? No answer. Katia followed up 5\/4\/2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HYDROLOGY:<\/b> Current hydraulic conditions, including groundwater elevations and flow direction. DEC is working on it. They are not including toxins in the study. Suggestion \u2013 overlay the map \u2013 see link (https:\/\/dec.ny.gov\/maps\/interactive-maps\/decinfo-locator).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turning Basins \u2013 what can be done?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Housekeeping:<\/b>
\n5) How much water are we losing?<\/b> Update is \u2013 a lot because of steel bulkheads, tiebacks and toes at bottom we lose surface area but gain depth due to dredging.
\n6) How will what we lose here be returned to us at Turning Basins 1 & 11 (near Lowe’s in RTA 3?<\/b> Does not look that way. We get a little back at 5th Street turning basin. GRT is not up to planning at 11 yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Follow up Turning Basin question<\/u>:<\/b>
Erica: \u201cAs 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?\u201d<\/i>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Future Agency Questions<\/b>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u2013 What is the objective for the level of clean water once the canal is cleaned? CSOs:<\/b> We know implementation 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 and we know the goal is SC. But the question remains – what about the CSOs? We know that even with the tanks, there will still be CSOs in the water. What will happen to those? Will the City have to re-dredge?<\/i> Mark Yarish drafted the following Post-Remedy Issue questions:
\n\u2013 If re-dredging<\/b> is required, how will the City prevent damage to the cap\/remedy? What methods, monitoring\/verification, approvals, enforcement, and repair\/notification steps would apply if cap disturbance occurs? DEP<\/b>
\n\u2013 Basement floodwater testing:<\/b> Can residents\/businesses have a practical way to check floodwater for contamination (kits or an agency-supported sampling option)? If kits aren\u2019t recommended, what alternative is feasible? DEC or DOH?<\/b>
\n\u2013 Real-time canal monitoring\/public reporting:<\/b> Can agencies evaluate deploying monitors along the canal\/outfalls (storm-event focused) and publishing results (e.g., open data\/dashboard) with public health context? DEP?<\/b> Per Eymund, DEP is doing so but hard to find. Maybe the question is: How can DEP make that data more accessible and can it include dissolved oxygen levels? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Future DEP Questions<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having gone over our last two agendas, these questions for DEP still have not been asked \u2013 but see addenda below for that which we have asked already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2013 Addressing Sewer Backups<\/b> \u2013 When will the City turn to Gowanus? Discussed Alicia West email. Jason said his email to her did not bounce. Mine did. Same email.
\u2013 Legal outfalls:<\/b> At General CAG we were told 90% of all CSO would be captured in first flush by the tanks. Discussed Weir outfalls and whether they were an option at parks combined with permeable pavement.
\u2013<\/b> What will the City do if the tanks are not enough to maintain the current SC status of the Canal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FINAL QUESTION:<\/b> We took a look at a document (URBAN FOREST PLAN) prepared by Eymund for a walking tour. It is full of ideas that could assist with flooding issues. Document attached in email with these minutes. The takeaway – after looking at Eymund\u2019s ideas \u2013 what do we want to do to deal with the water? How? Right now Gary is testing for dissolved oxygen, Eymund is testing 2nd Street, Gowanus Canal Conservancy is doing 9th Street. Send results for IEC (Intrastate Environmental Commission\u2019s lab) but there\u2019s no DO standard for a lab. What we have is a Community Water Quality Testing Project. Shouldn\u2019t government be doing some of the work that NFPs are doing like softening bulkheads, oysters (Dredgers doing), testing, egress and ingress (nothing done by government), safety chains?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aaron, why is GRT not reporting dissolved oxygen levels anymore? Need a resolution on this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez (Moderator), Corinne Brenner, Eymund Diegel, Erica Eliason, Katia Kelly, Louis Kleinman, Emily Mitchell, Jason Schwartzman, Susan Yung. Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Aaron Kaufman, Gowanus Remediation… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[96,12,4],"tags":[84,73],"class_list":["post-16659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-meetings","category-frontpage","category-water-quality-technical","tag-meeting","tag-water-quality"],"yoast_head":"\nMinutes of the May 4, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG's Water Quality & Technical Committee - Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gowanuscag.org\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/minutes-of-the-may-4-2026-meeting-of-the-gowanus-canal-cags-water-quality-technical-committee\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minutes of the May 4, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG's Water Quality & Technical Committee - Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez (Moderator), Corinne Brenner, Eymund Diegel, Erica Eliason, Katia Kelly, Louis Kleinman, Emily Mitchell, Jason Schwartzman, Susan Yung. 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