FOR RELEASE April 23, 2013<\/p>\n
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Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) to\u00a0US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)\u00a0Superfund Clean-up.\u00a0Invites Local Residents to Submit Comments on\u00a0Proposed Clean-up of the Polluted Canal\u00a0and\u00a0Announces the Launch of the CAG Website<\/p>\n
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BROOKLYN, NY \u2014 The Gowanus Canal industrial district is bounded by the neighborhoods of\u00a0Gowanus, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. For the past\u00a0150 years, the canal has been the receiving waterway for sewage outflow, urban storm water\u00a0runoff, and industrial discharges. The state of the canal is a severely degraded urban waterway\u00a0and a source of pollution which is being flushed out into the NY Harbor.<\/p>\n
In March 2009 NY State invited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess\u00a0the canal for eligibility to the Federal Superfund Program. Preliminary testing revealed high\u00a0levels of pollutants which qualified the canal for the Superfund Program. Contaminants include\u00a0PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals and volatile organics. The contamination poses a threat to\u00a0human health, especially local residents and those who use the canal for fishing and recreation.\u00a0On March 2, 2010, after a required public comment period in which the EPA received an\u00a0overwhelming community endorsement for the Superfund listing, the EPA added the Gowanus\u00a0Canal to the Federal Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The listing brings federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERLA) law to the\u00a0Gowanus.<\/p>\n
During 2010 the EPA conducted an extensive remedial investigation that defined the nature,\u00a0sources, and extent of the contamination and issues. In 2011 the EPA issued a Feasibility\u00a0Study (FS) that depicted the possible solutions for the remediation of the canal. In 2012 the\u00a0Community Advisory Group (CAG) had an independent technical advisor, Skeo Solutions,\u00a0prepare a summary of the FS report to help the community better understand the Feasibility\u00a0Study Report.<\/p>\n
On December 27, 2012, EPA released the Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP) for the\u00a0Gowanus Canal. The proposed plan includes controls to prevent raw sewage overflows and\u00a0other land-based sources of contamination from compromising the cleanup. The cost of the\u00a0cleanup, which is expected to be between $467 and $504 million, will be paid by the Responsible\u00a0Parties identified by the EPA.<\/p>\n
Many Superfund sites around the country have Community Advisory Groups (CAGs) that\u00a0advise the EPA. The Gowanus Canal CAG is the largest in the United States and is made up of\u00a0over 50 representatives from civic, environmental, business and community organizations as\u00a0well as individual citizen-members who are stakeholders in the community around the Gowanus\u00a0Canal impacted by the Superfund work.<\/p>\n
The CAG encourages local residents to learn more about the EPA\u2019s proposal, to attend futureCAG meetings and to submit comments by the deadline. To read the Proposed Remedial\u00a0Action Plan (PRAP), see video of the EPA\u2019s presentations to community members, submit\u00a0comments about the proposed clean-up directly to the US EPA (due by April 27, 2013\u00a0deadline) or to learn about future CAG meetings and how the clean-up will progress,\u00a0please go to the CAG\u2019s recently launched website: www.GowanusCAG.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"