Gowanus CAG Concerned and Frustrated as Rezoning Plans Move Forward

As progress continues toward cleaning up the Gowanus Canal, the controversial Gowanus rezoning plan has become entwined in the discussion. The Gowanus advisory group, called the CAG, hosted reps from both the Planning and Environmental Protection agencies to answer questions about how their actions will impact the Superfund work.

The Gowanus rezoning will result in skyscrapers invading Gowanus, bringing as many as 20,000 new residents to the relatively small area.

The agency reps were sent questions in advance of the meeting, and made attempts to provide satisfactory answers to the CAG members, many of them distrustful of the city because of its past attempts to thwart the Superfund process.

Frustration and concern could be heard in CAG members’ follow-up questions directed toward the agencies throughout the night.

“Why wouldn’t the city go ahead and finish the tank to bring some real CSO [combined sewer overflow] relief before any rezoning?” asked member Katia Kelly, who kicked off the Q&A session. “Why not build a tunnel first and see what this area can hold?”

DEP Deputy Commissioner Angela Licata responded that the two CSO retention tanks wouldn’t do anything for additional sewer capacity when rezoning takes place; their purpose is to further reduce the CSOs into the canal.

DCP Project Manager Jonathan Keller jumped into the conversation, reminding attendees that this is a public process.

“There still needs to be a disclosure document that says this is what the trade-offs will be; this is what we would need to do to accommodate either sewers or CSOs and share that with the entire community – versus saying let’s build a tank and then let’s do five years of community outreach to come up with a proposed zoning,” he said.

Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s Andrea Parker then asked what the city would do to address the population increase, inquiring if there’d be plans for further tunnel expansion or more capital improvements. DEP responded that they can’t plan for expansion yet and that it’s premature to talk about what additional investments need to be made prior to DCP’s scoping meeting.

Other raised concerns were the floating raw sewage that’s still in the canal to date, and how incoming residents along the canal might be living next to that fetid pollution after rezoning takes place.

In the matter of retention tanks versus retention tunnel, which has been the latest monkey wrench thrown into the mix by the city, the EPA holds the final word. They told us the following:

“EPA staff is working to provide the EPA Regional Administrator with critical analysis of pros and cons of each approach, recognizing that the tunnel system could go beyond mitigation of the Gowanus to address broader concerns with stormwater runoff and other CSO concerns. The city maintains that the tunnel system gives greater flexibility in managing stormwater, and the Regional Administrator wants to be sure EPA is conducting a full assessment of the accuracy of that assertion before it calls for any change in plans to address CSOs in the Gowanus.”

A day after the CAG meeting, EPA Senior Project Manager Christos sent an email to group members, saying the rezoning could affect tank scalability.

“If New York City anticipates increased CSO loads, as a result of planned re-zoning in the areas around the Canal that will be serviced by the tanks, that will result in re-contamination of the canal, and if it provides timely and substantiated information, the design of the tanks can be easily modified, by increasing tank depth, to increase their size and their total capacity to a volume equal to the volume of the tunnel (16 million gallons) that the City has proposed to EPA,” he wrote.

Mark your calendars

• DEP’s obligated to submit the complete design of the tank (located at the head of the canal) by April for EPA to review.
• DCP announced to the CAG that the Gowanus Rezoning Scoping Meeting will be held on April 25 at 4 pm in M.S. 51’s auditorium (350 5^th Ave.). The public is encouraged to attend and provide comment at that time.“An important part of the process is environmental review – to be able to identify and assess what needs the community has to accommodate growth, particularly the growth envisioned by rezoning,” Keller said.
• Community Board 6’s Environmental Committee will meet on April 15 to discuss the upcoming scoping meeting with DCP
• The next CAG meeting is April 23, 6:30 pm, at Mary Star of the Sea (41 1^st St.). CAG meetings are open to the public – one need not be a member to attend.
• The CAG may hold a Superfund Townhall Meeting, tentatively set for May 29. Time and location yet to be determined.

Top photo by DeGregorio