Tag: EPA

Environment, Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, Land Use, News

Big questions about Public Place remain, by Jorge Bello

Members of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group were smiling in their Zoom squares when Christos Tsiamis, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) engineer leading the Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup, reappeared on their screens on March 23. Tsiamis had not attended the group’s monthly virtual meetings since December, when he expressed concerns over changes utility company National Grid made last summer […]

Environment, Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, News

Gowanus neighbors try to slow down inevitable construction onslaught

When the city unleashes a rezoning and its accompanying host of contentious public review meetings on a neighborhood, seldom does anything stop it. A coalition of local grassroots organizations led by Voice of Gowanus managed to do so temporarily by suing the city and preventing it from triggering the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), a seven-month path leading to […]

Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, News

The yuck is coming up

The sun was out, but the slanted light of fall did little to warm the small crowd gathered at the Carroll Street Bridge in Gowanus the morning of Nov. 16. But despite winds that whipped bare hands and quickly chilled the hot cider they held in paper cups, members of Gowanus Dredgers, an organization that promotes waterfront stewardship at its […]

News

Virtual meeting between NYCHA-Disaster Recovery department and EPA

The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Disaster Recovery department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a virtual meeting on Thursday about the soil sampling at the Red Hook Houses related to Sandy construction. There was also an update about the two recent gas outages at the Red Hook Houses caused by the construction that has been happening. Joy […]

Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, News

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will begin dredging the Gowanus Canal

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will begin dredging the Gowanus Canal in mid-November, scraping out the thick layer of tar and feces that sits at the bottom of the waterway. But Christos Tsiamis, the EPA engineer who heads the cleanup, warned that a new layer of gunk could start accumulating after dredging is done in 2023, as the completion date […]

Gowanus, Gowanus Canal, News

New science developed for Gowanus Superfund

In its contentious rezoning proposal, the Department of City Planning reimagines Gowanus as an urban Venice—or something vaguely resembling Miami. The sketches in the Waterfront Access Plan the city presented last year show pedestrians crossing bridges with scenic views of the canal. They show children frolicking in waterfront parks shaded by trees and new residential highrises that shine with glassy, […]

Gowanus, Gowanus Canal

Moving on: EPA makes final decision in tunnel vs. tank canal remedy showdown

EPA officials rejected New York City’s proposal to build a long tunnel to prevent sewage overflows into the Gowanus Canal. Instead, the original plan to build two holding tanks will continue uninterrupted. This was the main topic of the September Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG) public meeting, held the last Tuesday of the month as usual at the Cabrini residence, […]

Gowanus Canal

Gowanus Canal cleanup schedule: Summer 2019 edition

Just because the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group voted in June to take the summer off for their meetings, doesn’t mean that cleanup constructions and plans have taken a hiatus too. Here are the current projections as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves forward with the project: Construction of the Fulton Manufactured Gas Plant cut-off wall (from the top of […]

Gowanus Canal

EPA and Velazquez talk Canal

Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and the EPA provided updates regarding the Gowanus Canal cleanup at a 2019 Public Superfund Town Hall held May 29. The last town hall meeting, also hosted by the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG), took place in Nov. 2017. Velázquez spoke first. “The Gowanus Canal is a high-profile Superfund site … because of all of you […]

Gowanus Canal, Real Estate

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 […]