Tag: Superfund

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

Gowanus Superfund Update

As the city prepares to move forward with its plans to rezone Gowanus, community members worry about what that will mean for the Gowanus Canal cleanup. According to the environmental impact study produced by the Department of City Planning (DCP) earlier this year, the amount of combined rainwater and sewage that overflows into the canal is projected to increase almost […]

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 Canal

DEP’s CSO proposal explained to Gowanus CAG

The first Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting for the new calendar year was held on Jan. 22 without Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s presence due to the partial federal government shut-down – the longest shutdown in U.S. history, which had reached Day 32 by the meeting’s date. CAG member Brad Vogel facilitated the night’s agenda that featured the NYC Department […]

Gowanus Canal

Gowanus sewage still a hot topic in Superfund negotiations, by George Fiala

A giant concrete tank, built underground to hold the raw sewage that currently gets pumped in the Gowanus Canal whenever it rains, has become the main focus of attention of the planners of the Gowanus Canal cleanup. The long-polluted canal was cited as one of the most toxic sites in America and declared a Federal EPA Superfund site in 2009 […]

Gowanus Canal

Superfund project on schedule, by George Fiala

It’s been a rough winter for meetings, as the weather has cancelled quite a few, including the January meeting of the Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG). The CAG serves as a conduit between the community and the EPA and was set up to monitor the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal. The January meeting was held February 10 and featured […]

Column, Gowanus Canal

THE GOWANUS CANAL NOW, by Mark Shames

Everyone around these parts knows that the Gowanus Canal is a highly polluted waterway due to a legacy of industrial uses along its banks. Those toxin-generating uses are now gone. This has given us an opportunity to remediate the area and we have seized upon that opportunity. Progress has begun as “flushing tunnel,” which has the ability to draw water […]

Environment, Gowanus Canal

EPA deal with Lightstone up for public comment

The EPA issued a press release today announcing a potential deal with the Lightstone Group regarding remediation of toxic poisons.  Lightstone has agreed to spend approximately $20 million to cleanup the land that they will be building on. EPA has the authority to name Potentially Responsible Parties (PRP’s) who then must pay for a Superfund Cleanup. In the case of […]

Gowanus Canal, Politics

Councilmembers Lander and Levin guests at February Gowanus CAG meeting, by George Fiala

The Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG) meets monthly to discuss issues pertaining to the Canal Superfund cleanup. At its February 25 meeting, local councilmen Steve Levin and Brad Lander appeared by invitation. The CAG consists of sixty members, many of them representing local groups, such as the Red Hook East and West Tenants, the Red Hook Civic Association, the Cobble […]