Today's Gowanus Canal updates from Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez office
/We just received this email from Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez' office and thought that it had such a collection of important and timely info about Gowanus Canal superfund issues that we have pasted it into a blogpost so we can share the URL on social media.
From: Wiley, Daniel [mailto:Daniel.Wiley@mail.house.gov]
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2016 5:27 PM
To: Wiley, Daniel
Subject: Tonight: EPA meeting Gowanus
Reminder tonight, in case divine intervention isn’t enough:
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0206222
And tomorrow for more:
Tuesday, April 26, 6:30 PM
EPA’s Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) Meeting
Mary Star of The Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
See some of you in an hour.
Dan
Dan Wiley | Community Coordinator | Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez
SW Brooklyn District Office | 16 Court Street, Suite 1006 | Brooklyn, NY 11241
T (718) 222-5819 | F (718) 222-5830 | daniel.wiley@mail.house.gov
Dave Sanders for The New York Times
Wanting Gowanus Canal Cleaned Up, They Invoke a Higher Power
By COREY KILGANNON
With their faith lost in the government officials in charge of the cleanup, friars, nuns and neighbors gathered to bless the polluted Brooklyn waterway on Earth Day in hopes of a miracle.
From: Wiley, Daniel
Sent: Friday, April 22, 2016 7:19 PM
To: Wiley, Daniel
Subject: EPA and Gowanus Monday and Tuesday next week
Happy Earth Day (though every day is Earth Day of course), and next week is no exception with two Gowanus Canal cleanup related meetings:
Monday, April 25, 6:30 p.m.
EPA public meeting on Gowanus Tank Siting Agreement with NYC DEP
P.S. 32 located at 317 Hoyt St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
EPA Community Contact: Natalie Loney (212) 637-3639
Purpose: EPA to explain the work being secured under the agreement and receive public comments.
EPA’s new Gowanus webpage, which has links to the entire administrative record for the 2013 Record of Decision (ROD) on Gowanus:
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0206222
EPA News
(excerpted, full release attached)
EPA Proposes Locations for Two Sewage Retention Tanks as Part of Gowanus Canal Cleanup
Public Encouraged to Provide Comments
(New York, N.Y. – April 14, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a proposed agreement with the City of New York that establishes the location for two sewage and storm water retention tanks, included as part of the cleanup for the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site. The agreement sets out a schedule for the design of the larger of the two tanks..
Prior to finalizing the agreement with New York City, the EPA is accepting public comments. The proposed administrative settlement agreement and order released today allows New York City to locate an eight million gallon retention tank in New York City’s preferred location, known as the “Head-of-Canal” location, but it also holds the city to a strict schedule. The EPA can require New York City to place the tank in the Thomas Greene Park location instead, if certain activities do not occur on schedule, including if New York City is not able to acquire the land at the Head-of-Canal location within approximately four years.
The EPA is accepting public input on the work contained in the proposed agreement for the next 30 days and will have a public meeting on April 25 to discuss the work being secured under the agreement..
The EPA’s cleanup plan requires that New York City construct two sewage and storm water retention tanks to significantly reduce CSO discharges from two key locations in the upper portion of the canal. These discharges are not being addressed by current New York City upgrades to the sewer system. Without these controls, contaminated sewage discharges would re-contaminate the canal after its cleanup. In its cleanup plan the EPA estimated that a reduction of 58% to 74% of these discharges will be needed to maintain the effectiveness of the cleanup, and the new tanks are being designed to achieve that goal..
The EPA issued its final cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site on September 27, 2013. The cleanup includes dredging contaminated sediment that has accumulated on the bottom of the canal as a result of industrial and sewer discharges. The dredged areas will be capped. The plan also includes controls to prevent combined sewer overflows, or CSOs, and other land-based sources of contamination from compromising the cleanup. Under administrative orders with the identified potentially responsible parties, the EPA is currently conducting and overseeing engineering design work needed for the site cleanup. The canal design work is expected to continue for another two years, followed by the start of cleanup operations, which the EPA expects will be initiated at the 4th Street basin and the top of the canal in 2019.
The EPA’s cleanup plan assumed possible locations for the two tanks, both owned by New York City -- the Thomas Greene Park location for the larger tank at the top of the canal and the Department of Sanitation salt storage lot located at 2nd Avenue and 5th Street for the smaller tank in the middle of the canal. The cleanup plan specified that the final locations would be determined during the design phase of the project. The EPA and New York City have already agreed that one tank, with a capacity of four million gallons, will be located at the Department of Sanitation salt storage lot.
This site selection decision is contingent on New York City meeting certain conditions that have been detailed in the proposed agreement. If these conditions are not met within timeframes specified in the agreement, EPA can require New York City to design the tank for construction at the Thomas Greene Park location. Under the agreement, New York City will work concurrently on tank designs for both locations, as a contingency.
The agreement between EPA and New York City aims to avoid a potential permanent loss of parkland at the Thomas Greene Park. The park, which includes a swimming pool, is important to the community, with 40,000 visitors in 2015. The Head-of-Canal location is expected to provide additional open space in the community.
The EPA will hold a public meeting on April 25 at P.S. 32 located at 317 Hoyt St., Brooklyn, N.Y. at 6:30 p.m. to explain the work being secured under the agreement and is encouraging public comments.
Comments will be accepted until May 16.
Additionally, comments can mailed or emailed to:
Walter Mugdan, U.S. EPA Superfund Director
290 Broadway, Floor 19, New York, N.Y., 10007
To read the agreement between the EPA and New York City, please visit:
https://www3.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/gowanus/ or visit EPA’s document repository located at the Carroll Gardens Library at 396 Clinton St. in Brooklyn, New York.
It should also be noted per Walter Mugdan that:
Regardless of where the 8 million gallon RH-034 CSO retention tank is built, EPA will be requiring removal of soil contaminated by coal tar from beneath the Park site. EPA will also be requiring that a temporary pool and associated amenities be provided during any time period when public use of the Park site is not possible because of this removal work.
And the next day for those who want more discussion, there’s the regularly scheduled Community Advisory Group “CAG” meeting which is also open to the public:
Tuesday, April 26, 6:30 PM
Gowanus Canal CAG Meeting
Mary Star of The Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street
DRAFT CAG MEETING AGENDA
(all times are approximate)
6:30 – 6:45 PM: Introductions and CAG Updates
• Introductions
• CAG Updates and Issues
• Approve minutes from March
6:45 – 8:00 PM: Tanks Siting Discussion and Q&A
• EPA
8:00 – 8:30 PM: Discuss Proposed Resolutions and Processes
• Water Quality and Technical Committee
• Outreach Committee
• Resolutions Process
8:30 PM: CAG Committee Updates
• Administration Committee
• Archaeology Committee
• Land Use Committee
• Outreach Committee
• Water Quality and Technical Committee
8:45 PM: Adjourn
For more CAG announcements, committee meetings, resolutions and how to join up visit:
Hope to see you at one or both of these if you are a glutton for punishment!
Dan
Dan Wiley | Community Coordinator | Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez
SW Brooklyn District Office | 16 Court Street, Suite 1006 | Brooklyn, NY 11241
T (718) 222-5819 | F (718) 222-5830 | daniel.wiley@mail.house.gov