(New York, N.Y.) The E.P.A. (EPA) has announced a suggested arrangement with the City of New York that establishes the location for 2 sewage and storm water retention tanks, included as part of the cleanup for the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site. The arrangement sets out a schedule for the design of the larger of the 2 tanks. It also requires New York City to undertake activities to prepare that location for the tank installation, and to pay E.P.A. oversight costs. Prior to finalizing the arrangement with New York City, the E.P.A. is accepting public comments.
The suggested administrative settlement arrangement and order released today allows New York City to locate an 8 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 E.P.A. 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 4 years. The E.P.A. is accepting public input on the work contained in the suggested arrangement for the next 30 days and will have a public meeting on April 25 to discuss the work being secured under the agreement.
"Cleaning up the Gowanus Canal is a daunting task which not only involves dredging toxic sediment, but also building huge retention tanks to reduce the amount of raw sewage that flows into the canal," said Judith A. Enck, E.P.A. Regional Administrator. "Getting these tanks installed is a key component of the cleanup. The New York City Parks Department prefers not to have a large sewage retention tank permanently located in a city park. The E.P.A. is also committed to preserving urban parkland and therefore spent time working with the City of New York about an alternate location. This suggested location meets the EPA's twin goals of cleaning up the canal while also protecting urban parkland."
In excess of a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and heavy metals such as mercury, lead and copper, were found at high levels in the sediment in the Gowanus Canal. PAHs and heavy metals were also found in the canal water. PAHs are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage or other organic substances. PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors and other electrical equipment, and their manufacture was banned in 1979. PCBs and PAHs are suspected of being cancer-causing and PCBs can have neurological effects, as well. To this day, people can still be found fishing in the Gowanus, despite advisories about not eating fish from the canal. In 2010, the Gowanus Canal was added to EPA's Superfund list of the nation's most contaminated hazardous waste sites.
The EPA's cleanup project requires that New York City construct 2 sewage and storm water retention tanks to significantly reduce CSO discharges from 2 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 project the E.P.A. 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 E.P.A. issued its final cleanup project for the Gowanus Canal Superfund location 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 project 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 E.P.A. is currently conducting and overseeing engineering design work needed for the location cleanup. The canal design work is expected to continue for another 2 years, followed by the start of cleanup operations, which the E.P.A. expects will be initiated at the Fourth Street basin and the top of the canal in 2019.
The EPA's cleanup project assumed possible locations for the 2 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 Second Avenue and Fifth Street for the smaller tank in the middle of the canal. The cleanup project specified that the final locations would be determined during the design phase of the project. The E.P.A. and New York City have already agreed that one tank, with a capacity of 4 million gallons, will be located at the Department of Sanitation salt storage lot.
For the larger 8 million gallon tank at the top of the canal, New York City suggested as its preferred location 2 adjacent properties on Nevins Street between Butler and DeGraw Streets. The E.P.A. and New York City agreed to locate the larger tank at this Head-of-Canal location. The arrangement also requires the City to carry out actions to prepare that location for installation of the tank, including removal of contaminated soil.
This location selection decision is contingent on New York City meeting certain conditions that have been detailed in the suggested agreement. If these conditions are not met within timeframes specified in the agreement, E.P.A. 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 arrangement between E.P.A. 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 E.P.A. 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 arrangement and is encouraging public comments. Comments will be accepted until May 16.
Additionally, comments can mailed or emailed to:
Walter Mugdan, U.S. E.P.A. Superfund Director
290 Broadway, Floor 19, New York, N.Y., 10007
[email protected]
To read the arrangement between the E.P.A. 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 Saint in Brooklyn, New York.
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