A Carroll Gardener's Comments at "Gowanus Green" Public Scoping Meeting

As I mentioned yesterday, the Public Place Scoping meeting for the Public Place Environmental Impact Statement held by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, was sparsely attended.
A few Carroll Gardeners however, took time to go down to Brooklyn Borough Hall to comment. Below is the statement made by local resident Kevin Duffy. I asked him after the meeting if I could share it here because I think he expressed what many of us are feeling about both the Public Place and the Toll Brothers development.

From Kevin Duffy:

I am a resident and a father of three children residing in Carroll Gardens approximately one block from the Gowanus Canal and over the course of the last year have witnessed the serious imbalance between the concerns of my community and the interests of local officials.

Let's be clear, development is not the issue. The issue is safety.
Broadly, community development is based on mutual respect between residents and government. Observing the proposed Toll Brother development on the Gowanus this year has been a betrayal of our safety. We all have access to the reports: DEC, Columbia University, Army Corps of Engineers, and FEMA. They all echo similar dangerous warnings.

I suppose my greatest disappointment is not that my elected representative have turned a blind eye to my family's safety, but that they have decided to seek the short term gains at the expense of those vested in my neighborhood.

Examples in recent history show us how leadership has failed public trust: FNMA, Freddie Mac were seized by U.S. government, Citibank receives $45 billion bailout from U.S. Treasury, and finally venerable investment advisor firm, Bernard Madoff, dupes public and charities over $50 billion.

We all believed. We all were lulled that our management and government representative would do the right thing. In the end, we all felt we were always SAFE.

No, that is not our reality. The Gowanus will be whitewashed, but its core will hold a deathly time bomb under our pillows. When the chips fall, we look at the victims and pity them while forgiving the sins of those responsible. So the primary question for me is "who will take responsibility for this risk when it happens?"

There are over 50 LETHAL pathogens in the canal which are contained by a natural state of remediation. Any disturbance will elevate the levels of toxicity and risk of exposure to nearby residents (including my family, friends and neighbors). More disconcerting is the risk of potential tidal surges that will spill the waters of the Gowanus into our adjoining communities. Gowanus is currently designated by FEMA as a "flood zone." Until there is a comprehensive government or private cleanup, natural remediation is and has been the most effective alternative.

ANY proposed development should take second consideration to these cleanup requirements. I encourage HPD to take strong measures to protect our communities and insist upon a thorough remediation prior to development around the Gowanus canal.

I encourage you to refer to www.defendgowanus.org. Thank you.

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