Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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Time To Send Letters To Governor Patterson???

Crain's New York published a very interesting article on the Gowanus Canal proposed Superfunding. It's entitled: "Gov Is Last Hope For Gowanus Builders."
(If link does not work, access article here)

It's a worthwhile read.


It describes Mayor Bloomberg's opposition to the listing of the waterway as a Superfund site and his political wrangling to convince the EPA that the city's questionable, more developer-friendly alternative plan is viable. So far, he has not been successful, though he personally called and lobbied Administrator Jackson, the head of the EPA in Washington.

The article also described the hesitation of some of our elected officials, namely Representative Nydia Velázquez, who has yet to issue a statement for the Superfund listing, though she seemed to be leaning for the designation.
Representative Yvette Clarke has been mostly absent from the debate.
Senator Schumer seems to be among the fence-sitters, while Bill de Blasio has been against it from the start. (I hope you will remember that when you go to the polls for the run-off election today)
Only Daniel Squadron, our State Senator has clearly expressed his preference for letting the EPA handle the clean-up.

Which leaves Governor David Paterson, who is, according to the article: "the last hope for Superfund opponents—led by developers who say banks won't finance their projects if the canal area gets Superfund status, which can linger for decades."

None of the political maneuvering by our elected officials has anything to do with environmental science, which should be the only criteria on whether the polluted canal is worthy of being placed on the list reserved for the most polluted sites in the nation.

To access the Crain's article, click here:



To contact Governor Paterson to ask that he support the community rather than to listen to Mayor Bloomberg and developers, write, phone or email :

David A. Paterson
State Capitol
Albany, NY 12224

518-474-8390

to email, click here



For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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