"It Only Takes 1/10th Of An Inch Of Rain": Flyer Spotted On Smith Street Warns Of CSO Events

I spotted the flyer above, taped to a pay phone on Smith Street, last Friday. It seemed appropriate since Tropical Storm Andrea was dumping upwards of four inches of rain on the Metropolitan area that day, and breaking previous rainfall records all along the Northeast.
No doubt, the heavy rains flooded quite a few basements in the area, especially in Gowanus,

And today, it's raining heavily once again.

No group or individual took credit for the flyer and it was the only one I spotted on Smith Street.

Its message, however, is relevant and important for this area. As many of you know, New York City has an antiquated combined sewer system, which means that rain run-off from streets and roofs get collected in the same pipes with domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater, which lead to a waste water treatment facility.

The Red Hook and Owls Head Wasterwater Treatment Plants are responsible for our area. However, when the facilities exceed their capacity because of flash floods or heavy rainfall, the excess waste water is discharged into the Gowanus Canal.

There are currently 10 active Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) and three storm water outfalls that dump directly into the canal.
The largest and most significant outflow is RH-034, which is located at the head of the canal. RH-034 contributes an annual discharge of roughly 121 million gallons.

(Who can forget the 2010 video of the CSO event at RH-034 )

The CSOs aren't just an embarrassment to New York City, they represent a significant risk to human health and to wildlife.

Though the City is currently working on upgrading the Gowanus Canal Flushing Tunnel and Waste Water Pumping Station, the upgrades will only reduce Combined Sewer Overflows into the canal by approximately 34%.

The Environmental Protection Agency has declared the 1.8 mile man-made canal a Superfund Site. The Agency has proposed a comprehensive cleanup plan to address the many decade’s worth of toxic sludge at the bottom at the canal as well as the ongoing pollution from upland sites adjacent to the waterway. In order to ensure continued protection of the canal once it has been remediated, the EPA has determined that future permanent CSO sediment controls are required. The agency has roposed in-line retention tanks be constructed near outfalls RH-034 and OH-007, the two largest contributors of CSOs and solids into the Gowanus.
These retention basins would go a long way towards finding a real solution to the CSO problem.

Mayor Bloomberg and NYC's Department of Environmental Protection Agency's Commissioner Carter Strickland have poo-pooed the idea so far.

What can we do as citizens besides advocating for 100% cessation of CSOs into the Gowanus Canal?
On a rainy day like today or last Friday, don't contribute more waste water to an already overloaded system. Wait till after the rains to run your washing machine or your dishwater. That would already help a tiny bit.

The result of a CSO event on the Gowanus Canal

A visual of CSO sludge accumulation from Outflow RH-034 at the head of the Gowanus Canal, clearly visible during dry weather during a low tide

Gowanus Canal CSO Outflow Locations.

(EPA Map)

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Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group General Meeting Tonight

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) will be holding its general meeting tonight, April 2nd, 6:30 pm at Mary Star of the Sea Senior Housing at 41 1st Street.
The CAG will continue its discussion on the EPA Region 2 Proposed Plan for the Superfund clean-up of the Gowanus Canal.

As a reminder, the EPA will accept comments from the community on the Proposed Plan till the end of April.   To read the plan for the Gowanus Canal or for more information on the canal, visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/gowanus or visit the EPA’s document repositories at the Carroll Gardens Library at 396 Clinton St. in Brooklyn or the Joseph Miccio Community Center, 110 West 9th Street, Brooklyn.

Written comments on the proposed plan should be addressed to:
Christos Tsiamis
Project Manager
Central New York Remediation Section
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
290 Broadway, 20th Floor
New York, New York 10007-1866
e-mail: GowanusCanalComments.Region2@epa.gov

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Upcoming Meeting Of EPA Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group

The EPA Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) will be meeting on Tuesday
Feb. 26 at 6:30 PM at Mary Star of the Sea Senior Housing, 41 1St Street.
The meeting will focus on the Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP), which was released in late 2012.

Just a reminder: the EPA will be accepting public comments on the PRAP till the end of April 2013.
Written comments on the proposed plan should be addressed to:

Christos Tsiamis

Project Manager

Central New York Remediation Section

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

290 Broadway, 20th Floor

New York, New York 10007-1866

e-mail: GowanusCanalComments.Region2@epa.gov

OR, contact Natalie Loney, Community Involvement Coordinator, at 212-637-3639,

Also, for those interested, the CAG Archaeology Committee will meet on February 27th, 6:30 pm at Proteus Gowanus, 543 Union Street, Brooklyn
On the agenda: Review of PRAP and EPA archaeology documents.

All CAG meetings are open to the community.

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EPA Discusses Proposed Clean-Up Plan For Gowanus Canal In More Detail With Community Advisory Group

Christos Tsiamis, Remedial Project Manager for the Gowanus Canal

Natalie Loney, EPA Region 2 Community Outreach Coordinator

Brian Carr, EPA Region 2 Legal Council

Jeff Edelstein, facilitator for Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

Many of the members of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) had attended at least one of the public meetings held in late January by the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 on the Proposed Remediation Plan for the polluted waterway.

On Monday night at PS 58, the CAG had an opportunity to ask Christos Tsiamis, EPA's Remedial Project Manager,  more detailed questions and to delve into more detail.

The discussion focussed on three particular points:
*the 5th Street Basin
*The contamination and remediation at Thomas Greene Park and Douglas Street Pool, that were built on an old Gas Manufacturing Plant and the proposed Combined Sewer Overflow retention basin for the site.
*the proposal of using a particular Red Hook site for staging work related to dewatering dredged material. In addition, if the community agrees, the EPA is proposing the construction of a Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) to treat and store the least contaminated dredge collected from the lower part of the Gowanus Canal.

Here are some of the clarifications provided by Christos Tsiamis on those three points.

The 5th Street Basin.

As part of the Proposed Plan, the First Street Basin will be dredged and reclaimed as part of the canal. Members of the CAG wanted to know why the 5th Street Basin, which was filled between 1953 and 1964, was not going to be dredged as part of the clean-up.

Tsiamis explained the ground water and soil contamination at the two basins is distinctly different. The First Street Basin has much, much higher levels of contamination and causes a much greater risk. It was also found at depth that would cause a risk of re-contaminating the bottom of the canal after the clean-up.   "We have not seen the same at the 5th Street Basin," Tsiamis added. "There is contamination at the 5th Street Basin. The basin is one of six upland sites we have referred to the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation for further investigation."

Douglass Greene Park and Pool And Proposed Retention Basin

Douglas Greene Park and the pool at Douglass Street were constructed over a former  Brooklyn Union Gas Manufacturing Plant (MGP), which operated on the site from 1879 to 1929.  Today, the land underneath the park is still heavily contaminated with coal tar.  Some of this free liquid tar is moving towards the canal.  National, Grid, which bought Brooklyn Union Gas/National Grid  in 2006, is now responsible for the remediation.  The work will be done under NYS Department of Environmental Conservation supervision.
Some members of the CAG expressed concern about the swimming pool, which most certainly will have to be removed.
"This park is part of the Superfund site. You have a pool that's sitting on coal tar,"  Tsiamis stated.  "The pool was placed on the most polluted part of the canal."
Considering the nature and the extend of the work that will need to be done to remove the coal tar, the pool cannot stay.  "I don't think that children should be around when the work is being performed," he added.

As part of the Plan, EPA has suggested building a retention tank underneath the area of the swimming pool to mitigate the Combined Sewer Overflow issue that needs to be addressed as part of the clean-up.
The retention tank would allow the storage of excess water and sewage that now flows into the canal during rain events to be stored for one or two days until it can be pumped to the sewer treatment plant for treatment.
Tsiamis has proposed this particular location for a retention tank for a few reasons:
*The largest outflow, which is responsible for much of the raw sewage into the canal, is at the head of the canal at Douglass Street, near the park.
*The park is one of the only open pieces of land in this densely populated area.
*The land is already owned by New York City.
*The CSO issue needs to be address to avoid recontamination of the canal after the Superfund clean-up.
Tsiamis explained that the retention basin would be "controlled construction" to remedy an "uncontrolled situation."

1928 photo of the former MGP site at Douglass Street, where Thomas Greene Park is now

Original Sandborne map of the MGP .  Green line indicates online of the entire plant

Detail of what is now Thomas Greene Park

Douglas Greene pool

Dewatering Staging Site and proposed Confined Disposal Facilty in Red Hook

Once the actual work of cleaning the Gowanus Canal starts, the sludge at the bottom of the canal will have to be dredged.
In order to de-water the dredge, a staging area is needed.  The EPA has scouted for a suitable location and has identified a site by Columbia Street in Red Hook, which belongs to John Quadrozzi of GBX.
Since it is ideally situated at the bottom of the canal,  the dredge can be transported there by barge, limiting truck traffic through the neighborhood.

In total, an estimated 600,000 cubic yards will needs to be dredged and dewatered.  Most of the very toxic material from the top and the middle of the canal will then be shipped off site for treatment.
The EPA has proposed to stabilize the least toxic material (about 200,000 cubic yards)  from the bottom part of the canal at the facility in Red Hook by mixing it with cement, which will turn it into regular concrete that is neutral and not harmful.
One option, which the EPA is exploring is to build a Confined Disposal Facility on underwater land with filling right owned by  GBX.  The stabilized sediment material would be placed in this CSF.
(Imagine a huge concrete tub, in which the treated material would be placed and capped.)
All work would be done by an expert qualified contractor hired by the EPA.  The agency would also put restrictions on the land gained from building a CDF and would regularly inspect it.

On February 13, the EPA will be in the Red Hook community to discuss in more detail the specifics of the Proposed Plan and the proposed CDF. That meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM at P.S. 15, located at 71 Sullivan Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The public is welcome.

Christos Tsiamis was clear that the facility will only be considered if the community wishes.  If residents object, there are other options.

Potential location for Confined Disposal Facility in Red Hook

Similar press will be used to dewatered dredge

Liquid from de-watering process will be treated.

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Cheers And Thanks For EPA Region 2 As Team Presents Proposed Clean-Up Plan For Gowanus Canal

Natalie Loney, EPA Region 2 Community Involvement Coordinator addressing audience

EPA's Christos Tsiamis, Walter Mugdan and Judith Enck

EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck

Christos Tsiamis, Remedial Project Manager for the Gowanus Canal

Walter Mugdan, EPA Region 2's,

Director of the Division of Environmental Planning and Protection

Patty White, geologist for CH2MHill

Potential location for Confined Disposal Facility in Red Hook

Cheers and thanks from a grateful community greeted the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 team last night as they presented their Proposed Plan for the clean-up of the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal at the first of two public meetings.
The praise for the agency was well deserved.
Not only has EPA Region 2 been transparent from the start, kept to its original timeline, and has stayed in constant communication since the Gowanus Canal was placed on the National Priorities list in March 2010,  it has designed a plan that delivers everything that the community asked for.
As one resident stated last night, "the Agency went above and beyond the call of duty."

The remedy proposed by EPA includes:

*Dredging, stabilizing and capping
Dredging of all soft sediment at the bottom of the canal
In -situ stabilization of target areas and native sediment
Capping the bottom of the canal with a three-layer cap

*Source control at the three major upland Manufactured Gas Plant sites along the canal.  The remedy for the MGP site at Public Place, will include a cut-off wall between the site and the canal, removal of major mobile coal tar sources, and recovery wells near cut-off wall.
Remedies for the Fulton and Metropolitan sites will be similar.
The work will be performed by National Grid under the supervision of NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation and will be coordinated with EPA's clean-up

*Control CSO discharges at two major outfalls and includes in-line retention tanks at the Fulton former MGP site and at the Salt Lot at the end of 2nd Avenue.  Both sites are owned by the City of New York.

The cost of the tanks are estimated to be about $78 million.

*Unpermitted pipe discharge:  EPA will coordinate with NYC DEP and NYC DEC to seal the 12 identified pipes in question.  The anticipated cost will be minimal.

*Excavation and restoration of the 1st Street Basin, which was illegally filled  in the 1950's

The preferred remedy for the treatment and disposal of the dredged sediment include offsite disposal, offsite or onsite stabilization with beneficial use, thermal desorption, offsite cogeneration or offsite or onsite stabilization and disposal in a constructed Confined Disposal Facility (CDF).
One such potential CDF site has been identified in Red Hook.

The cost for the remedy will be in the range of $467-504 million and will be assumed by the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs).  New York City and National Grid  have been identified as the most significant PRPs.
Treatment and disposal of the dredged material will cost from $179 to $ 216 million
That cost assumes that sediment from the lower canal ( RTA 3) undergoes on-site stabilization and disposal in an on-site CDF.
If off-site stabilization and beneficial use is selected, the cost will increase by $37 million.

The EPA Plan is contingent on both State and Public acceptance.  On December 2012, New York State concurred with the proposed remedy.

A second public meeting will take place in Red Hook tonight at 7 PM at the Joseph Miccio Community Center, 110 West 9th Street.
Public comments on its proposed plan will be accepted until March 28, 2013 and should be addressed to:

Christos Tsiamis

Project Manager

Central New York Remediation Section

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

290 Broadway, 20th Floor

New York, New York 10007-1866

e-mail: GowanusCanalComments.Region2@epa.gov

OR, contact Natalie Loney, Community Involvement Coordinator, at 212-637-3639

The final remedy will be selected by the summer of 2013 and the remedial design will be completed by 2016.  The completion date for the clean-up is 2022.

To access the EPA’s proposed plan for the Gowanus Canal site or for more information on the canal, visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/gowanus/ or visit the EPA’s document repositories at the Carroll Gardens Library at 396 Clinton St. in Brooklyn or the Joseph Miccio Community Center, 110 West 9th Street, Brooklyn.

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