News From SAVE GOWANUS Regarding Lightstone Group's Development On Bond Street

image via Save Gowanus

Save Gowanus, an association "dedicated to the responsible and sustainable development of the area surrounding the Gowanus Canal", is holding its next meeting on the proposed Lightstone Group development at 363-365 Bond Street on Tuesday, June 4th.
Please take the time to attend to  hear an update on legal issues, fundraising, and getting support from local politicians.

Tuesday, June 4th @ 7 PM

Mary Star of the Sea

41 1st St. (bet. Hoyt  and Bond)

And if you can, stop by to meet and talk to members of Save Gowanus at the Carroll Park Fair, Sun. June 2nd 11-6.

Please also take time to tell NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation to safeguard our community from impacts of Lightstone’s Brownfield Cleanup by emailing your comment regarding Lightstone's application before June 1st.

You can do so by sending the following letter prepared by Save Gowanus.
(Click here to send it directly from their web site.)

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC)
Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP)
John Grathwol, NYS DEC- Division of Environmental Remediation,
Remedial Bureau B,
625 Broadway,
12th Floor,
Albany, NY 12233-7016

Response to Brownfield Cleanup Program (BCP) application and Remedial Investigation Work Plan (RIWP) from LSG 400 Carroll Street LLC and LSG 363 Bond Street LLC for a site known as 400 Carroll Street and 363 Bond Street, site ID #C224173. This site is located in the City of Brooklyn, within the County of Kings, and is located at 400 Carroll Street and 363 Bond Street 11231

Redevelopment and Brownfield Cleanup Programs must take place in the context of our post-Sandy, climate change world. In Dec 2010 NYS issued the Sea Level Rise Task Force Report to the Legislature. The task force also recommends that city, county and state governments seriously consider abandoning whole areas of the coast altogether, to allow vegetation to gradually migrate away from the shoreline and give nature a chance to build more natural barriers to rising seas, hurricanes and severe storms known to hit the Northeast frequently. The report offered no other real solutions to this growing problem.

We are deeply concerned that the State of New York may be financially supporting and encouraging new large-scale residential development in flood-prone coastal districts which will also be subjected to the rising level of the sea. We are particularly concerned that such new large scale developments, while being designed in a manner to protect the new structures from flooding, will result in negative impact to flooding conditions in existing surrounding neighborhoods. We also are concerned about the prospects of adding large numbers of new residential buildings in flood districts that would require evacuation during storm conditions, even though the new structure may have sufficient freeboard to prevent flood damage to the building.

We believe that the State of NY should not extend state funding, in any form, to brownfield redevelopment sites in coastal areas that carry risks of of creating additional flood harm in the adjacent upland communities by altering region-wide coastal flooding and stormwater drainage patterns. We ask that any such property brought into the NYS Brownfield Cleanup Program that is in a coastal area, be required to provide an objective and thorough region-wide hydrological impact study that describes how the area drainage would change given the proposed development.

We also ask that any brownfield remedy carried out in such an area be assessed and evaluated for its effectiveness under storm and flooding conditions. We ask that a detailed explanation be given on how the remedy and the proposed redevelopment construction will function as sea level base lines rise over the coming decades and century. The citizens should know if the re-investment of their tax dollars are being put to a good or frivolous use.


Stay connected to Save Gowanus via their website or via their Facebook page.

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"Stop Providing Cover For City" Community Tells NYS DEC At Gowanus CAG Meeting

S

Gary Kline, Jeff Myers, Robert Schick and James Tierney of NYS DEC

James Tierney, Assistant Commissioner for Water Resources for DEC

Gary Kline of DEC

Jeff Myers of DEC

Assemblywoman Joan Millman and State Senator Daniel Squadron

CAG Member Steven Miller

Josh Verlun, CAG member and Legal Council for Riverkeeper

At last night's meeting between representatives of New York State's Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and members of  US Environmental Protection Agency's Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) at PS 32, the discussion centered mostly on the State’s role in the enforcement of Clean Water Act requirements to eliminate Combined Sewage Overflow from the canal and how the State is coordinating with EPA’s Superfund cleanup process.

The DEC was mostly responsible for  the US Environmental Protection Agency stepping in and declaring the Gowanus Canal a Superfund site.  It is a decision that the DEC seems to stand by.

"We support the most rapid, possible removal of the toxic contaminants by dredging it from the Gowanus Canal. We want it capped and stabilized thereafter and we want it to happen soon.  There is no doubt that there is support from within DEC from Commissioner Joe Martens down," 

James Tierney, Assistant Commissioner for Water Resources for DEC, stated last night.

However,  the Superfund program is meant to only address the highly toxic material at the bottom of the historic industrial waterway,  It is not meant to address sewage.

The State has been slow to address the CSO issue in any meaningful way under the Clean Water Act.

Instead, DEC has entered into a consent order with New York City's Department Of Environmental Protection, which buys the city more time to solve the problem by implementing  a "phased approach."

The first phase is a  $150 million dollar upgrade project to the flushing tunnel and the reconstruction of the flushing tunnel that will reduce the total amount of CSO into the canal by 34%. A green infrastructure element of the plan will reduce the amount by another 9%.  

"Those are not my projections, but the City's. So take that as being the source," Tierney told an already skeptical crowd.

These percentages simply aren't high enough for many on the CAG and in the community. Even the DEC had to admit that they are 'floatable targets' and depend on rain amounts.

CAG member Steven Miller expressed the sentiment of many when he told Tierney last night that "the Clean Water Act has failed this community."  

Recently, the CAG unanimously passed a resolution calling for a 100% cessation of CSOs.

In addition, since  the CSOs have been found to be a significant contributor of harmful sediment and Superfund regulated Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAs) and metals to the canal,  the CAG has asked that the EPA, "under their Superfund authority, take the necessary measures that will ensure protection of the proposed Superfund remedy."

Addressing the CAG request for CSO controls as part of a Superfund remedy, Tierney stated: "Bringing those CSO levels down to zero has an enormous price tag attached to it.  It could be as high as $400 million.*  There are gigantic tanks involved." Further, he added:   "When it comes to CSOs there is a lot of interest in this by DEC, because we have never had a Superfund clean-up that incorporated a full blown CSO control plan.  Just so that you realize, that's brand new,"  Tierney insisted.  

He repeatedly talked about the high cost of retention basins and seemed to suggest strongly that if forced to spend the money, there may be legal action.

"It's unlikely that this process, particularly if it goes into dispute, would be resolved in multiple years of litigation," he added.

No doubt, DEC sensed last night that the community won't back down from getting the best, most comprehensive clean-up of the canal and that it expects DEC to step up,  to stop providing New York City's Department of Environmental Protection with cover and to start providing this community with meaningful relief from Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO). 

*Later in the meeting, DEC's Gary Kline admitted "that you can put a bracket" around that number and that its nay " a range based on the size of the facility that you are going to build."

The CAG asked the DEC to provide a breakdown of that figure.

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Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group To Meet With NY State DEC Representatives. Public Invited

The EPA Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group will be meeting with representatives of New York State's Department Of Environmental Conservation on December 4th, to speak about the agency's role  as it relates to the Superfund clean-up as well as the issue of Combined Sewer Overflow that continue to discharge into the canal.
Representing the DEC will be James Tierney, Robert Schick, Venetia Lannon, and Gary Kline.

Below is the meeting announcement from the CAG

The public is invited to attend a meeting of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) with senior-level officials from the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) on December 4 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. at PS 32, 317 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn.
Your presence at this meeting will help demonstrate the community’s strong support for a comprehensive clean-up of the canal. The CAG will be asking NYSDEC officials pointed questions about the state’s role in the enforcement of Clean Water Act requirements to eliminate sewage overflows, whether and how the state is coordinating with EPA’s Superfund cleanup process, and other issues of vital importance to a proper clean-up of the canal and protection of public health.
NYSDEC is the only agency that has the right to review and provide comments to EPA on EPA’s Superfund clean-up plan prior to its release, which is expected by the end of 2012. The CAG encourages a strong public turnout at this meeting to show NYSDEC the community’s concern that the clean-up be done right. Questions and comments will be collected from members of the public at the meeting to be answered by NYSDEC as time permits, or to be submitted for later response.

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Best Comment Of The Day: Even NY State Favors "Non‐Structural Solutions" For Coastal Areas

Marlene has left the following comment on your post "Adapting To New Realities In Red Hook And Gowanus As We Move Forward Post-Hurricane Sandy"

Just don't understand the "narrow minded" notion that we should develop at the waters's edge at any cost. The current wave of coastal development is not based on any open market notion.
Page 43 of the 2010 NYS Sea Level Sea Level Rise Task Force has this to say on the matter:
Risk in coastal areas is also increasing due to decisions that favor coastal development at the local level. Local governments are at the front lines of decision making about regulation, taxation, zoning and development decisions in New York State’s 315 coastal cities, towns and villages. . . . . They decide how close landowners can build to the water, enforce building codes and permit development projects. In most communities, these decisions are made in isolation. . . . . In addition, many local leaders have little knowledge of the risks posed by sea level rise and continue to permit new development in high‐risk coastal areas.
Local political pressures generally favor economic growth. New residential development is the primary means to raise revenue for these governments through assessment of real property taxes. . . . . This situation presents a serious obstacle to dealing with climate change impacts locally.

That report favors "non‐structural solutions" for coastal areas on NY State. The Gowanus is just such an area.Non‐structural solutions, means not building structures.

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Tonight, General Meeting Of EPA Community Advisory Group For Gowanus Canal Superfund

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) will be meeting tonight at Mary Star of the Sea Senior Housing, 41 1st Street,  from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
Everyone in the community is welcome.
The agenda includes updates from  the US Environmental Protection Agency, New York State Department Of Environmental Conservation and New York City Department Of Environmental Protection as well as  CAG Committee reports.

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Notes On EPA's Presentation Of Gowanus Canal Feasibility Study To Members Of Community Advisory Group

Christos Tsiamis, EPA Region 2 project manager for the Gowanus Canal

Jeff Edelstein, Gowanus CAG facilitator

Brian Carr, EPA Region 2 lawyer

Victoria Hagman(l) and Natalie Loney,

EPA Region 2 Community Involvement Coordinator

Hans Hasselein, Gowanus Canal Conservancy

Eymund Diegel, Proteus Gowanus

Michelle De La Uz (l), Fifth Avenue Committee and Ludger Balan, Urban Divers

Christos Tsiamis, Environmental Protection Agency's site manager for the Gowanus Canal Superfund, presented the just-released Feasibility Study to the Community Advsiory Group (CAG) at a meeting on Monday night.
Many CAG members had also attended the EPA's presentation on the FS to the general public at PS 58 last week, so they were already quite familiar with the options available for cleaning and containing the highly toxic sludge that has been accumulating on top of the native sediment at the bottom of the canal. This allowed Tsiamis to take more time to take questions and to explain specifics, especially addressing the issue of re-contamination after the clean-up.
As Tsiamis pointed out, the Gowanus Canal cannot be cleaned effectively without eliminating the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) discharges from New York City's sewer system as well as the coal tar oozing from National Grid's three  MGP sites lining the canal. This, of course, involves a tremendous amount of co-ordinate with New York City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which is responsible for the CSOs and with NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC)  under whose supervision National Grid will clean up the MGP sites.
"This is an issue that has to be addressed. We need to curtail those sources of contamination," Tsiamis stated.
Quite a few CAG members seemed concerned that NYC DEP has, until now, not shown a willingness to take responsibility for their part in the clean-up. After all, Farrell Sklerov, a spokesperson for DEP told the Brooklyn Paper: “The evidence clearly indicates that the primary sources [of contamination] are the former industrial plants on the canal, and not ongoing sewer overflows.”

That seems laughable since most residents of the Gowanus area have witnessed CSO events such as this one.
"The CS0s have to be dealt with so that we have a sustainable remedy. That's a statement in the Feasibility Study." Tsiamis told the CAG. "We have been in talks [with the City] about ways that can be implemented to address this particular matter." 

A meeting has been scheduled between the EPA and DEP for February 2 to discuss specific technical possibilities.
One way to control CSOs within the framework of the Superfund would be to construct a retention basin to retain discharges after heavy rains, much like the facility completed by DEP in Perdegat Basin,

As a community, we should let the City know that its denial and delay mechanisms are not going to fly in this community.

Perhaps a letter writing campaign to Mayor Bloomberg and to our own city representatives, Councilmen Brad Lander and Steven Levin, is in order?

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EPA Region 2 Presents Gowanus Canal Feasibility Study To Community

Walter Mugdan, EPA Region 2's, 
Director of the Division of Environmental Planning and Protection

Christos Tsiamis, EPA Region 2 project manager for the Gowanus Canal

Patty White, geologist for CH2MHill

Natalie Loney ,EPA Region 2 Community Involvement Coordinator

Brian Carr, EPA Region 2 lawyer

The Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 team responsible for the Gowanus Canal Superfund clean-up hosted a public information meeting last night at PS 58 to present the Feasibility Study, which was released in late December 2011.

Walter Mugdan, Director of the Division of Environmental Planning and Protection, started the meeting by pointing out that his agency is on schedule. "This job is being done 2 or 3 times faster than it was plausible to expect, but the heavy lifting is yet to come, of course." he told the audience.

Mugdan praised the tremendous effort of the site's manager, Christos Tsiamis, who "is a stern task master. "  The audience gave Tsiamis a rousing round of applause.
Mugdan also acknowledged the very engaged members of the Community Advisory Group (CAG) for the Gowanus, the largest such group in the country.

Patricia White, geologist for CH2MHill, an independent contracting firm hired by the EPA, started off the presentation by reviewing background information about the site. She also explained the Feasibility Study process, which includes:
-Develop remedial action objectives
-develop preliminary remediation goals
-define remediation target areas
-identify and screen remedial technologies
-develop and screen remedial alternatives
-evaluate remedial alternatives in detail
White also pointed out that one of the key Feasibility Study consideration is re-contamination of the canal after the cl were source control from the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSOs) and storm water discharges, discharges from the three former MGP sites, contaminated groundwater discharge, street runoff and discharges from unpermitted pipes.
Christos Tsiamis took over the presentation to speak about the various technologies that were retained and combined into seven remedial alternatives and screened according to effectiveness, implementability and cost.
The sediment dredging and capping alternatives all include dredging of the highly polluted soft sediment at the bottom of the canal, but while some alternatives call for solidifying the top of the native sediment, and capping either with a two-layer cap or a three layer cap.
So far, alternatives 5 and 7 have been retained for further detailed evaluation.
The EPA is also currently evaluating the best treatment and disposal alternatives for the dredged sediment.
The alternatives 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)
Of course, Tsiamis pointed out, the Gowanus Canal cannot be cleaned effectively without eliminating the CSO discharges from New York City's sewer system as well as the coal tar oozing from the three National Grid MGP sites lining the canal. The CSO discharges "cannot go on from our perspective" Tsiamis stated.
New York City's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has been given a schedule by DEP. Tsiamis will meet with the City to discuss this matter further in February.  ***It is important to note her that the City, one of the major Potentially Responsible Parties (PRP) has not yet signed a consent order to take responsibility of their part of the clean-up.
As for the former MGP sites, EPA is coordinating and prioritizing with National Grid, which is responsible for the clean-up and NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC), the agency in charge of overseeing the remediation of those sites. According to Walter Mugdan, DEC has been very aggressive in moving forward.

Walter Mugdan diplomatically added: "In due course, we hope that all the involved agencies will recognize what needs to be done."
The next step? A proposed remedy will be presented to the public in 6 to 8 months, and a remedy will be selected by the end of 2012.
Last night's EPA presentation can be viewed online here.


**In one final note, it was announced last night that the EPA Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) for the Gowanus Canal Superfund was awarded to Friends And Residents Of Greater Gowanus.Congratulations to Marlene Donnelly, Bette Stoltz, Linda Mariano, Margaret Maugenest and Diane Buxbaum and all the members of FROGG for their hard work on behalf of the community.

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