SAVE GOWANUS Determined To Fund Own Independent Study To Evaluate Hydrological Impact Of Large Scale Elevated Developments Like Lightstone Group's On Flood Prone Area

Warren Cohen of Save Gowanus

Carl Teitelbaum

Lizzie Olesker

Marlene Donnelly

Jim Vogel of State Senator Velmanette Montgomery's office

On Tuesday evening, members of Save Gowanus Association (SGA) updated the Gowanus/ Carroll Gardens community on the proposed Lightstone Group development on several properties at 363-365 Bond Street and on the impacts the project will have on the neighborhood.

Warren Cohen started the meeting by giving a brief summary of the project, which calls for two twelve-story towers at the base of Bond Street that extend to Carroll Street and Second Street. The 700 apartment units will add around 1,200 residents to the shores of the Gowanus Canal, which has been declared a EPA Superfund Site.

Though there are obvious questions regarding the impact of the project on local schools, subway and street traffic, there are more serious environmental concerns surrounding the proposed development which relate to the impact of flooding in the area. In the wake of two hurricanes and recent flash floods that caused mayor damage to nearby buildings and disabled traffic along some of the roadways, there are serious concerns about Lightstone's plan to regrade and elevate their building site above the floodplain.
Since the Gowanus canal was originally engineered to allow rainwater from surrounding areas to drain into the waterway, elevating the site may have major ramifications for surrounding buildings.

"We are afraid that this will alter drainage patterns that have been in existence since the neighborhood was founded one hundred and fifty years ago. There are also major sewage system issues." Cohen told local residents.
Addressing the overall redevelopment of the Gowanus area, that could lead to many more twelve story buildings if the area is rezoned for more residential use, Warren stated: "I know a lot of people want to see interesting changes in the Gowanus area. We all want to be part of that discussion, but we think that twelve story buildings, building basically the equivalent of Battery Park City in our own back yard, is not the way to go."

In early May, Councilmember Lander, Congresswoman Velázquez and State Senator Montgomery sent a letter to the Mayor's office asking for a hydrological impact of large elevated sites in flood zones, including the Lightstone Group's development."
The City has not responded to the letter yet. Given Mayor Bloomberg's shameful attempt to stop the Superfund designation and his refusal to build retention basins to reduce sewage discharge into the canal in any meaningful way, that hardly seems surprising.
Save Gowanus has decided not to wait for the City and has started collecting money to be able to commission an independent comprehensive hydrological study for the community.  (The cost is approximately $5,000)

The Association has already raised enough funds since their last meeting to retain the services of Jeffrey Baker, an environmental lawyer at Young/Summer LLC. Baker has already taken the first legal action on its behalf relating to Lightstone application to New York State's Brownfield Clean-Up Program. If the application is approved by the State, the program would make the developer eligible for tax credits relating to the cleanup and redevelopment of the Bond Street site. This could mean that upwards of 25 % of the entire cost of Lightstone's development could be footed by New York tax payers.

A letter sent by Baker to NYS Department Of Environmental Conservation calls into question the eligibility of the properties at 363-365 Bond Street because "the Applications do not demonstrate that the contaminants present on the sites may be complicating the development, use or re-use of these properties as required by the BCP regulations."

Save Gowanus is determined to advocate for residents near the Gowanus Canal and to fight against out of scale developments like Lightstone Group's residential project 'that is out of scale and inconsistent with surrounding land use."

Please help contribute towards Save Gowanus legal fund and/or an independent hydrological study. Click here.

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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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Gowanus Canal Superfund Clean-Up Update: During Next Few Days, EPA Collecting Coring Samples For Stabilization Study

photo credit: Brian Carr

In just a few weeks, the US Environmental Protection Agency will be releasing its Superfund Proposed Clean-Up Plan for the Gowanus Canal. The plan, drafted by Christos Tsiamis,  the EPA Project Manager for the Gowanus, and his EPA Region 2 team has been submitted to the Agency's headquarters in Washington for review.  A copy has also been sent to New York State's Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC).  Region 2 has already received comments on the plan from Headquarters, but is still waiting to hear from DEC.
EPA is planning on holding a public meeting in January or February to explain the plan to the general public.  The meeting will be followed by a public comment period.

In the meantime, more testing is taking place in the canal.  Late last week, Brian Carr, EPA Region 2 Legal Council, shared with me the photo above, showing a crew collecting coring samples in the Canal at Public Place near 5th Street. The coring is being done at EPA's request and under EPA's supervision by a National Grid sub-contractor.
Carr explained: "EPA will use the samples for preliminary laboratory tests to determine the proper mix for "In-situ Stabilization" or ISS. ISS is essentially mixing the sand beneath the canal with concrete which will chemically bind with the NAPL contamination. This is being considered as an additional capping layer at the bottom of the canal after dredging removes the accumulated sediments."

The work will take approximately two weeks.  However, it may take longer since New York City has informed the EPA that the 3 upper canal bridges (at Union Street, Carroll Street and Third Street) have been damaged during Hurricane Sandy.
This would mean that the crew can not take its boat further up the canal for more sampling.

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Whole Foods Site Hit With "Stop Work Order"

STOP WORK ORDER EXISTS ON THIS PROPERTY

The NYC Department Of Buildings has issued two stop work orders to the extremely toxic Whole Foods Site at 214 3rd Street

A complete Stop Work Order (3338063) was issued to the extremely toxic Whole Foods Site at 214 3rd Street on April 7th. The order reads: "No Site Safety Plan Or Program Provided. Stop All Work Entire Site, Provide Site Safety Plan & Program."

On April 13, a second stop work order (3338646) was issued for "inadequate guardrails fences." It was partially rescinded the same day so that the guardrails can be fixed.

The lapse in safety is rather troubling considering that the environmental remedial action on the Whole Foods land is being overseen by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

Over a century, the 2.15 acre site on the Gowanus Canal has been contaminated with a plethora of industrial waste from a former coal yard and petroleum oil company and freight company.

Under the Brownfield Clean-Up Program, Whole Foods "will receive tax credits to offset the cost of performing cleanup activities and for redevelopment of the Site."

The Whole Foods project has seen little action since 2006, when the national organic food purveyor announced that it was planning to build an approximately 77,000 square foot footprint commercial building housing a supermarket, along with a total of 414 parking spaces, including a 3 level parking garage.The store was tentatively supposed to open in 2008.

Related Reading:

Whole Foods Representatives To Present And Discuss Environmental Remediation Activities Currently Going On At Gowanus Site

Is Remedial Action At Gowanus Whole Food Site Starting In Earnest?

Heavy Duty Whacking And Chipping Action At Gowanus 'Whole Foods' Site

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