EPA Invites Community To Discuss Gowanus Canal Remedial Investigation Report

I have slowly read my way through the Gowanus Canal Remedial Investigation Report, which was released by the Environmental Protection Agency just last week. The report confirmed the widespread presence of contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The sediment also included high level of metals including mercury, lead and copper. These contaminants are dangerous to human health, especially if they get in contact with the canal water and the sediment, or if they eat fish and crabs from the Gowanus.

What keeps on going through my mind while I read the report is how New York City was willing to rezone the shores of the Gowanus Canal to include residential housing before a comprehensive clean-up like the one which will be designed by the EPA to address these dangerous contaminants. And my mind goes back to all the public meetings involving the Toll Brothers' spot rezoning for two blocks on Bond Street, which was eventually granted to them by the New York City Council.

For many in the community, the results of the EPA's in-depth investigation just confirmed what they already knew. The contaminants in the polluted waterway pose a risk to humans and need to be removed before more residents move to the shores of the Gowanus.

The EPA will explain their findings at a public meeting on February 23rd. Read below:

EPA invites you to a public information meeting
on the
Gowanus Canal Remedial Investigation Report

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invites you to attend a public information meeting to discuss the findings of the investigation, conducted by the EPA, to determine the nature and extent of contamination in the canal. The meeting will be held on:

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM
in the auditorium of
P.S. 32
located at
317 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NY

The RI is also available online here. It will also be available at the Carroll Gardens Library,396 Clinton Street.

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Reminder: Tonight, EPA Invites Community To Select Facilitator For Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group

**TONIGHT**

The Environmental Protection Agency's Region 2 office just invited the community to a public information meeting to meet the candidates for the neutral facilitator of the Gowanus Community Advisory Group.

Public Involvement in the decision making is an important part of the EPA Superfund Process. It ensure that the community members affected by abandoned hazardous waste get a say in the actions put forth by the E.P.A. to clean them up.

It is in all of interest to stay involved, to understand the issues related to the Gowanus Canal and to help guide the clean-up process. Below is the description of the C.A.G.:

Community Advisory Group (C.A.G.)

A Superfund Community Advisory Group (CAG) is made up of members of the community and is designed to serve as the focal point for the exchange of information among the local community and EPA, the State regulatory agency, and other pertinent Federal agencies involved in cleanup of the Superfund site.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM

in the auditorium of

P.S. 32

located at

317 Hoyt Street, Brooklyn, NY

Here is an opportunity to hear what the candidates have to say, ask
questions and decide whom you would like to facilitate the initial
formation and operation of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory
Group.

Information about the facilitator candidates is available at:

www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/gowanus/cag.html

For more information about the meeting or other site related issues you can
contact:

Natalie Loney
Community Involvement Coordinator
loney.natalie@epa.gov
(212) 637-3639 or 1-800-346-5009

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EPA Releases First Of Hopefully Many Gowanus Canal Updates

True to their word, the EPA is keeping the public informed about the Gowanus Canal work that they are currently undertaking. The first update has just been sent around to the community by Natalie Loney, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator. According to the release,the agency will be performing supplemental field work in early December.
This is a lot more transparent than anything the city has ever issued on the subject. Mayor Bloomberg has continued to shamelessly and relentlessly lobby Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA, against the listing of the Gowanus Canal. The city is still claiming that they have the will and the means to clean the Gowanus as thoroughly as the federal agency.
If that were the case, the city could and should have cleaned the canal twenty years ago.



Read the EPA's statement below:



******AND DON'T FORGET******


The EPA is hosting an informational community meeting on Thursday night.
Please make every effort to attend.




Thursday, December 3, 2009
from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
in the auditorium of
P.S. 32
located at 317 Hoyt Street


BECAUSE THE HEALTH OF OUR ENVIRONMENT
AND OF THIS COMMUNITY MATTERS!

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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