EPA Designates Gowanus Canal a Superfund Site

On March 2, the Environmental Protection Agency added the 1.8 mile Gowanus Canal to its Superfund National Priorities List. For 150 years, the Canal has been polluted by factories that line its shores, and more recently by combined sewer overflows and dirty stormwater run-off.

Seeking to avoid the stigma of a Superfund designation, the Bloomberg Administration had countered the EPA's proposal last year with its own plan to clean up the contamination and redevelop its shores. Riverkeeper, which recently sued some of the businesses that were dumping garbage into the Canal, sided with the EPA's plan to lead the clean-up, as did other organizations. On March 2, 2010, Riverkeeper released a statement that included this quote from Josh Verleun, its attorney and chief investigator: "After 150 years of abuse and neglect the Gowanus Canal will finally get the comprehensive cleanup that the residents of the area deserve. The toxic legacy of coal tar, PCBs, pesticides, and other contamination of the Gowanus can only be cleaned through a comprehensive Superfund cleanup; we are gratified to see the EPA stepping up to this task."

According to The New York Times, "EPA estimated that the federal cleanup would last 10 to 12 years and cost $300 million to $500 million."
This photo of the Gowanus Canal is owned by Riverkeeper.

A public information meeting sponsored by the EPA will take place Thursday, March 4, 7pm-9pm at P.S. 58 (330 Smith Street in Brooklyn). Those who need more information may contact Natalie Loney, the EPA's Community Involvement Coordinator at 212-637-3639 or loney.natalie@epa.gov.