[CPEO-BIF] Gowanus Canal (Brooklyn, NY) developer opposes listing

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Gowanus divided: Is the Superfund supergood or superbad?

By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper (NY)
April 13, 2009


On the eve of Tuesday's public forum about a proposal to declare the 
toxic Gowanus Canal a Superfund site, opposing factions are slinging 
sludge about the seemingly beneficial idea of approving the polluted 
channel for a federal clean-up.

The Environmental Protection Agency runs the Superfund - a pool of cash 
that could be made available to purify the 1.8-mile long waterway, which 
is clouded by industrial pollutants like PCBs, metals and pesticides.

Classifying an area as a Superfund site also empowers the EPA to force 
parties responsible for the dumping to pay for the clean-up.

Despite the Superfund's benign-sounding name, the possible designation 
has already split the community, with some residents and developers 
saying it would depress property values. Last week, hours after the 
Superfund proposal was reported, the canal-zone's main developer, Toll 
Brothers, immediately threatened to abandon its 447-unit complex on two 
blocks alongside the canal. And the homebuilder's allies sounded the 
alarm about the so-called perils, too.

....

For the entire article, see
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/15/32_15_mm_super_meeting.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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