2009 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 11:51:52 -0700 (PDT)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: Re: [CPEO-BIF] Listing Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal
 
I have updated my report to note that both Riverkeeper and Friends and Residents of the Gowanus Canal are campaigning in support of listing the Canal on the National Priorities List (NPL).

I think Clark Henry raises an interesting question: What does listing mean for nearby areas that are not within the Superfund boundary?

There are already environmental investigations taking place on the uplands adjacent to the canal. In fact, National Grid, which is responsible for the three former manufactured gas plants near Gowanus Canal, has actually sampled canal sediment.

These investigations and the associated responses will continue, and EPA plans to coordinate them with sediment removal from the canal itself. Any party considering purchasing property that has or might contribute to canal contamination should look carefully and negotiate with regulators to see what liabilities they might acquire along with the land.

But those liabilities are a function of the contamination and its likely spread, not placement on the National Priorities List. Is there a stigma associated with property located near a Superfund site? Not where I live, in Silicon Valley, one of the greatest concentrations of NPL sites in the country. But there is a stigma associated with property near a blighted, smelly, toxic canal that everyone forgot to clean up.

Lenny

Henry, Clark wrote:
 Lenny,

I am not taking a position as to whether or not the Gowanus Canal should be listed as a Superfund site or not. I am not intimately familiar with the canal nor am I even anywhere near Brooklyn. From my vantage point in Portland, Oregon, I do however have a little perspective on the implications of Superfund listing along a waterway. I would like to communicate what some of our experience has been here in Portland with the Willamette River listing. These could be likely implications for the Gowanus listing and should be in the minds of those trying to get it cleaned up and sites redeveloped. Your report states that only the canal will be listed and the listing won't impact the adjacent properties. Even though our river is the listed site (and a couple of upland sites), the EPA establishes a study area that envelops the sites adjacent to and even farther upland from the river. We are talking about 6 miles of river now. Adjacent sites are being seen as the Responsible Parties for river contamination and EPA is pursuing costs from them even though they are not technically the superfund site themselves. The Willamette River, nor the Gowanus Canal, polluted themselves. This pollution came from industry adjacent to it. Unless EPA issues a formal statement that this won't happen, I'd expect it to happen. Also, I wouldn't expect things to happen quickly. I am hopeful that the current administration is able to put the fund back in Superfund which can expedite projects like this but the need is greater than the supply. We are several years into our Superfund listing and there are more to go before the costs are allocated. I just saw an article that cleanup of the Hudson River, with only one RP, just began despite a Record of Decision being issued over 7 years ago ( my details could be wrong but I'm sure I'm not far off).
Again, I'm not for or against the listing.  I just want to encourage a realistic understanding of the implications.  We are part of a multi-agency effort called the Harbor Redevelopment Initiative (Harbor RedI) with the City of Portland, the Portland Development commission, Port of Portland, County, State, etc.. to overcome stagnated investment along our industrial working harbor related to the Superfund listing.  http://www.pdc.us/ura/willamette-industrial/harborredi.asp
I wish we would have started this years ago.
The EPA's All Appropriate Inquiry standards are supposed to protect a purchaser against EPA enforcement in situations like this as long they performed the proper due diligence.  We haven't found this to be very comforting to purchasers.  Until EPA issues confirmation that the purchaser does indeed get the AAI protections, purchasers and investors are still wary.

If I misunderstand the details of the Gowanus Canal, please forgive me but there is considerable benefit to planning for the consequences. I support the effort that best achieves the cleanup, responsibly allocates the burden of cleanup and achieves the greatest benefit for those who have lived with the problem for generations. Thanks for doing what you do. We need this national dialogue.
Clark

Clark Henry
City of Portland
Portland Brownfield Program
(503) 823-5863 - office
(503) 823-5565 - fax
clarkh@bes.ci.portland.or.us www.brownfield.org

-----Original Message-----
From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org [mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 2009 10:17 AM
To: Brownfields Internet Forum
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Listing Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal

Listing Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal: A No-Brainer Lenny Siegel May 2009

The Gowanus Canal stretches about a mile and a half through western Brooklyn, terminating at the Gowanus Creek arm of the New York Harbor. Despite opposition from New York City officials and developers, U.S. EPA's proposal to list the Canal on the "Superfund" National Priorities List is a no-brainer because only the Canal, not the adjacent land, is proposed for listing, and because development is currently proposed for only a very small stretch of the Canal waterfront.

For Lenny Siegel's 3-page, 1.6 MB PDF report, go to http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/Gowanus.pdf.




--


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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