2009 CPEO Brownfields List Archive

From: "Schnapf, Lawrence" <Lawrence.Schnapf@srz.com>
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2009 20:07:14 -0800 (PST)
Reply: cpeo-brownfields
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Gowanus Canal update, Brooklyn, New York
 
Title: [CPEO-BIF] Gowanus Canal update, Brooklyn, New York

I could be wrong but I don't think the Gowanus has gone thru formal ranking process since  listing was based on request by DEC. There are likely data gaps that need to be plugged.  Rumors are that listing is done deal and Newton Creek is next.

Larry

Larry Schnapf
Schulte Roth & Zabel
919 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10022
212-756-2205 (p)
212-593-5955 (f)

----- Original Message -----
From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org <brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org>
To: lsiegel@cpeo.org <lsiegel@cpeo.org>; Brownfields Internet Forum <brownfields@lists.cpeo.org>
Sent: Fri Dec 04 20:51:07 2009
Subject: Re: [CPEO-BIF] Gowanus Canal update, Brooklyn, New York

If EPA wants to list a site on the NPL quickly, they can do it. The Raritan
Bay Slag site was proposed in April 2009 and listed in November 2009. That
site also had significant backing of the local congressman, the NJ's
senators etc. The EPA's Removal Branch did a lot of work on a quick schedule
support the listing.

NYC has a proposed plan and has submitted written objections. Not sure in
what capacity this was (i.e., the municipal government where the site is, or
as a PRP. Anyone know about this and can enlighten us?) I don't know if NY
congressman and senators have officially weighed in; hopefully someone can
also fill in this data gap.

One man's opinion: EPA is not jumping in till it's sure it has to, and
hasn't gotten to that point, for a number of reasons. Maybe they don't have
the resources (i.e., people) to properly staff the job AND BIG money is
surely required to clean this up. Remember, superfund is not awash with
funds and hasn't been for years. (How long ago did that tax expire?) If EPA
doesn't/can't  "jawbone" a PRP to spent its own money the site must get in
line with the other NPL sites. EPA people have told me many times if they
start a site they will finish it, so they they won't just jump into it. (If
it hadn't been for ARRA, many major projects here in Jersey would still be
stuck in limbo.) I'm sure Region 2 knows what it can and can't do with this
years funding for its superfund sites. And we shouldn't forget that
superfund wouldn't be the fastest route to completing the actual work or the
most economical. If they did list it, it would have to compete with all the
other NPL site's for staff and $. I doubt anyone in Region 2 would or could
tell you that Gowanus Canal would "win out" over all the other sites out
there; they have no way of knowing this. I suspect a combination a factors
(technical, financial and other) have resulted in EPA taking the currently
"safe" route of collecting more data. They are working on the site, they
just taken it all. (It is possible, BTW, that EPA just couldn't/wouldn't
accept the existing data's QA/QC and/or needs to fill in "critical data
gaps" that it identified before proceeding. This wouldn't be the first time
that questionable data (or just questioned data)  has slowed cleanup work.)

Rich Chapin
_____________________________________________________
Richard W. Chapin, M.S., P.E., BCEE
President, Chapin Engineering
27 Quincy Road, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920
908-647-8407 908 625 5697 (cell) 908-647-6959 (fax)




----- Original Message -----
From: "Lenny Siegel" <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
To: "Brownfields Internet Forum" <brownfields@lists.cpeo.org>
Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 1:15 PM
Subject: [CPEO-BIF] Gowanus Canal update, Brooklyn, New York


> EPA in no rush to Superfund; more tests coming for filthy canal
>
> By Stephen Brown
> The Brooklyn Paper (NY)
> December 4, 2009
>
> Hopes for the Gowanus Canal to quickly be designated a Superfund site were
> reigned in on Thursday night as a top federal official cautioned that it
> is very rare for a proposal to be approved in less than a year.
>
> "It is unusual for a Superfund listing to be made in less than one year,
> even for sites that aren't as controversial as this one," said Walter
> Mugdan, the regional Superfund director for the Environmental Protection
> Agency, which started the Gowanus process in April.
>
> Given how much time has passed - and how much is already known about the
> toxic corpse of water - hopes were high that this informational meeting
> would actually serve as the forum for announcing the Superfund
> designation.
>
> ...
>
> For the entire article, see
> http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/49/32_49_sb_gowanus_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
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Brownfields mailing list
> Brownfields@lists.cpeo.org
> http://lists.cpeo.org/listinfo.cgi/brownfields-cpeo.org

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