(AGENPARL) - Roma, 1 Luglio 2024 -

(AGENPARL) – lun 01 luglio 2024 Issued: Jul 1, 2024 (12:03pm EDT)
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EPA Reaches New Milestone in Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site
Cleanup
Issues Order to Require $369 Million Cleanup of Second Canal Section
NEW YORK (July 1, 2024) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) announced that it has amended its administrative cleanup order for the
Gowanus Canal Superfund site in Brooklyn, New York on June 27, 2024, to
address the middle segment of the canal – known as Remediation Target Area
(RTA) 2.
“Dredging and capping of the upper segment of the Gowanus Canal started in
late 2020 and will be completed in July. This is a major milestone in cleaning
up the canal and improving water quality,” said EPA Regional Administrator
Lisa F. Garcia. “Together with the extensive dredging, capping, and bulkhead
repair work that has already been completed, this order will ensure the
cleanup of the next portion of the heavily contaminated Gowanus Canal, which
will be a huge benefit to the Gowanus and Red Hook communities.”  
Dredging and capping of RTA 1, the upper segment of the Canal, started in late
2020 and will be completed in July. Initial RTA 2 work, which began in late
June, includes access dredging to facilitate the mobilization and use of
equipment needed to conduct work in this portion of the canal, followed by
debris removal and bulkhead construction. The full-scale dredging and capping
required by the newly amended order will follow. That work is estimated to
cost $369 million and will take several years to complete. The detailed
engineering and design work for RTA 2 was performed in parallel with the RTA 1
work to accelerate its progress. RTA 3, the lower segment of the Canal, is
expected to be implemented after the completion of RTA2.
EPA and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
are closely coordinating the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal and the surrounding
area. EPA, NYSDEC, and the New York State Department of Health have been and
will continue to oversee the work, which includes plans for community health
and safety monitoring. The order amendment has been issued to six parties that
EPA determined have the largest shares of responsibility for the contamination
at the Gowanus Canal site: Brooklyn Union Gas Co. d/b/a National Grid New
York; the City of New York; Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc.; Hess
Corp.; Honeywell International Inc., and The Brooklyn Improvement Co.
More than a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals, including mercury,
lead, and copper, are present at high levels in the Gowanus Canal sediments.
The 2013 cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site includes dredging
to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of the Canal that has
accumulated because of industrial and combined sewer overflow (CSO)
discharges. Following dredging, construction of a multilayer cap in dredged
areas will isolate and prevent migration of any remaining chemicals in the
deep native sediment. Certain areas of the native sediment, below the original
canal bottom, that contain mobile liquid tar and are too deep to excavate,
will be mixed with cement and solidified to prevent the spread of the tar into
the water of the Canal. Two CSO retention tanks are being constructed by the
City of New York will prevent the hazardous substances found in CSO solids
from re-contaminating the Canal. The current cost of the overall cleanup plan
is estimated to be over $2 billion, including both the in-Canal work and CSO
controls.
Visit the Gowanus Canal Superfund site profile page for additional background
and site documents.