8 NOVEMBER 28, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The EPA will host public meetings in Queens and Brooklyn next months on its plans to reduce pollution in Newtown Creek, a Superfund Site since
2010. Photo by Mark Hallum
EPA proposal pushes to lessen the impact of
combined sewer overfl ow on Newtown Creek
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Newtown Creek, the tidal estuary
of the East River that forms the
border between much of Queens and
Brooklyn, is also one of the nation’s
most polluted waterways.
It was declared a Superfund Site
in 2010 and for the last four years,
the U.S Environmental Protection
Agency has taken thousands of samples
of pollution from the creek. The
agency said Thursday it’s eyeing the
next step in the cleanup process.
The EPA is issuing a proposed
plan that evaluates the impacts of
the current and expected future
volume of combine sewer overflows
(CSOs). Every time it rains, hundreds
of millions of gallons of contaminated
water flowing through the local
sewer system pours into the creek.
That largely organic pollution is
on top of nearly 200 years of filth
accumulated in the waterway. Since
the mid-1800s, the area along 11 miles
of banks alongside the creek was
one of the busiest hubs of industrial
activity in New York City with more
than 50 oil refineries, petrochemical
plants, fertilizer and glue factories,
saw mills, and lumber and coal yards
all dumping waste into the creek.
It’s also adjacent to the site of one of
the largest underground oil slicks in
America, below the streets of Greenpoint,
Brooklyn. It was discovered in
1978 when a Coast Guard helicopter
spotted oil flowing into the creek out
of a bulkhead.
The Newtown Creek’s fetid legacy
prompted the Superfund declaration
nearly a decade ago. Now, the EPA is
conducting in-depth investigations of
the extent of the contamination at the
entire Newtown Creek Superfund
Site in order to determine how best
to clean it up over the long-term.
“This proposed plan is an important
step forward in advancing the
cleanup of the Newtown Creek Superfund
Site,” EPA Regional Administrator
Pete Lopez said. “In this plan,
EPA acknowledges that the work that
the city is already obliged to do to improve
the water quality of Newtown
Creek, including major water infrastructure
improvements through
compliance with the state imposed
long term CSO control plan, will be
consistent with meeting the needs
of the Superfund program and help
EPA fulfill its mission of protecting
human health and environment.”
The CSO Long-Term Control Plan
(LTCP), which was approved by the
state in June 2018, includes a number
of components to reduce future CSO
discharges into the creek, including
construction of a storage tunnel. The
LTCP is ultimately anticipated to reduce
the volume of CSO discharges to
Newtown Creek by approximately 61
percent, and to achieve water-body
specific water quality standards
under the Clean Water Act.
While environmentalists across
the country view the EPA under the
Trump administration with a jaundiced
eye, Willis Eakins — program
manager of the Newtown Creek
Alliance, which is dedicated to the
restoration of life to the waterway —
is looking forward to learning more
about the plan from the agency.
“Nothing has changed as to the EPA
personnel at Newtown Creek under
the Trump administration, at least
we haven’t noticed any changes,”
Eakins said. “That’s why I’m so interested
in the public meetings the
EPA is holding next month.”
The first public meeting will be
held on the Queens side of Newtown
Creek on Dec. 9 at Sunnyside Community
Services — located at 43-31
39th St. — beginning at 6:30 p.m. On
Dec. 11, a second public meeting will
be held on the Brooklyn side at PS 110
— located at 124 Monitor St. in Greenpoint
— beginning at 6:30 p.m.
The EPA will determine in the
future whether additional control
actions, either in the creek or at CSO
points-of-discharge, are needed to
address the cleanup at the full site.
These additional control actions
could include the placement of sediment
traps and/or oil sorbent pads at
the end of CSO discharge pipes and
in-creek maintenance dredging to
address potential accumulation
of contaminated solids near the
discharges.
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