brooklyn

Sep 23, 2015

EPA WaterSense: Helping New York City Save Water

brooklyn, DEP, Fort Greene, Green Code Task Force, nyc, public parks, water conservation, water fountain, WaterSense 0 Comments

By Alex Peck

Water fountains at Fort Green Park in Brooklyn, NY.

Last summer, while walking through Fort Greene Park on a beautiful day, I noticed a sign posted next to an outdoor fountain describing how New York City had made it more water efficient. The fountain used to run continuously 24 hours a day. Now, thanks in part to the EPA’s recommendations, New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has retrofitted the sprinklers with timer buttons, which, when pressed, allow the sprinkler to operate for two minute intervals. This small effort helps New York City save about 10,000 gallons of water per day!

EPA is helping NYC become more efficient.

This water conservation measure, along with others that the DEP has made over the last four years, came about through the help of Mr. Lorne LaMonica, a Senior Scientist with EPA in the Pollution Prevention and Climate Change Section. For two years, Mr. LaMonica participated in New York City’s Green Code Task Force and was instrumental in incorporating the EPA WaterSense Program specifications into the NYC Code. The retrofitting of the fountain in Fort Greene Park is just one of the many water conservation measures implemented.

This photo shows the on/off button for the sprinkler in Fort Greene Park. This one button helps NYC save 10,000 gallons of water a day.

As a result of Lorne’s efforts, New York City has become a strong proponent of using EPA WaterSense specifications in new construction and retrofits. The city reported to EPA that in 2013, with the assistance of our WaterSense recommendations, it retrofitted 13 schools with water-efficient urinals, toilets, and faucets. As a result of installing these water-saving fixtures, these schools conserved 49,000,000 gallons of water, reduced 114 metric tons of carbon equivalent (greenhouse gases) and saved $143,000 in water utility costs! In 2014, DEP retrofitted an additional 10 schools and the water saving numbers were tremendous: 92,000,000 gallons of water saved, 211 metric tons of carbon equivalent saved, and a savings of $266,800 in water utility costs. These retrofit projects are expected to continue for years through hundreds of schools throughout the city.

To find out more about the EPA’s WaterSense program and how it’s helping communities throughout the United States to save water, visit: http://www.epa.gov/watersense/.

About the Author: Alex Peck is an Environmental Protection Specialist in EPA Region 2’s Pollution Prevention and Climate Change Section.

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Apr 28, 2015

A Premature Plunge into the Gowanus Canal

brooklyn, canal, gas plants, Gowanus, PAHs, PCBs, Sewage, superfund 1 Comment

By Elias Rodriguez

The Gowanus Canal harbors a legacy of industrial waste.

Last week, a gentleman garnered widespread media attention in New York by deliberately swimming in Brooklyn’s highly contaminated Gowanus Canal. This urban water body is on EPA’s National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The Gowanus is scheduled for a cleanup under our Superfund program.

It seemed like every tabloid and television station in the Big Apple contacted us to ask if it was safe to swim in the Gowanus Canal. In a word: NO! As you can see from our color-coded hazard guide, direct contact with the water of the Gowanus should be avoided to reduce exposure risks.

What’s in the Gowanus? Data shows the widespread presence of more than a dozen contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and various metals, including mercury, lead and copper, at high levels in its sediment. PAHs and metals were also found in the canal water. PAHs in the canal come mostly from former manufactured gas plants which used coal to make gas. PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors and other electrical equipment. PCBs are suspected carcinogens and can have neurological effects. PAHs are also suspected carcinogens.

The origin of the Gowanus Canal goes back to the 19th century. It was envisioned as a transportation route for goods and services and, after its completion in the 1860s, the canal became an important link for commerce in the city. Manufactured gas plants, coal yards, concrete-mixing facilities, chemical plants and oil refineries were established along its banks. The canal was additionally an outlet for untreated industrial waste, raw sewage and runoff. Fast-forward to 2015 and you’ll see in the Gowanus’ murky water a legacy of urban and industrial pollution in the midst of thriving Brooklyn neighborhoods.

EPA’s $506 million cleanup calls for the removal of contaminated sediment and the capping of dredged areas. The comprehensive plan also includes controls to reduce sewage overflows and other land-based sources of pollution from re-contaminating the waters and ruining the cleanup.

EPA’s progress to date at the Gowanus Canal has been faster than at any other site of comparable complexity anywhere in the nation. We are currently working on the remedial design for the cleanup project to be followed by the start of actual dredging in 2016. When all the work is done, circa 2022, the Gowanus will be in much better shape. In the meantime, the EPA’s No Swimming warning is serious and remains in effect.

About the Author: Elias serves as EPA Region 2’s bilingual public information officer. Prior to joining EPA, the proud Nuyorican worked at Time Inc. conducting research for TIME, LIFE, FORTUNE and PEOPLE magazines. He is a graduate of Hunter College, Baruch College and the Theological Institute of the Assembly of Christian Churches in NYC.

Apr 22, 2014

This Earth Day, Join the #natureselfie Campaign!

brooklyn, earth day, natureselfie, Prospect Park, selfie, The Nature Conservancy 0 Comments

#natureselfie at Prospect Park, Brooklyn

By Sophia Kelley

This Earth Day, we’ve got a fun way to connect to nature and participate in the social media selfie craze at the same time. The EPA and The Nature Conservancy have teamed up to encourage people to get outside, snap a #natureselfie and post it to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or our Flickr group.

Today we joined the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, the Prospect Park Alliance, and The Nature Conservancy for a quick event in Prospect Park to raise awareness about the photo project.

Fortunately it’s finally feeling like spring in New York today, so it was a great way to enjoy our urban natural environment after what seemed like an interminable winter.

For more information about the project and other ways you can celebrate Earth Day, visit www.epa.gov/region2/earthday and www.nature.org/nyearthday.

Jan 6, 2014

Superfund in the Big Apple

brooklyn, environmental cleanup, Gowanus Canal, new york city, Newtown Creek, pollution, Queens, superfund, urban waterways 1 Comment

By Elias Rodriguez

New York City may soon notch a third site on the EPA’s Superfund list of the nation’s most hazardous waste sites. The candidate is the Wolff-Alport Chemical Company site, a defunct business that processed and sold minerals containing thorium from the 1920s to 1954 in Ridgewood, Queens. Wolff-Alport imported monazite sands, rich in thorium, from central Africa. The site is currently radioactively contaminated, although the risks from this residual radioactive contamination do not represent a health concern in the short-term, it could pose a health risk under certain long-term exposure scenarios. Additional investigation and remedial work is needed, so the EPA is proposing that Wolff-Alport be added to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites.

A lot of work has already been done at the site. The EPA installed protective shielding on portions of the site that will prevent nearby residents, employees and customers of area businesses from being exposed to elevated gamma radiation from below the surface. The shielding material included concrete, lead and steel, depending on the area.

Reporters often ask me to compare the cleanup work at the two other NYC Superfund sites, the Gowanus Canal and Newtown Creek. The Gowanus Canal was built in the 19th century to ease the transport of goods and services. After its completion in the 1860s, the canal became a busy industrial waterway including manufactured gas plants, coal yards, concrete-mixing facilities, tanneries, chemical plants, and oil refineries. Sadly, it also became a giant receptacle for untreated industrial waste, raw sewage and runoff. EPA’s $506 million Gowanus cleanup will require the removal of contaminated sediment and the capping of dredged areas. The plan also includes controls to reduce sewage overflows and other land-based sources of pollution from ruining the cleanup.

Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal share a legacy of urban and industrial pollution as major arteries in the City’s transportation system. In the late 1800s and throughout most of the 1900s, Newtown was replete with sprawling oil refineries, petrochemical plants, factories, plants, sugar refineries, canneries, sawmills, and lumber and coal yards. Similarly, the creek is negatively impacted by discharges from combined sewer overflows and sewer treatment plants.

Where the Superfund sites differ significantly is in the status, or better said, where they are situated on the Superfund Roadmap. In 2013, the EPA issued a Record of Decision for the Gowanus cleanup. This milestone document explains what cleanup alternatives the Agency has decided are the best choice to clean up a Superfund site. In the case of the Gowanus, the decision document came after the EPA held a 120-day period to receive public comments and hosted two formal public meetings. Prior to the Record of Decision, the Agency evaluated more than 1,800 e-mails, letters, postcards and petitions about the cleanup. Conversely, Newtown Creek is a few years away from a Record of Decision. Currently, the creek is undergoing assiduous sampling and study as part of the EPA’s Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study. During this phase, the EPA will determine the nature and extent of contamination. This scientific work is expected to be completed in 2018 and would be followed by a proposed cleanup plan for the public’s consideration.

Another NYC site, the Radium Chemical Company site at 60-06 27th Avenue, Queens was on the Superfund list from 1989 to 1995 when the EPA led a successful cleanup of a radioactively-contaminated plant that no longer poses a threat to public health or the environment. It has since been delisted.

Naysayers claim that placing these sites on the Superfund list creates a stigma and is “bad for business.” Protecting human health and the environment is EPA’s first concern, but there is ample evidence to suggest that a Superfund cleanup can help communities and be a boon to local commerce by creating economic opportunity and using innovative technologies to mitigate contamination in a cost-effective manner. A cleanup also gives rise to redevelopment of an area that was once blighted, thus returning a contaminated property to the community and the tax rolls.

Jul 20, 2011

Coming Home

brooklyn, government, urban change 0 Comments

By Rob Goulding

A few months ago I emerged from the Holland Tunnel on a still cold spring day prepared for my initial drive into Brooklyn as a lease holding resident. While I grew up in the center of the greater NYC metropolitan area in a small city called West New York, NJ, I’ve been nothing more than an occasional tourist since 2004. Since then, the changes in the area and our Agency’s role in shaping a sustainable region serve as remarkable testaments to the intersection of environmental protection, community involvement and redevelopment.

I’ve had the good fortune over the last six years to bounce from Trenton to Washington, DC to San Francisco and observe, as a citizen and government employee, the ongoing work of civic engagement and redevelopment. NYC may be the city that never sleeps, but I’ve learned that no city stays dormant for long.

I am excited to come back home and help work on issues that will change this area for the better. I see this region as both the boy who grew up here, when things always seemed dormant, and as someone who’s now able to see the cornerstones and the construction zones as the fluid building blocks of a changing urban landscape. . More