Some of The Most Polluted Waterways In New York

How much do you know about Superfund sites? Are there any where you live? When I was asked to give a presentation on the topic, I pretty much had to start from square one with the whole process because I haven’t been following it very closely over the years. And so I recently took a trip of my own to observe the existing environmental conditions together with the nature and extent of human interaction around three of the most polluted waterways in the United States (New York)- Gowanus canal, Newtown Creek and the Hudson River. Here I have shared with you my observations together with links to more information. I’d love to hear your thoughts on what I’ve shared and whether you think these notoriously contaminated sites will ever be clean. Here is a map highlighting (in blue) the three areas I observed. A- Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant (Brooklyn, NY) B- Gowanus Canal(Brooklyn, NY) C- Hudson River (Battery Park, NY) . (The Hudson river that has been declared a superfund extends from Hudson Falls, N.Y. to Battery Park in Lower Manhattan but only the Battery Park, Lower Manhattan area was observed by me.) Newtown Creek, Gowanus Canal, Hudson River and parts of the Passaic River have all been declared superfund sites by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Gowanus Canal(2010), Hudson River (2002), Newtown Creek (2010), and parts of the Passaic River (1984) .

NEWTOWN CREEK, BROOKLYN NY Newtown Creek runs between Queens and Brooklyn. The areas of Newtown Creek that I observed included intersections along Greenspoint Avenue, where the factories were closest to the contaminated waters-Van Dam Street, Review Street, Railroad Avenue, N. Henry Street (location of the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant) and Kingsland Avenue. These observed areas of Newtown Creek are saturated with factories- new, old and abandoned. The Newtown Creek is a four mile long waterway that empties into the East River, and is surrounded by a mostly industrial corridor. That corridor has been the site of intense economic activity over the last 150 plus years, and in what seems an almost inevitable corollary, the site of intense pollution. Numerous factories (some of which were observed puffing fumes into the air) together with abandoned piles of waste make up the waterfront. The creek has been receiving the effluent of oil refineries, petrochemical plants, fertilizer and glue factories, sawmills, and lumber and coal yards that dot the shoreline– not to mention raw sewage.

Factories along the Newtown Creek shore © Samantha Kozikott

Factories along the Newtown Creek shore © Samantha Kozikott

At points along shoreline where the greenish-brown water smelt very foul, pipes dumping some sort of waste into the water were spotted.

Some sort of foul smelling waste being dumped into the water. ©Samantha Kozikott

Abandoned waterfront pilings . © Samantha Kozikott

Rusty factories and dilapidated buildings along the waterfront.
© Samantha Kozikott

The New York Times reported on one particularly bad oil spill by Exxon Mobil 57 years ago, estimated at between 17 million to 30 million gallons lost into the waterway and into the ground at Greenpoint. Efforts to clean up the contamination resting under the feet of residents have been going on for years, but will get an added boost now. Philip Musagass, a lawyer with Riverkeeper, told the Times, “The impact is more subtle than in the gulf. The spill is unseen, and it’s in an area that was industrialized and already polluted. But the waterway is severely stressed, and it’s not a functioning ecosystem anymore.” In the canal itself, the water is polluted, but the harder problem is that the sediment at its floor has been absorbing and accumulating toxins all this time. According to an EPA statement, initial tests found pesticides, metals and PCBs, as well as volatile organic compounds that can evaporate into the air. The detailed study that goes with Superfund designation will determine the specific cleanup methods, but they will probably include dredging the canal floor and transporting the toxic mess to a landfill in someone else’s neighborhood. The creek has taken 150 years to get into this state, and it will probably take at least 15 more to clean up. The State could not afford to undertake a thorough clean up of Newtown Creek, but the Superfund designation means that Federal authority will be brought to bear to force some of the historic polluters to foot the bill, which could be as much as $500 million. Some of businesses that will be targeted include BP , Exxon Mobil, National Grid, Chevron, and Phelps Dodge.

See videos of Newtown Creek here.

A TRIP TO GOWANUS CANAL, BROOKLYN, NY I recently took a trip to the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn to visit its infamously polluted (and smelly) canal. After decades of controversy, the Environmental Protection Agency recently named the canal as a Superfund site—one of the few such designations in an inner-urban area. In its report, the EPA found that the Gowanus Canal “has become one of the nation’s most extensively contaminated water bodies,” with contaminants including “PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals and volatile organics.” Built in the 1860s by expanding a local creek, the Gowanus Canal quickly became a major industrial hub for Brooklyn and New York and was the home to numerous oil refineries and chemical plants as well as the repository for countless combined sewer overflows in rainstorms. As early as 1893 The Brooklyn Eagle called the canal “an open cesspool,” so one can only imagine what it was like a hundred years later. A flushing tunnel was installed in 1911, but was closed in the 1960s after the flushing propeller was damaged. The canal lay stagnant for nearly three decades before it was finally fixed. My observation of this superfund site included observing areas closest to the water of the Gowanus Canal – 1st street, 2nd street, 3rd street, 4th Street, 6th street, Union Street Bridge, Court Street, Degraw Street and Douglas Street. So what is the waterway like? It’s hard to do justice in pictures. When I was there,the stench of the dark brown water, covered in thick, black, oily sludge was nauseating. This distinct odor was prominent in spots where noxious fumes were emitted from pipelines and waste of some sort was being dumped into the canal in addition to the random bits of rubbish—I can say for certain it didn’t look like a great place for a swim. There were signs posted by the EPA all along the shore prohibiting swimming, fishing and boating as well as highlighting the toxic nature of the water and soil. Piles of abandoned wastes (rubber tires, metals scraps, plastics etc.) were a common site. It’s said that before the resumption of flushing in 1999, the canal was so polluted that there was no life at all under the water.

Rubber tires, plastic traffic cones, pieces of metal found floating in the canal. ©Samantha Kozikott

Black oily sludge on the surface of the water.
©Samantha Kozikott

Abandoned barrels of waste floating in the water

The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club sign highlighting the mission of the club- “providing waterfront access and running education programs for the public along the shorelines of Gowanus, Red Hook and DUMBO” was seen mounted along the shore. The presence of several bright yellow bird houses on either side of the canal (Degraw Street) was spotted. Signs posted explained that these bird houses were designed to attract certain species of birds and was part of an initiative called the Canal Nest Colony started in 2008. The mission of this project as stated on the sign was “to encourage human-nature interaction, plant and animal biodiversity and highlight the diverse ecosystem potential of the Gowanus Canal”.

Amid the toxic water of the Gowanus Canal and the consequential environmental health risks that lurk, lies the Dredgers Canoe Club sign that reads “WELCOME TO THE GOWANUS CANAL, BROOKLYN’S COOLEST SUPERFUND SITE” © Samantha Kozikott

Bright yellow bird houses along the canal.
© Samantha Kozikott

In theory the designation means that those industries and groups responsible for polluting the waterway—including most prominently the U.S. Navy, the City of New York, Con-Edison and National Grid—will be forced to help pay for an estimated $300 to $500 million cleanup. New York City had fought the designation , arguing that stigma of Superfund would tarnish the reputation of the neighborhood, making redevelopment more difficult. The City also said it had a more efficient plan. Now, though, everyone is pledging to work together on the cleanup. The city has fully re-activated the Gowanus Canal’s on-again, off-again flushing tunnel after a four-year, $177 million rehabilitation.The city will also be reactivating a pumping station in June to improve water quality. It’s interesting to note what’s going on in the rest of the neighborhood, which has become one of those fascinating, dynamic New York places where housing projects sit next to yoga studios and art galleries. Now that a real cleanup finally seems to be underway,could this waterway be transformed from filthy, polluted eyesore to a major magnet for urban revitalization?

HUDSON RIVER , BATTERY PARK, NY The 315-mile Hudson River is steeped in American history. It guided Henry Hudson in search of a northwest passage and served commerce as a transportation route during the Industrial Revolution. Industry provided jobs, created communities, and brought economic growth to the region. However, an era of industrial pollution left its mark on the treasured river. Today, 200 miles of the Hudson River is classified by EPA as a Superfund site – one of the largest in the country. Today the Hudson River exists as one of the most extensively studied rivers in the country, having been monitored almost continuously for a period of more than 25 years. Ongoing evaluations of water quality, sediment, air quality, fish, and wildlife by the Federal Government and the State of New York have demonstrated that the river is not cleaning itself and PCBs in the sediment pose a serious risk to human health and the environment. Studies conducted to evaluate the extent of the problem in the (years) revealed that most of the contaminated sediments were in “hot spots” situated in a 40-mile stretch of the river between the town of Fort Edward and the Troy Dam. Despite the greenish-brown color of the water, there was the absence of floating debris and detectable odor in the air. Joggers, dog walkers, children playing in the park, tourists taking pictures and people eating along this waterfront were common sites. NYC water taxis and ferries run in these waters all day long. While people engaged in recreational activities along the walkways and parks along the waterfront, traffic ran relentlessly on the roadways adjacent to the Hudson River.

Battery Park, NY- The color of the water is greenish brown. Ferries and NYC water boats are observed running all day long on the Hudson River.

In February 2002, EPA issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for the Hudson River PCBs Superfund Site that calls for targeted environmental dredging of approximately 2.65 million cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment from a 40-mile section of the Upper Hudson River. Read more about the Hudson River cleanup and view project documents. These superfund sites highlight the damage we have done to our environment in New York.  Not only does the natural environment suffer, but human health is compromised by being surrounded by toxins in the air, earth and water. Let’s hope this trend toward doing something about it will continue. Even more, let’s hope it helps industry, policy makers and citizens alike recognize how much cheaper it is to not pollute in the first place, than to have to apologize and clean up later.