"Clean Gowanus Now": An Oxymoron

A group calling itself "Clean Gowanus Now" has apparently formed, with the intention of opposing the proposed Superfund Designation of the Gowanus Canal. They put out a press release which hit the wires last night, which is filled with all types of goodies, misstatements and lies. Lets break it down:

"The Clean Gowanus Now! Coalition has discovered that new federal regulations will block the construction, and possibly the renovation, of thousands of homes within 3,000 feet of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal if the Canal is designated a “Superfund” site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)."

Wrong. There are no "new" federal regulations relevant to Superfund, and nothing IN the Superfund program will block construction, renovation, lending or anything.

"The survey refutes recent statements by EPA representatives that Superfund designation won’t impact lending to homeowners in the area."

Again, lending is not stopped by Superfund designation, only FHA-backed loans in the immediate area. Notice how the press release does not mention anything about number of FHA-backed (condo) loans in the study area? I wonder why...

"These lenders have financed projects that require a significant amount of environmental remediation in industrial neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Long Island City, but they uniformly responded that it would be nearly impossible to secure financing for a development project adjacent to the Gowanus if it is designated a Superfund site."

So, what this says is that if you want condos (whose lower purchase prices generally make them more eligible for FHA-backed loans) like we've seen go up in Long Island City and Williamsburg on the shores of the Gowanus, you should oppose Superfund designation. Hmmmm....

"The coalition’s members include the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce; the Partnership for New York City; the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation; the Business Council of New York State; Africa-Israel, U.S.A.; Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corporation; Brooklyn Bridge Realty, Ltd.; Friedknit Creations; Foro Marble, Inc.; The Jewish Press; Jobco, Inc.; L&M Development Partners; Magnifico Enterprises; Monadnock Construction, Inc.; Nevins Canal Corporation/Nevins Street Realty; Regal Home Collections; The Ribellino Family; Debbie & Buddy Scotto; Selectively Evolving Environments, Inc.; the Tinneny Family; Toll Brothers, Inc.; and Union Place, Inc."

So, the coalition is made up of those who stand to financially benefit from not having Superfund designation in place, and others influenced by the Mayors office? Again, shocked!

"Importantly, backing away from the impending Superfund designation and allowing the City to proceed with its alternative plan bears zero risk from an environmental perspective." 

Except of course for delaying the eventual (thorough EPA) clean up process.

"Toll Brothers, which has spent millions to go through ULURP and design their residential project..."

And this matters why?

"Further, the EPA/Superfund scope of work does not tackle the combined sewer overflows (CSOs) that today are the number one source of pollution of the Gowanus Canal. The EPA has stated that their cleanup of the Gowanus will consist of dredging sediments at the bottom of the Canal, but at 300 million gallons of raw sewage annually (NYC DEP's statistic), CSOs are the main current contributor to pollution in the Canal (and the pollution that is most visible, smelly and disturbing to area residents). CSOs will be alleviated only through the City’s planned infrastructure upgrades..."

Wrong. Are they actually arguing that FHA-backed mortgages are needed for the City to implement their planned infrastructure upgrades? Is the City's credit that bad?

"In contrast, the City already has obtained a commitment from National Grid, a likely Superfund target, to work with the City to fully fund Phase I of the cleanup, which is estimated to cost between $10 and $20 million. National Grid has indicated that it is prepared – under a City-led effort – to voluntarily put up tens of millions more as its share of the cleanup."

If I were National Grid, I would be throwing money at the City as well! Anything would be better than paying for the actual pollution cause by their site, which is what the Feds would do.

Conclusion:

Not a strong showing by the Superfund opposition. I doubt that anyone has said that the EPA's Super Fun Superfund program is perfect, but the City's plan is half-baked at best, and at worst, done solely so that condo builders can build more condos. The fact that their argument boils down to "if we don't do a good enough job, they can just Superfund anyway" only makes their opposition all the more laughable.

You're probably here from Curbed.