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"“The EPA has been spinning everything from day one,” said David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president at Toll Brothers, the national homebuilder planning a multi-million residential development along the banks of the canal, and a member of the coalition Clean Gowanus Now! “They are trying to hide the impact that this will have on the neighborhood, so I would tend not to believe them,” he said.""
VERSUS
"“If you asked me to put money on it, I think they will announce on Thursday,” said the person, who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency about the controversial designation, and requested anonymity.
But a decision may come even sooner than that.
The EPA will be making an announcement to reporters on Tuesday at 10 a.m., “related to the Gowanus Canal.” No additional information was provided by the agency, nor was an official confirmation provided."
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“It is astonishing that the EPA has either not read, or does not understand the new FHA regulations, which plainly and clearly state that there is a new, much higher standard and risk evaluation for making loans at Superfund sites,” said Ethan Geto, a spokesperson for the coalition."
VERSUS
"While the employee received no official word about the designation — which has been vehemently opposed by the mayor, along with developers and landowners who say it will stifle development along the polluted waterway for decades — the person said that signs are pointing to an imminent declaration.
“In my heart of hearts, I think it will happen this week,” the EPA employee said."
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“HUD’s approval process does require lenders consider a wide variety of environmental conditions, only one of which is proximity to a Superfund site,” she said. But in fact, several of these listed environmental conditions already exist for development locations near the Gowanus Canal, even in the absence of a Superfund designation."
VERSUS
"The EPA typically designates Superfund sites in March and September, and EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck recently said that a decision would come early this month.
Superfund sites compel entities responsible for polluting a site to pay for its clean-up. The agency has said that the cleaning the canal, once a vital cog in the Industrial Revolution, would span 10-12 years."
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I guess we'll have to wait until the official announcement is made. But it sure looks like that was a short lived opposition!
