EPA Finalizes Agreement to Begin First Phase of Newtown Creek Superfund Cleanup (NY)
(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency today announced an agreement with six entities to
begin the first phase of the Superfund cleanup of Newtown Creek in
New York City. The agreement includes an investigation of the
contamination in Newtown Creek and a study that will outline
options to clean up the contamination. EPA added Newtown Creek to
its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most
hazardous waste sites in September 2010 because its water and an
estimated 1 million cubic yards of its sediment contain a range of
contaminants such as pesticides, heavy metals, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and volatile organic compounds
(VOCs).
“Newtown Creek is one of the most polluted
urban water bodies in the country, and EPA is committed to making
sure this waterway receives a thorough cleanup,” said EPA
Regional Administrator Judith Enck. “This agreement is an
important step that will provide a comprehensive study of the
contamination in Newtown Creek and the development of options to
clean it up. The agreement also ensures that the parties
responsible for the pollution, not the taxpayer, will foot the
bill.”
Under the agreement, six parties responsible for
cleaning up the contamination in Newtown Creek – the Phelps
Dodge Refining Corporation, Texaco, Inc., BP Products North
America, Inc., National Grid NY (formerly the Brooklyn Union Gas
Company), ExxonMobil Oil Corporation and the City of New York
– will conduct the investigation and study under EPA’s
oversight. The agreement also requires that these six parties pay
EPA $750,000 for the agency’s previous work at Newtown Creek
and reimburse the agency for oversight costs for both the
investigation and the study. EPA anticipates that it will identify
additional parties responsible for the contamination in Newtown
Creek.
The six parties that signed today’s
agreement have already completed an EPA-approved work plan for the
investigation to determine the nature and extent of the
contamination in Newtown Creek. The investigation will begin later
this summer, beginning with an analysis of contamination in Newtown
Creek’s sediment, surface water and surrounding air. The
remedial investigation will take several years to complete, after
which EPA will oversee an analysis to develop and assess the full
range of options for cleaning up contamination in Newtown
Creek.
An important part of the Superfund cleanup
process is regularly updating and involving the community near a
site. Later this summer, EPA will hold a meeting to discuss the
Superfund process with the Brooklyn and Queens communities that
border Newtown Creek and begin developing a community advisory
group, which is designed to serve as the focal point for the
exchange of information among the local community and
EPA.
Newtown Creek is part of the core area of the
New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary, which has been designated by
EPA as an “estuary of national significance.” In the
mid -1800s, the area adjacent to the 3.8-mile Newtown Creek was one
of the busiest hubs of industrial activity in New York City.
Numerous industrial facilities were located along its banks,
including more than 50 oil refineries, as well as petrochemical
plants, fertilizer and glue factories, sawmills, and lumber and
coal yards. The creek was crowded with commercial vessels,
including large boats bringing in raw materials and fuel and taking
out oil, chemicals and metals. In addition to the industrial
pollution that resulted from all of this activity, the city began
dumping raw sewage directly into the water in 1856. During World
War II, the creek was one of the busiest ports in the nation. Some
factories and facilities still operate along it, and various
adjacent contaminated sites have contributed to its contamination.
Today, as a result of its industrial history, including countless
spills, Newtown Creek is badly polluted.
For more information on Newtown Creek,
visit https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2.
For downloadable, broadcast-quality b-roll video
of Newtown Creek, visit
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2.
For a Google Earth aerial view of the Newtown
Creek site: https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2. (Please note that you must have Google Earth
installed on your computer to view the map. To download Google
Earth, visit https://earth.google.com/download-earth.html).
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