Newtown Creek Closer to Being Designated a Federal Superfund Site - Weiner and Velazquez Declare Victory
New York City – Representatives Anthony D. Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens) and Nydia Velázquez (D-Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens) today announced a significant breakthrough in their efforts to cleanup Newtown Creek, home to the largest coastal oil spill in American history. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has committed to a new series of tests at Newtown Creek, taking any additional necessary samples at four priority sites. If the data demonstrates high levels of toxic chemicals, the entire Newtown Creek area could be designated a federal Superfund site and may be eligible for federal funding of up to 90% of the cleanup costs.
The Superfund program is the federal government's principal program to cleanup the nation's hazardous waste sites. Despite containing an oil spill one and a half times as large as the Exxon Valdez spill, Newtown Creek is not a part of the federal Superfund program and has never been tested by the federal EPA for admission into the nation's Superfund program, until now. Specifically, the EPA has agreed to examine existing data on the four sites and gather the data to fill in any gaps required to consider if the sites should enter the Superfund program, and determine where the site should rank in priority on the Superfund list.
Rep. Weiner, a member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials, the House panel with jurisdiction over the Superfund program, together with Subcommittee Chairman Gene Green (D – Texas), Vice Chairwoman Hilda Solis (D – California) and Rep. Velazquez, released a letter to the EPA in July identifying four sites along Newtown Creek for priority federal review, including two former hazardous waste facilities, a former copper smelting plant, and a former coal gasification complex.
Working with the EPA, Reps. Weiner and Velazquez identified four sites as the highest priorities for federal environmental testing in consultation with Riverkeeper, Inc. on the basis of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Attorney General records. State tests have found the following toxic chemicals and heavy metals in the area: cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and mercury, petroleum-related hydrocarbons, an underground plume and/or tanks containing polychlorinated biphenyls and petroleum waste, and up to 70,000 gallons of PCB-laden waste oil and additional amounts of solvents.
To date, an estimated 9.4 million gallons of oil have been cleaned at Newtown Creek. Between 17 and 30 million gallons were spilled over an area which covers 55 to 60 acres. Estimates indicate it will take until at least 2026 to finish the remediation.
“The resources of the EPA will prove indispensable in protecting the creek and its surrounding communities from a legacy of toxic dumping,” said Basil Seggos, Riverkeeper's Chief Investigator. “We owe a debt of gratitude to our congressional representatives for driving this forward. A restored Newtown Creek is within reach."
Rep. Weiner said, “The commitment made by the EPA to test the sites is a big win for Newtown Creek residents. These tests will help us find answers to basic questions about the spill’s health and environmental risks, giving this environmental disaster the national attention it deserves.”
Congresswoman Velázquez said, “The residents around Newtown Creek have had to live with the consequences of this spill for years while the oil companies have lagged in their cleanup responsibilities. The EPA should begin to quickly review these sites and not delay in designating Superfund status to begin remediation. Thirty years is a long time to wait for what should have been a prompt and thorough response to this environmental disaster.”
In 2007, Weiner and Velazquez released the findings of an EPA study of Newtown Creek, which found that the spill may be larger than originally estimated, but left many questions unanswered.
