I am pleased to announce that a photograph of the flooding Gowanus Canal taken during Hurricane Sandy by myself, an artist and a CORD Co-Founder; and a CG CORD commentary on the impacts of Sandy on the Gowanus Canal area written by me were featured recently in the City Sierran: A Publication of the Sierra Club's New York City Group (Fall 2012) (page 3) next to an article on the Gowanus Canal clean-up process by Diane Buxbaum.
My "Brooklynites Worst Collective Dream Come True" (page 3) describes the night of Sandy in detail and poses several urgent points including:
) Carroll Garden's flooded Evacuation route (Third Street over the Gowanus Canal) that was entirely impassable the night of Sandy.
2) The chemical and toxic effects of the Superfunded Gowanus Canal waters spilling into the community's streets, sidewalks and basements.
3) The fact that the Gowanus Canal corridor is slated for future development even though it is in Zone A and in obvious harm's way from the Canal floodwater.
4) The trend of both rising sea levels and super storms all over NY due to global warming trends.
In an article entitled "Sierra Club tracks Gowanus Canal Superfund Clean-Up" (see below) NYC Group Gowanus Canal Cleanup Committee Chair, Buxbaum summarizes the Gowanus Canal clean-up to date, emphasizing that there will be a 60 day public comment period after the EPA releases its plan in December. The Sierra Club plans to provide info to those who might wish to submit a letter.
Buxbaum writes, one of the main concerns of the Gowanus CAG/Community Advisory Board is that the City of NY insure that the NYC DEP do a complete job of addressing the CSO's (combined sewere overflows) that cause recontamination of the Canal with toxins and materials that will cause continuing sediment deposition from the discharges. The CIty of NY has opposed the Superfund designation from the outset, and has offered only token CSO proposals.
CORD has also expressed deep concern with the CSO's situation in the Gowanus Canal in a recent post. See http://carrollgardenspetition.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-york-state-decdept-environmental.html
About the Sierra Club:
In 1892, John Muir and a number of his supporters founded the Sierra
Club to, in Muir's words, "do something for wildness and make the
mountains glad." Muir served as the Club's president until his death in
1914. Read more about the history of the Sierra Club.
Today, the Sierra Club has over 1.3 million members and supporters and
is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental
organization in the United States. Find out more about the Sierra Club. LINK
