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SIGN THE COALITION LETTER 

We, the undersigned, write respectfully to request that you remediate all Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites, Brownfields, hazardous substance releases and other documented contamination threats to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY in strict compliance with State mandates requiring comprehensive toxic cleanups to "pre-disposal conditions" and pollution spill "source removal" in order to fulfill all applicable regulatory requirements...continue

PLEASE DONATE

 

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    Tickets on Sale for Music Activism Fundraiser!

    We are so excited for our Music Activism Fundraiser live on Tuesday May 30!   

    Yo La Tengo
    "Time keeps moving and things keep changing, but that doesn’t mean we can't fight back. Yo La Tengo have raced time for nearly four decades and, to my ears, they just keep winning. The trio’s latest victory is called This Stupid World, a spellbinding set of reflective songs that resist the ever-ticking clock. This is music that’s not so much timeless as time-defiant" by Marc Masters 
    Marc Ribot 
    "Guitarist Marc Ribot helped Tom Waits refine a new, weird Americana on 1985's “Rain Dogs”, and since then he's become the go-to guitar person for all kinds of roots-music adventurers" in Rolling Stone
    https://www.marcribot.com/bands-projects
    Martin Bisi Collective
    Bisi is a prolific music producer who has helped develop post-Punk, No Wave and experimental culture through recordings of Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, Swans, John Zorn, Africa Bambaataa, JG Thirlwell, Dresden Dolls and countless others
    For this event he has put together a Collective of musicians for an improvised ambient set 

    Public Records 

    Exploring culture through sound. 🔊 Unifying communities through hospitality. 👀 Respecting earth and its inhabitants.  233 Butler St. Brooklyn. Doors: 7pm

    This intimate evening of music in the Sound Room at Public Records will be a unique way to experience these artists up close.  And most importantly, your ticket purchase benefits the work of the grassroots environmental group Voice of Gowanus. We are fighting for a safe and healthy environment in Gowanus, which was an industrial dumping ground for decades and the cleanup has only just begun. The EPA and New York State both need to oversee a full cleanup for people and the environment to be safe. All funds raised from this event will help us achieve this goal by hiring the experts who can make a difference in holding these institutions accountable to environmental laws. 
     
    Support our fight for a healthy environment in Gowanus and experience some incredible live music on May 30!
     
     

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    DEC Recap On April 20th

    DEC Recap

    On April 20th, NY State held their Community Informational event. That evening that made it clear that they are incapable of listening to our community's concerns. And that they would rather "politely" coral us into one-on-one conversations rather than have an open forum. We weren't happy, in fact nobody was.
    When pressed on hard issues like "how do you make sure that nobody gets sick? Or Should we be building on toxic land, at sea level, in a climate crisis?..." Their strategy was to deflect and encourage you to talk to another table.
    Please read Brooklyn Magazine's own recap here: 
    In response to a statement in the article made by Royal Palms co-owner, Jonathan Schnapp,

    Do we appreciate being called "pseudoscientists peddling misinformation to the detriment of our community"?  No, no we do not. It's precisely why we hired experts like Walter Hang of Toxics Targeting.

    The irony is, when Joseph confronted the Executive Deputy Director of the State DEC, Sean Mahar, on his credentials as a scientist, Sean, with a minor in Biology from Siena college, argued that he knows best for Brooklyn. Watch the conversation below.

    With all due respect, Gov. Hochul, Sean doesn't cut it. We need better. We need smarter. And everyone in that room felt the same way.

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    15min Deep Dive on 514 Union St with Walter Hang

    We are thrilled to let you know that our Campaign to Clean Up the Gowanus Canal Community just received massive local, state, national and international news coverage by documenting cancer-causing toxic indoor air pollution concerns at a popular club located at 514 Union Street, Brooklyn.  Our powerful new campaign is a joint effort with Toxic Targeting, an environmental data firm.

    Beginning in March 2021, State health and environmental authorities knew highly toxic trichloroethylene contamination was detected in indoor air at more than 20 times the Department of Health protection guideline of two micrograms/cubic meter.  State authorities never alerted the public about the problem for nearly two years until VOG and Toxics Targeting broke the scandalous story on March 9th.

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    Call to Action: Call Hochul!

    We need your action today! 

    Listen to us on WNYC today and read the story in Gothamist!

    Then please call Hochul's office: (518) 474 - 8390

    Please, identify yourself as a Gowanus resident. Complain that you were never alerted to the problems at 514 Union St, Royal Palms Shuffleboard.

    Explain why it's important to the health and safety of our residents as well as their patrons and employees. Explain and why you care!

    Please DEMAND that we need Gov. Hochul to comprehensively clean up 514 Union Street and all the other massively polluted toxic sites in Gowanus!

    Current DEC cleanup efforts are pathetically bad and unacceptable. We cannot allow housing development on toxic sites. We must fully remediate before redevelopment!

    Hochul must enforce the law to protect public health. 514 Union Street needs to be remediated to "pre-disposal" conditions.

     

    Again the number to Hochul's office is:

    (518) 474 - 8390

     

    Listen to us on WNYC

    https://www.wnyc.org/story/toxic-fumes-detected-popular-brooklyn-shuffleboard-club-past-2-years/

    Read the story

    https://gothamist.com/news/toxic-fumes-detected-at-popular-brooklyn-shuffleboard-club-for-past-2-years

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    NYS DEC's Royal F Up featured on Gothamist

     

    Please read today's lead story on Gothamist. "Toxic fumes detected at popular Brooklyn shuffleboard club for past 2 years"

    FOR TWO YEARS the State's DEC knew that the ground under Royal Palms was toxic and that people were being exposed to 10,000 times the allowable amount of cancer causing gas vapors. And what did they do about it? They claim to have shared it in their newsletter. That's it. How is this protecting our health and safety? How are we supposed to trust that our State Agencies are looking out for the public's best interest when this is how they behave? 

    Toxic sites must not be redeveloped until they are comprehensively cleaned up and restored to pre-disposal conditions as required by NYS law!

    Read it now.

     

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    Walter Hang interview on WBAI Feb 8th 2023

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    Public Comment regarding 514 Union St

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    Christos, EPA, publicly confirms proposed cleanup of Public Place is fundamentally inadequate


    VOG is Pleased to Share Great News About Our Campaign to Protect Public Health in the Gowanus Canal Community

    Voice of Gowanus is happy to alert you that the U.S. EPA's Gowanus Canal Remedial Project Manager, Christos Tsiamis, has publicly confirmed our assertion that the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's proposed cleanup of the Public Place Manufactured Gas Plant site is fundamentally inadequate to protect public health and must be revised to control to massive contamination that threatens proposed low-income public housing, a school and the surrounding environment. 

    This is precisely what we requested in our: Coalition Letter Which Requests That Governor Hochul Comprehensively Remediate All Toxic Sites in the Gowanus Canal Community to "Pre-Disposal Conditions."

    Mr. Tsiamis spoke at a 1/24/23 Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group (CAG) meeting.  He disclosed that he expressed his concerns in a letter sent to DEC last February, 2022.  DEC shockingly never replied to EPA's letter.

    Watch Now:

    Our respectful coalition letter now has more than 1,100 signatories.  It requests that Governor Hochul strictly enforce New York's legal mandate to clean up Public Place and more than three dozen other toxic sites in the Gowanus Canal community to "pre-disposal conditions." 

    Send Governor Hochul a Personalized Request

    Pleas use our web form to send Governor Hochul a personalized letter that echoes our coalition letter request.

    https://www.voiceofgowanus.org/sendhochulletter

    Be your eloquent best.  Please identify who you are, any groups you are associated with and every professional credential you can reference.  Speak your mind.  Explain your direct personal interest as a property owner, long-time resident or survivor of a potential environmentally induced ailment. 

    Echo our specific request for action.  Avoid generalities.  DO NOT SEND A PERSONALIZED REQUEST WITHOUT FILLING IN THE BLANKS.

    Conclusion

    VOG looks forward to working with U. S. EPA to require Governor Hochul to remediate all legacy toxic hazards in the Gowanus Canal community on a comprehensive basis.  EPA has declared that the success of its $1.5 billion Gowanus Canal cleanup depends on achieving this goal:

    "The remedy relies on the control of upland sources of contamination to the Canal, including the remediation of three former MGP [Manufactured Gas Plants, not in the original] sites adjacent to the Canal & Carroll Gardens: Public Place (formerly known as "Citizens Gas Works"); former Metropolitan MGP, and former Fulton Municipal Works MGP (Fulton MGP) (emphasis added)."

    Our new campaign is off to a great start.  Please contribute generously to keep our fight growing.  All contributions are tax-deductible. 

    We will share more important news very shortly.

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