Shared Examples from members of Voice of Gowanus

1:

I'm Martin Bisi, i've operated a music recording studio, BC Studio in Gowanus Brooklyn since 1981. I'm currently living on 3rd St,1 block from the Gowanus Canal - between a certified brownfield (the Con Edison lot) and a dry former basin of the canal which is also contaminated

I'm writing because current plans by DEC leave large amounts of carcinogenic toxins in brownfield,s as construction is slated to soon begin.

Relying on capping, and monitoring vapor intrusion barriers in perpetuity is not a good solution, particularly as flooding is only due to increase in the area, moving the contaminants around to other sites, further endangering health

I request that you remediate all Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Sites, Brownfields, hazardous substance releases and other documented contamination threats to the Gowanus Canal 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...

2:

My name is Katia Kelly. I have lived in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY, for the past 36 years.

I write today because I am outraged that my family and my community continue to be exposed to well-known carcinogenic toxins that are endangering our health to this day.

Instead of protecting Gowanus residents, you and the Department of Environmental Conservation are allowing polluters and developers to leave dangerous levels of toxic material in the ground during Brownfield remediations, which amounts to containment, or a cover-up, rather than the environmental clean-up we are entitled to by law.

I therefore respectfully 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...

3:

My name is Wes Braver. I live on President Street, just a block from the Gowanus Canal.

There is a 1 month old baby in my house. My best friends just had this beautiful boy. I find myself thinking constantly about him as I walk around our neighborhood and smell the chemicals in the air. What kind of world have we made for this kid to grow up in? Is this a safe place to raise him? Is it a safe place for me to live?

I respectfully 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.

4:

Dear Governor Hochul,

My name is Margaret Maugenest. I reside on Nevins Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217, next to the Gowanus Canal.

I am a cancer survivor.  

I moved into the Gowanus Canal area in 1984. Gowanus was zoned industrial then, but I was able to live as an artist-in-residence in a building with other artists. We all endured noxious odors and fumes in the immediate neighborhood virtually every day. About 10 years after moving into my building, my neighbors and I ordered an environmental database report from Toxics Targeting. Walter Hang, its President, called me up and told me about the building’s proximity to a former Manufactured Gas Plant that contains many cancer-causing toxins, including coal tar that can migrate through the environment. This is the former Fulton MGP site (now the Thomas Greene Park) located diagonally across the street from my home.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with colon cancer. I always believed being exposed to cancer-causing pollution likely made me sick since there is no history of cancer in my family history.  

I am lucky to have survived surgery, but no one should have to go through what I have experienced with cancer. Moreover, there have been other cases of cancer in my building. 

That is why I strongly support and am a signatory to the Voice of Gowanus coalition letter which requests that Governor Hochul immediately require the Fulton MGP site and all other toxic sites that pollute the Gowanus Canal to be comprehensively remediated and restored to "pre-disposal conditions."

I believe this is the only way to safeguard public health in my community. I believe it would be irresponsible for State authorities to allow thousands of residents of the Gowanus Canal to live next to immense quantities of cancer-causing coal tar. That is simply unthinkable. 

The Gowanus Canal community is plagued by soil gas vapor intrusion hazards that are documented at many of the major toxic sites documented herein. Yet no comprehensive survey has been undertaken to identify or safeguard homes, schools, businesses and other structures that are contaminated by this known hazard.

Unremediated toxic pollution also could be spread by increased flooding associated with climate change since enormous quantities of Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL), such as petroleum contamination, underlie many of the toxic sites surrounding the Gowanus Canal. For example, Superstorm Sandy polluted vast areas of New York City when extensive flooding distributed toxic pollution that was never cleaned up.

As Governor of New York, you are responsible for resolving environmental and public health problems on a comprehensive basis without any further delay. It is imperative that our state no longer tolerates inadequate remediation of toxic contamination hazards by enforcing the strict enforcement policy we propose. If you implement that policy, you would set a standard for effective regulatory action that could be replicated all over New York and from coast-to-coast. With all due respect, if you fail to adopt that policy, you would be directly responsible for imperiling New York's public health and environment and must be held accountable.

I trust that you will find this proposal self-explanatory and await your timely response.

Thank you for your consideration, leadership and public service in these extraordinarily troubling times for New York.

Margaret Maugenest