COMMUNITY GROUP FILES INJUNCTION IN COURT TO PREVENT FURTHER DEVELOPER RECKLESSNESS AS JUNE 15TH DEADLINE FOR 421a APPROACHES
DEVELOPERS FLOUT EPA
PILE DRIVE INTO TOXIN-FILLED GOWANUS SITE
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COMMUNITY GROUP FILES INJUNCTION IN COURT TO PREVENT FURTHER DEVELOPER RECKLESSNESS AS JUNE 15TH DEADLINE FOR 421a APPROACHES
GOWANUS, BROOKLYN – Community coalition Voice of Gowanus doubled down on their lawsuit to require legitimate impact analysis at toxic sites in Gowanus as developers defied the EPA and drove piles into Superfund sites with no prior notice or EPA approval. The reckless pile driving endangers community health and sets a terrible precedent that developers’ greed can supersede the power of federal agencies.
Motion for Injunction Filed in State Court
In line with the demands of their Article 78 petition, Voice Of Gowanus has filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop Gowanus Rezone-related construction activity in the area. As stated in the filing, "even the City-drafted Environmental Impact Statement concedes that 'any redevelopment involving subsurface disturbance could potentially increase pathways for human exposure to any subsurface hazardous materials present.’"
Greed Speeds Dangerous Push to Break Ground
Developers have pursued a brazen effort to drive piles and pour foundations without proper safety precautions or oversight in their race to meet the June 15th deadline for the 421a tax credit—a developer giveaway that former Council Member Brad Lander and former Mayor Bill de Blasio allowed to run rampant via the massive Gowanus Rezoning pushed through late last year.
“This is absolutely outrageous,” said Miranda Sielaff, a member of Voice of Gowanus, who lives near the site of the incident. “How is every level of government – city, state, and federal – failing to keep these developers in check?”
Voice of Gowanus sent a letter to elected officials—including NYS Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon and Council Members Shahana Hanif and Lincoln Restler—who had previously reached out to state and city agencies, flagging the incidents. VoG pushed for these representatives to go further, demanding that a Stop Work Order be put in place until a safety review could be conducted by EPA and inviting those officials to support their legal action.
Community Anger, A Petition Emerges
Sielaff and fellow members of Voice of Gowanus launched a petition that has now blown past 500 signatories. Anger is palpable in the blocks surrounding the pile driving. And for good reason.
“Residents are fired up,” said Martin Bisi, a local small business owner in Gowanus. “It’s one thing for a community member to have no knowledge of this pile driving into a poisoned site. But it’s another for the EPA to receive no notice and then be ignored when it demands that the work be halted.”
Breaking Open Toxic Land, Risk of Fumes
The Gowanus incident took place on the notorious Public Place site, a former manufactured gas plant site that remains riddled with coal tar even after a limited remediation that the EPA has publicly criticized. EPA officials have repeatedly questioned the city’s plan to build housing and a school at this location, given the risk of toxic vapors from contamination soaked deep into the soil. A rep from the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation stated at a public meeting that developers were allowed to proceed in order to meet the June 15th 421a deadline in a shocking move that put the interests of developers over the health and safety of the community.
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PETITION: Demand an Immediate Temporary Restraining Order on ALL Pile Driving in the Gowanus Rezone Area
Thanks to a rushed rezoning process, this community is looking at years of noise and disruption alongside a Superfund remediation. We need assurance that the land, water, and air are clean before development begins. Instead, our elected officials have undermined the health and safety of our residents as well as put our existing housing infrastructure around these sites at risk of collateral damage.
Driving pilings through toxic contamination, as exist the Brownfield and former MGP sites surrounding the Canal, can create pathways for those toxins to enter the air and the water surrounding the area, as shown here.
Real Estate sharks are rushing to begin work on their foundations before June 15th, when the 421-a Tax Credit is slated to expire. In their haste, they are putting the community at risk. The pile driving on the Public Place site in particular is of grave concern since the environmental clean-up of this Brownfield has not yet been signed off by the US Environmental Protection Agency. When reached via email, the EPA stated that it had not been informed of the pile driving and was "concerned".
Concerned yet? Click here to sign the petition.
What’s most concerning is that the former Citizens Gas Works plant (Public Place) is known to have pockets of coal tar pollution 100–150 feet below ground, which will remain even after the Brownfield clean-up. This means that the 80–90 foot piles that are currently being driven deep into the ground may create vapor shafts for toxic gasses that are released into the surrounding area including a public park, the ISB school and St. Mary’s church.
Since we cannot be sure that all safety regulations are being followed, since permits are being issued for sites that have not yet been fully environmentally remediated, we are demanding an immediate Temporary Restraining Order on ALL pile driving in the Gowanus rezone area.
Please, sign your name to this petition now and demand a strategy that does no harm.
Let's Put People Over Profits in Gowanus!
The Gowanus Rezone is an Environmental Disaster In the Making
In November 2021, the City approved an 82 block rezone of Gowanus, sweeping major environmental issues under the rug.
The Rezone:
- Will Put People on Highly Poisonous Land
- Will Make Sewage Problems Worse
- Ignores the Realities of Climate Change
- Endangers the Clean Up
Maureen Koetz Explains VOG's Lawsuit on WBAI
Last week, VOG's own legal counsel Maureen Koetz addressed the VOG lawsuit and the many political and environmental issues that surround the Gowanus rezone with host Michael G. Haskin's on WBAI's radio program, "Living for the City." Below, you can listen to the entire show, or read the transcript of Maureen's conversation with Michael.
Read moreBOMBSHELL LAWSUIT THROWS GOWANUS REZONING INTO QUESTION
The future of the Gowanus rezoning is anything but certain as community coalition Voice of Gowanus filed a new lawsuit today vigorously attacking the profoundly illegal rezoning, highlighting multiple violations of federal and state environmental law. The suit, filed by Voice of Gowanus, Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus (F.R.O.G.G.) and area residents, goes far beyond what any other recent neighborhood rezoning challenges have alleged, setting out multiple causes of action.
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VOGs Sends Follow Up Letter on Request for EPA Investigation
Posted by Voice of Gowanus · June 14, 2022 10:50 AM
VOG Sends Letter Requesting that EPA Perform Full Investigation of Compliance Failures
Posted by Voice of Gowanus · May 16, 2022 10:32 AM
Let's Put People Over Profits in Gowanus!
Posted by Voice of Gowanus · April 22, 2022 12:48 PM