Bklyn’s Nautical Purgatory in purgatory!
Fate of canal cleanse in limbo with EPA off job due to federal shutdown
BY JULIANNE CUBA
The Feds’ slow-going cleanse
of the toxic Gowanus Canal
is now stuck in the muck
yet again thanks to the longest
government shutdown in
American history.
Environmental Protection
Agency leaders gained momentum
in their years-in-themaking
scrub last November,
when they fi nally wrapped a
pilot program to remove some
of the toxic “black mayonnaise”
from a portion of the
canal’s fl oor, and seal the bottom
to prevent more chemicals
from seeping in.
That job — which fi nished
six months after its April 2018
deadline — left a portion of
Brooklyn’s Nautical Purgatory
cleaner than it has been
in more than a century , the
Agency’s project manager
Christos Tsiamis said at the
time.
But now, Tsiamis and the
rest of his crew are off the
clock and without a paycheck
thanks to President Trump’s
refusal to reopen the federal
government, which by press
time on Wednesday remained
closed after a record 33 days
with no end in sight.
The Feds can’t get back to
work in the canal until the
Commander-in-Chief decides
to put the American people
above his beloved wall at the
United States–Mexico border,
according to the head of the
local Gowanus Community
Advisory Group, who said the
shutdown left his organization
rudderless, too, because
it operates under a contract
with the federal environmental
agency.
“It’s not a good situation for
anybody, it’s ridiculous,” said
Doug Sarno. “There’s no one
working on the EPA side, they
are just not allowed to. I can’t
work.”
And due to Trump and
Congress failing to reach an
agreement to reopen the government,
neither Sarno nor
anyone from the Environmental
Protection Agency could
attend the Advisory Group’s
Jan. 22 meeting, where leaders
COURIER L 18 IFE, JAN. 25–31, 2019 DT
of the city’s Department
of Environmental Protection
presented designs for a controversial
tunnel to collect
storm-water runoff that they
recently proposed building instead
of two long in-the-works
sewage tanks.
“No one will be at the meeting
unless the government
opens up,” Sarno told this
newspaper.
But the Superfund site’s
clean-up, which kicked off
back in 2016, hasn’t entirely
ground to a halt — yet.
The canal’s two biggest polluters
responsible for funding
the cleanse — the city and
utility company National Grid
— are still doing their part to
move it forward. But if the government
does not reopen, those
parties will eventually hit a
proverbial wall the next time
they seek federal approval for
their work, Sarno said.
“They are doing all they
can but at some point EPA has
to review, and come into the
process,” he said.
A rep for the environmental
agency did not respond
to an e-mail request for comment,
instead sending an automatic
reply citing the shutdown
for his absence.
“Out of the offi ce for the duration
of the government shutdown,”
read the e-mail from
Elias Rodriguez. “Messages
will not be checked. We will
address your message when
the offi ce reopens.”
Reps for National Grid and
the city said both parties are
currently continuing their
work on the cleanse.
STALLED: Federal workers overseeing the cleanse of the Gowanus Canal
are now off the job — and will be until President Trump decides to reopen
the government and end its longest shutdown in history.
Photo by Jason Speakman