Long-Delayed Dredging of PCBs from Hudson River Begins
Riverkeeper and other environmental groups intend to keep the pressure on General Electric

Just because the dredging of the upper Hudson River began on May 15, 2009 after more than 30 years of pressure on General Electric to clean up the pollution it caused, Riverkeeper is not settling down quietly. Alex Matthiessen, president of the environmental group, promises to "continue to closely monitor the project and the company's commitment to a full and thorough remediation."

GE's remediation of river sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls -- cancer-causing chemicals known as PCBs -- is expected to last through 2015 and cost at least $750 million. Phase 1 just began off the riverbanks of the small town of Fort Edward, some 200 miles north of Manhattan. During the six months of the first phase, 265,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment will be removed and taken by train to Texas.

The much larger Phase 2 -- a clean-up of 1.5 million cubic yards of silt -- is to start in the spring of 2010, after the river thaws. Mr. Matthiessen and his colleagues at National Resources Defense Council, Scenic Hudson, Sierra Club, NYPIRG and other groups will be watching GE's actions closely, ready for the energy giant to try to reject the second phase of remediation.

GE has challenged the Superfund law in court, saying the EPA's authority to compel clean-ups violates the company's Fifth Amendment rights against abuse of government authority. "We're fairly confident they won't prevail but it does beg the question of how committed they are to the project, despite what their PR people will tell you," Mr. Matthiessen said.

Mark Behan, a spokesperson for General Electric, responded, "GE's challenge to the constitutionality of Superfund relates to the authority EPA has under CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, aka Superfund] to issue unilateral administrative orders without an opportunity for judicial review. No such order has been issued on the Hudson project and no such order is expected because GE has signed a consent decree, is voluntarily cooperating with EPA and has met every commitment to EPA. As such, the constitutional challenge has no bearing on the Hudson project."

Click here for a GE-sponsored web site devoted to the Hudson River dredging project.

Though this 200-mile long Superfund site stretches to the tip of the Battery, where PCB-laden silt has drifted from the hotspots upriver, don't expect to see GE-funded excavators on barges off Lower Manhattan. Dredging for this project will only take place in a 40-mile stretch of the upper Hudson, where 1.3 million pounds of PCBs were dumped by two GE factories into the Hudson between 1947 and 1977. PCBs were banned in 1979.

"Most of those 1.3 million pounds are well dispersed throughout the Estuary," Mr. Matthiessen told WaterWire. Click here for a larger version of the map above. "It would be impossible to justify the expense of removing the PCBs in Lower Manhattan. The idea is if you remove the hotspots up north, you remove the source of PCBs that continue to drift down and pollute the lower Hudson."

This long-awaited clean-up "nicely coincides with the quadricentennial of Henry Hudson's sail up the river," Mr. Matthiessen noted. "But we have to remain vigilant."

Part of Adam Schwartz's urban geography curriculum at the Academy of Urban Planning, a public high school in Brooklyn, includes lessons on Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), which Mr. Schwartz calls "an ugly fact of life in NYC's outdated sewage system." Searching for a way that his students would best understand the impact and scope of CSOs, he hit upon trying to photograph every sign that marks a CSO in New York City. There are 460.

"There are too many CSO's in NYC for me alone to capture. I'm a busy teacher after all!" he says. "So the concept is to do this together. I want to reach out to boaters and shoreline walkers and bikers across the city to assist me with their cameras. If they can just take a digital photo of the CSO and upload it to my Flickr group, I can integrate into a map."

Mr. Schwartz sees his map of the city's CSOs, viewable on Google Earth, as not only an educational tool but valuable for advocacy purposes. "Ideally, I'd like people to geotag their photos," he said. "But it's not neccessary. All I need is a photo with the CSO number clearly listed (that corresponds to the sewage plant the flow comes from)."  Click here to get to Mr. Schwartz's CSO map. He is hoping to have the photo series completed by fall, "so happy hunting this summer, waterfront folks of NYC!" he says.

Click here to see the CSO photos that Mr. Schwartz has so far. The sign in the shot above is located at the DUMBO shoreline. The sign at right is near the Alice Austen House on Staten Island.

Mr. Schwartz especially needs photos taken from a water perspective, since many CSO signs are set into the bulkhead and face outward. Contact him at cartlegger@gmail.com. And finally, click here to see how Mr. Schwartz's smart students have utilized maps in other ways (e.g. a Newtown Creek oil spill map, an Asthma in Brooklyn map).

Focused on waterfront issues for the next few weeks,
this radio station is also offering free public service announcements!

Tune in to 90.7 FM on Saturday morning, May 23, when WFUV, the public radio station based at Fordham University broadcasts two consecutive discussions about the wet, wild world of the metropolitan waterfront.

At 7am (set your alarm!), Fordham theologian and author James Fisher discusses the gritty waterfront of yore made famous by screenwriter Budd Schulberg and his movie "On the Waterfront." Mr. Fisher's book, "On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie and the Soul of the Port of New York," will be published by Cornell University Press this September.

At 7:30am, hear a roundtable discussion about waterfront issues from public access to development, and learn what you can do to help protect and preserve our shoreline environment. The WFUV panelists are

• Roland Lewis, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance
• Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director at Riverkeeper
• Linda Cox, executive director of the Bronx River Alliance

Non-profit developer sees water-dependent business
eventually returning to Newtown Creek

Today, another industrial building redeveloped by the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) opened with a splash. Although it's a few blocks from the water, the building at 221 McKibbin Street signifies a thriving industrial scene in the Greenpoint/Bushwick neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Industry experts believe attention to the diversification of industry there will help lead to the reintroduction of water-dependent businesses to Newtown Creek, once a major commercial waterway. Read about the Creek here.

So far, none of the new businesses opening on or near the Creek actually utilize waterborne transportation. There's serious pollution to cope with, not to mention a lack of infrastructure. But that will change, says Paul Parkhill, GMDC's director of planning and development.

Last year, GMDC, the Newtown Creek Alliance and Riverkeeper received $625,000 from NY's Dept. of State to study how to remediate and redevelop the Creek. "We're hoping to work with businesses around the Creek on redevelopment options that use the Creek better, including water-dependent uses," Mr. Parkhill said. The study will offer ideas on how to leverage money and support for cleanups and on future redevelopment of the Newtown Creek area. "We're looking to rebuild our bulkhead and create new space," Mr. Parkhill said. "We are active in conversation about reusing the waterfront. We're coming up with different models for what could work on waterfront."

The newest GMDC building, at 221 McKibbin, a rehabilitated 1930's factory, will provide space for 20 small artisanal and light manufacturing businesses. Click here for more information on the building. "The City Council is very pleased to see the completion of the new low-cost industrial space that will help retain manufacturing and jobs in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint community," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in a statement issued by the Economic Development Corporation. She joined Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, EDC president Seth Pinsky and others at the grand opening.

Designate the Gowanus Canal a Superfund Site -- or Not? You Can Still Voice Your Opinion
Comment period has been extended by the EPA

The public comment period for the designation of the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site has been extended 30 days to July 8. Click here for more information.
For a Google Earth aerial view of the Gowanus Canal, click here.

Get the Word Out About YOU!
Reach thousands of people at the City of Water Day Information Fair

Don't forget, City of Water Day, presented by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance on July 18 on Governors Island, is one of the best ways to tell people about your organization's work for the waterfront, our harbor, the environment and the maritime industry.

Thousands of people will visit your booth, display, activity or table at City of Water Day.

The Information Fair takes place at beautiful, shady Nolan Park (see photo at right, courtesy of the Governors Island Education and Preservation Corporation). Click here to learn more about the information fair at City of Water Day. Then be creative and let us know about your plans by filling out and returning this form. 
 
You'll have a great day promoting your mission. See you on July 18, 2009!

A new forum for exchanging information and ideas about the Hudson River has been launched online at www.OurHudson.org.

Kent Barwick, a board member of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and former president of the Municipal Art Society, is one of the founders of www.OurHudson.org. "OurHudson.org exists to encourage open conversation about critical issues, ideas and opportunities which will affect the health of the river and the vitality and character of communities along its banks," he wrote.

According to Mr. Barwick, OurHudson.org welcomes individual or organizational perspectives on ways to improve water quality, public access and enjoyment, economic development and employment, the expansion of tourism, waterborne transportation and agriculture, the protection of scenic lands and historic resources, and more. OurHudson.org will also list conferences and events sponsored by public agencies, universities and private advocacy groups and provide links to documents made available by the sponsors.

Mr. Barwick and the sponsors of OurHudson.org encourage you to sign up, comment and consider submitting a blog every so often on issues you care about. The photo above of the Palisades, taken by Benjamin Swett for the Alliance for the Arts, from The Hudson Valley: A Cultural Guide, is OurHudson.org's Photo of the Week.

Gowanus Canal Conservancy - nonprofit environmental organization serving the "Canal Watershed", the areas surrounding the Gowanus Canal. Its mission is to be the steward for the preservation, restoration and green development of the Gowanus Canal and environs for the greater good of the community.  The canal receives aerated water from the East River that is pulled in by an underwater propeller, and the water is flushed out to Gowanus Bay and NY Harbor. In the past few years, the group has created the initial design for the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park, launched an education program bringing local elementary school classes to the canal, organized and led the Gowanus Canal Water Quality Summit in 2007 and the Gowanus Basin Environmental Priorities Summit in 2009, and hosted an environmental festival bringing 500+ people to the canal.

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