Newtown Creek
People living close to Morgan and Johnson Avenues are familiar with a rotting marsh smell. Carried by the breeze and powered by the summer heat, the foul stench coming from the English Kills area is just another fact of life for residents near the Bushwick-East Williamsburg line.
Citing the toxic site as one of the most polluted water bodies in the country, Representatives Anthony Weiner and Nydia Velazquez have been pushing the Environmental Protection Agency to retest Newtown Creek and its connecting tributaries — English Kills, Whale Creek, Maspeth Creek and Dutch Kills. On Monday, the agency agreed to conduct preliminary tests that could qualify the industrial waterway for the Superfund Program, a designation that would accelerate the cleanup effort of the long polluted estuary, the New York Times reported.
If the tests turn up significant levels of chemicals and other hazardous waste, the site could potentially achieve Superfund status, meaning the clean up would be aided by millions in federal funding. Also, the designation would allow the EPA to sue Exxon Mobil and other companies for polluting the area.
Beth Totman, a superfund specialist for the EPA, said the agency will test four industrial facilities along the waterways that are suspected to be heavily polluted: the Phelps Dodge, BCF Oil, Quanta Resources and National Grid sites.
“We’re going to review the data from those sites and determine if any further action is necessary on the property,” Totman said.
Historically, the industrial area near Newtown Creek was home to oil refineries from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s and was used for petroleum storage until 1993. After a refinery explosion in 1950, corroded tanks and pipelines began leaking oil into the ground, where it would slowly seep into the Creek and its tributaries.
The leak was discovered in 1978 when the U.S. Coast Guard found an oil slick on top of the water in Newtown Creek. It is estimated that between 17 and 30 million gallons of oil are currently sitting underground in a 55-acre pool below Greenpoint and East Williamsburg -– making it three times bigger than the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.
miked August 29th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Is this where that awful smell by the Bogart L entrance was coming from?
Dresden August 29th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Miked, that was clearly garbage, a dead body or something rotting. You’re not for real, right?
This is an ongoing problem Exxon and a few other companies are just plain ignoring.
Greenpoint, NYC’s cancer cluster. Read up on it:
http://www.greenpointvexxon.com
miked August 30th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
haha no, but that smell was pretty unbelievable
Dresden August 31st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
This lawsuit has been something I’ve been watching for years.
I know this site isn’t interested in the Boar’s Head Distribution Center’s environmental disregard, however it’s nice to see some attention going toward the G-point oil spill.
Diego September 2nd, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Dresden – actually, I’m really interested in any abuse of the environment, especially in our neighborhood. Please e-mail all the information you’re willing to share on the Boar’s Head Distribution Center to: diegocupolo “at sign” yahoo.com.