Friday, October 14, 2011

22 years is optimistic...


From the Daily News:

A waterway teeming with sewage and toxins that separates Queens and Brooklyn is about to get a much-needed makeover.

The first stage of the Newtown Creek cleanup, which includes determining the extent of the contamination, is to start this month, federal officials said Tuesday.

"It's never going to be pristine, the way it was 500 years ago," said Walter Mugdan, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official who oversees all the Superfund sites in the region, including Newtown.

"But we can make it dramatically cleaner that it is now."

Public meetings on the clean-up project are slated for 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 27 at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

The process is expected to take 18 to 22 years, and could cost up to $1 billion - funded by the city and the five companies that dumped pollutants into Newtown, Mugdan said during a boat trip with elected officials down the murky, blue-brown waterway.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why bother?
It's a waste of taxpayers' money!

Just because neighborhood hipsters long to dangle their feet in an unpolluted creek....NYC should ignore other far more deserving projects?

You can't make a kissable pair of lips out of an asshole!

Anonymous said...

It's about time and welcomed. It will be an uphill battle to get it clean or close to it. However it's neccessary and will benefit workers and residents near it. It truly a health hazzard.

FlushingRepresenter said...

At the rate that these hipsters are paddling across the gowanus canal and Newtown creek the small trails of filth they drag out with them it might be clean in 5 years.

http://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2011/09/saying-i-do-on-shores-of-gowanus-canal.html

Joe said...

"Why bother?
It's a waste of taxpayers' money!"

-- Special interest.
It make a prime locations for waterside condos for hipsters & boaters.
I been in there with a small boat. As polluted as it is most of it is pretty nice. I seen small fish in it
Given the chance Id love to have a small shack off it.
10-15 Minutes to City Island, Brother Islands ...no bridges traffic or tolls with a Donzi and small motor.

Anonymous said...

they didnt mention the underground oil plume that essentially replaces the ground water in that area.