Urge EPA to adopt a robust and thorough cleanup plan for Newtown Creek's East Branch

Newtown Creek East Branch - Photo: Newtown Creek Alliance
Photo: Newtown Creek Alliance

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is overseeing the cleanup and remediation of New York City’s Newtown Creek, a federally listed Superfund site. Newtown Creek is a 3.8 mile long, highly contaminated waterway that borders Brooklyn and Queens, empties into the East River and has five tributaries, including the East Branch. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, the creek became highly industrialized, with oil refineries, manufactured gas plants, canneries, and other heavy industry located along its banks. Legacy pollutants from these industries still pollute the water today, threatening human and ecological health. In August, the EPA released a draft Early Action cleanup plan for the East Branch of Newtown Creek that aims to begin reducing human health and environmental risks in this area of the creek and to help inform the broader cleanup of the waterway.

The EPA’s preferred cleanup plan for the East Branch includes dredging, capping, sealed bulkhead replacements, shoreline stabilization measures, and a pre- and post-implementation monitoring plan to ensure the ongoing protectiveness of the remedy. Of the six alternatives studied, the EPA’s preferred plan calls for dredging three feet of contaminated sediment across the entire East Branch to allow for a multi-layered cap to be laid to prevent further contamination. The plan also allows for deeper dredging in unspecified areas.

The public has an opportunity to comment and voice concerns on EPA’s proposed draft plan to ensure that the remedy selected by EPA for the East Branch is as protective of human and ecological health as possible. Newtown Creek runs through highly populated neighborhoods and supports thriving business, recreational, academic, and ecological uses. Join Riverkeeper and Newtown Creek Alliance in urging the EPA to amend the draft Early Action Plan to ensure a robust and thorough cleanup of the East Branch and the communities that rely on it.

The public comment period for Newtown Creek’s East Branch Early Action Plan plans ends on October 28, 2024.

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Caroline Kwan, EPA Region 2, Superfund Division

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Dear: [Decision Maker],

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I am writing to express my concerns about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed Early Action Plan for the East Branch of Newtown Creek, a Superfund site located in Brooklyn and Queens. There is great opportunity for the EPA to get this cleanup right to revitalize the East Branch, while also informing the broader cleanup of Newtown Creek. However, I am greatly concerned by the overall lack of information and detail in the proposed Early Action Plan, which makes it difficult to evaluate if the proposed remedy will indeed be protective of human health and the environment.

To ensure an effective and successful cleanup of the East Branch, the Early Action Plan must be revised to address the following concerns:

- Identify and dredge the contaminated hotspots. The preferred plan calls for three feet of dredging across the entire East Branch, with localized deeper dredging as needed to address areas of sediment with comparatively higher concentrations of contaminants. EPA must fully characterize and identify where contaminated sediment hotspots are located in the East Branch and provide additional details on what criteria would determine when deeper dredging would be required. EPA should not move forward without knowledge of potential contaminant reservoirs and how the agency will make dredging decisions. Without more detail regarding contaminated sites, the public cannot determine whether the proposed dredging will be adequately protective of human and environmental health.

- Don't let toxic NAPL recontaminate our creek. The Proposed Plan acknowledges the significant amount of uncertainty regarding NAPL contaminant (non-aqueous phase liquid contaminants) in the East Brandch, and the need for further NAPL characterization during the pre-design investigation to determine the extent and mobility of NAPL. If the pre-design investigation shows larger areas of NAPL, would additional remedy components be warranted to address the NAPL beyond in situ stabilization or amended capping and dredging for the Early Action? There is data from New York City's Department of Environmental Protection that has documented significant NAPL seepage emanating from upland sources, however this data is not being included in either the Proposed Plan or the Focused Feasibility Study. Why is this data not being included by EPA? Without more information on NAPL's presence, mobility, and extent it is not clear that this remedy will effectively address it.

- Protect the creek for future generations. The EPA must provide more information on what long-term monitoring will be required to evaluate the protectiveness of the remedy, and clarify how the EPA will work with state agencies to ensure contamination from upland sources is addressed and remediated.

- Protect fish that consume aquatic plants with roots up to two feet deep. The EPA has determined that the Biologically Active Zone (BAZ) for Newtown Creek is only six inches; however, this is in direct conflict with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which has stated that the "0-6 inch interval fails to provide ecological protection" for the creek, and recommends two feet in order to appropriately characterize ecological exposure and evaluate long-term effectiveness of remedial technologies. In short, there is a diversity of fish and other wildlife that depend on plants in clean sediment below six inches, and the EPA must reconsider the proposed BAZ of only six inches to ensure a protective remedy.

- No sterile shorelines. The proposed plan calls for significant bulkhead replacement as part of the remedy. Bulkheads can help stabilize shorelines and prevent seeps from upland sources, but also create an intertidal area that is inhospitable to native intertidal wildlife. Shoreline reconstruction should facilitate the ongoing revitalization of our local aquatic ecosystems by incorporating habitat for shellfish, fish, crabs, and other marine animals as well as aquatic plants. Installing more sheet pile steel surfaces will harm the species that have lived in Newtown Creek for thousands of years. 
 
 - The community wants safe access and thriving ecosystems. Currently, Newtown Creek and the East Branch are used for a variety of recreational activities, and the selected remedy must clean up the waterbody sufficiently to ensure that the public will be able to access and safely recreate on the East Branch. The EPA has approved swimming as a designated use, and the remedy must allow for safe immersion in the water and direct contact with contaminants, as well as fishing, paddling and boating. Further, the community has long prioritized salt marsh restoration in this section of the creek, and the specifics of the remediation, such as depth of water, and type of capping should allow for viable long term habitat restoration to occur.

EPA must adopt a robust and thorough cleanup remedy for the East Branch to immediately reduce the risks caused by the contaminated sediments present and help inform the conduct of potential future early actions on other portions of the Newtown Creek.

Thank you,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]