People want to know. Why did the mayor approve Superfund status for the Newtown Creek and not the famously toxic Gowanus Canal? In December Mayor Bloomberg announed that he supported the Superfund designation for Newtown but he continues to oppose it for the Gowanus because the city wants to do the clean up itself (much to the chagrin of Superfund suporters in the neighborhoods around teh Gowanus.
“They are different situations and we evaluate each one independently,” explained Marc La Vorgna, a spokesperson for the mayor. “Each situation is not the same.” For the Gowanus, the city has proposed an alternative plan that uses the power of persuasion to bring potentially responsible polluters to the bargaining table, as opposed to a courtroom. Under the Superfund program, polluters are compelled to clean up the mess they created, or face stiff fines or legal action.The city’s plan replies on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which allows the Army Corps of Engineers to perform environmental restoration in a navigable channel, which the fetid canal is considered.Up to 65 percent of that work could be funded by taxpayers, and that cash could lower the tab for a responsible party, incentivizing participation in the city’s plan. “In Newtown, none of those factors exist — the Army Corps is not there and we don’t have a similar and willing group of potentially responsible parties,” La Vorgna noted. “We do believe that the way the situation exists now is that Superfund might be the best route.”