The Brooklyn Paper reports that the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it may classify Newtown Creek in Greenpoint as a
Superfund site.

This comes on the heels of a plan to classify the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site. The EPA will decide in the next few weeks whether to do this.

If Newtown Creek is classified as a Superfund site, the agency will have the ability to
charge polluters and the owners of polluted land for the clean-up.

A representative from the EPA called the creek one of the "most grossly contaminated waterways in
the country. “By
listing the creek, EPA can focus on doing the extensive sampling needed
to figure out the best way to address the contamination and see the
work through," said said the Acting Regional Administrator of the EPA George Pavlou.