Brooklyn/Staten Island Congressman Dan Donovan, this week, joined with Gravesend Assemblyman William Colton and Southwest Brooklyn Councilman Mark Treyger in requesting the federal government declare the Southwest Brooklyn Waste Transfer Station a Superfund clean-up site.
The controversial transfer station located at 400 Bay 41st Street on the Gravesend Bay Waterfront is currently under construction on an old incinerator site as per the city’s 2005 Solid Waste Management Plan.
Since it was announced Colton, along with a vocal contingent of community activists have been fighting the location of the sight. They have set up a neighborhood watch group that has found that the construction recently dredged up even more toxic chemicals in the bay between Brooklyn.
“During a recent meeting with the Assemblyman and Council Member, I was taken aback by the decades of negligence that caused this mess. Together with Assemblyman Colton and Council Member Treyger, I sent a letter to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) requesting they investigate the contamination and consider a Superfund declaration. I stand with my colleagues in government in fighting for a cleaner, safer South Brooklyn,” said Donovan.
The watch group contends that first the Bloomberg Administration and now the De Blasio Administration has disregarded this waste transfer station’s numerous violations for far too long.
“They first overlooked and now disregard the verified existence of World War II bombs and shells at the bottom of Gravesend Bay. They first denied and now minimize the documented presence of highly toxic chemicals. Yet the construction company continues to rush the construction with a thoughtless disregard for permitting conditions that pose a real danger for the surrounding community,” the group said in a press release.
This construction site does not have any direct drain sewage system, which means all the contamination from the uncovered debris and soil will soak directly back into the ground and into the waters of Gravesend Bay, the group contends.
A Superfund site designation allows the federal government to bring in resources and oversight to cleanup and remediate areas deemed to contain high levels of toxins and contaminants. It could also slow down or even stop the construction of the waste transfer station.
Those interested in participating in the Neighborhood Watch can contact Democratic District Leaser Nancy Tong at 718-236-1598 or email photos or information at neighborhoodwatch47@gmail.com.
