‘Early Action’ Plan May Spur Delayed Newtown Creek Cleanup

By Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper

Almost 15 years after Newtown Creek was named a federal Superfund site, the government is taking a step toward cleaning it up — or, at least part of it.

The Environmental Protection Agency this month finalized plans for an “early action” cleanup of one of the most polluted sections of the creek, the East Branch. The roughly half-mile long, 11-acre East Branch sits in a heavily industrial area on the edge of Williamsburg and Maspeth, surrounded by lumber yards and metal recycling facilities.

While the project is limited in size, it is expected to make the East Branch safer for humans and the environment and help inform the agency’s future plans for the rest of the creek.

What is going to get cleaned up?
Once a busy shipping channel, the entire Newtown Creek is heavily polluted with chemicals dumped by refineries and other industrial businesses that used to line its shores. Over time, those chemicals settled deep into the sediment on the bottom of the creek — and into the land on either side of it.

In the East Branch, those pollutants include organic compounds like dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); man-made polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and metals like copper and lead. Non-aqueous phase liquids — likely petroleum products — were also found in the sediment and on the surface of the creek, according to EPA documents.

All are known to cause cancer and other serious health issues in humans, and can have devastating effects on the environment.

How will it get done?
The EPA’s “general intent,” according to the early action plan — formally known as the Record of Decision — is to remove enough contaminated sediment that it will result in “immediate risk reduction” for human and environmental health.

At least 3 feet of sediment will be dredged up across all 11 acres of the East Branch, with some deeper dredging where contaminants are further underground. Once the material is removed, the EPA will place a cap to keep any remaining contaminants sealed away, unable to re-enter the water.

Where dredging isn’t enough, contaminants will be sealed through in-situ stabilization — where the EPA injects concrete into the sediment to solidify and keep it in place.

Sealed bulkheads will also be installed on the banks of the creek to keep chemicals from the lots alongside it from seeping into the water. Many of those lots are also heavily polluted, but aren’t part of the Superfund and are the responsibility of the state.

According to the ROD, the cleanup is expected to cost $243.5 million. The EPA has not said when the project is expected to begin — while the plan has been finalized, the full details haven’t been, and the remediation design will probably take a few years, an agency spokesperson said. Once construction does begin, it will take about three years to complete.

When the cleanup is done, the EPA plans to implement a “robust” regular monitoring program to track its results. If contamination is found to be re-entering the creek post-cleaning, the agency could implement new mitigation measures to keep contaminant levels low.

Is it enough?
For Newtown Creek neighbors and advocates, the early action cleanup was largely welcome. The creek was designated a Superfund site in 2010, and a full cleanup has been long-delayed and probably won’t start until 2032.

But locals do have some concerns. The Newtown Creek Community Advisory Group had pushed the EPA to dredge all of the contaminated sediment, rather than dredging just 3 feet down.

“Right now, they’re just sort of skimming the top and then putting a few feet of capping material on top … we’re just concerned that it’s not going to be adequate and then we might get recontamination,” said Willis Elkins, co-chair of the CAG.

Some chemicals, like NAPL, are known to migrate, Elkins said, and caps have failed at other Superfund sites.

“Essentially there’s not much point in having a Superfund process if there’s still going to be a risk of exposure for humans and wildlife alike,” he said. “If you’re going to rely so much on capping, and keeping very elevated levels of carcinogenic chemicals down in the sediment, you really need to assure that those chemicals are not going to move around or come back up to the surface.”

The EPA will do more data collection and research as it finalizes the details of the cleanup, Elkins said, and the CAG will keep pushing the agency on those details, he said.

Advocates are particularly concerned about getting the early action right because it will inform the future cleanup of the rest of Newtown Creek. Elkins worried the EPA might implement the same “minimal cleanup,” elsewhere, including in more contaminated parts of the channel.

Emily Ruby, a CAG member and Advocacy and Policy Coordinator at Riverkeeper, said they hope the long-term monitoring plan is both robust and responsive. If new or unexpected contamination is found after the cleanup, they said, or the cleanup isn’t enough, they hope the EPA will act quickly to remedy those issues.

“One thing that the East Branch cleanup definitely does bring is the ability to test and hold the EPA accountable for the effectiveness of this long-term monitoring plan,” they said. “If they can get that right in the East Branch, then that will go a long way in helping the community feel they can get that right in the whole creek.”

Advocates have pushed for the EPA to get more involved in the state-led cleanup of polluted sites alongside the creek. Work on those sites has been slow-going, and neighbors worry they will repollute the creek during and after the full Superfund cleanup. Similar concerns abound at the nearby Gowanus Canal Superfund site, where the EPA has occasionally stepped in to make sure state-led brownfield cleanups will also protect the canal.

Local elected officials have been meeting with state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and the EPA to facilitate closer collaboration between the agencies, Ruby said.

“But I do think there is also, to be honest, there’s a real question of what this is going to look like under the new EPA administration,” they said. “We heard that there were a lot of delays under the last Trump EPA with this site. I fully anticipate that to be the case now.”

The ROD was released on January 17, just before President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term. Within days, Lisa Garcia, the former head of EPA Region 2 — which includes New York and New Jersey — was replaced by former Republican state Senator Mike Martucci.

Garcia is an environmental lawyer who had worked in environmental conservation at state agencies, nonprofits, and the EPA before she was nominated as administrator in 2021. Before he was elected to the state senate, Martucci was a farmer and the founder of a school bus company.

On January 29, the U.S. Senate confirmed Republican Lee Zeldin as head of the EPA. Under Trump’s leadership, Zeldin is expected to roll back environmental rules and regulations.

Though the president touted the EPA’s accomplishments during his first term, he also proposed significant funding cuts some experts said threatened the Superfund program and left dozens of Superfund sites unfunded. While Brooklynites have praised the work of EPA employees at Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal, some experts worry a second Trump administration could bring more budget and staffing cuts to the agency.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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