EPA Has Finalized Plan For Cleaning Up Toxic Contamination Within New York’s Gowanus Canal

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has just finalized a plan to clean up the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, N.Y., which is considered one of the most polluted bodies of water in the country.

Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, N.Y. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Completed in 1869, the canal has been one of the nation’s busiest commercial waterways, serving industries including: gas works (manufactured gas plants), coal yards, cement makers, soap makers, tanneries, paint and ink factories, machine shops, chemical plants, and oil refineries.

In recent decades, the canal has been used as a repository for untreated industrial wastes, raw sewage, and runoff.

Today, the EPA says that although much of the industrial activity along the canal has ceased, high levels of contamination remain in its groundwater and sediment. Contamination stills flows into the canal from overflows of sewer systems that carry sanitary waste from homes, as well as from rainwater coming from storm drains and industrial pollutants.

The EPA’s remedial investigation of the site found that it has been polluted with high levels of over a dozen contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and heavy metals, including mercury, lead, and cooper.

PAHs and heavy metals were also found in the canal water. PAHs are a group of chemicals that are formed during the incomplete burning of coal, oil, gas, wood, garbage, or other organic substances.

PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitors, and other electrical equipment, and their manufacture was banned in 1979.

The EPA says that, “PCBs and PAHs are suspected of being cancer-causing, and PCBs can have neurological effects as well,” also expressing concern that, “To this day, people can still be found fishing in the Gowanus despite advisories about eating fish from the canal.”

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Food Deserts Shrinking in Chicago As Mayor Expands Community Gardens & Other Initiatives

Food deserts have become a major concern in the United States, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reporting to Congress that, “Limited access to nutritious food and relatively easier access to less nutritious foods may be linked to poor diets and ultimately to obesity and diet-related diseases.”

Food desert. Image created by Leigh Burmesch.

Generally speaking, a food desert is an area where residents live at least a mile from a large supermarket or grocery store, where they can buy quality meats, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.

The USDA found in 2009 that about “23.5 million people live in low-income areas that are more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store.

“A key concern for people who live in areas with limited access is that they rely on small grocery or convenience stores that may not carry all of the foods needed for a healthy diet, and that may offer these foods and other foods at higher prices.”

While it’s a growing concern at the national level, the problem of food deserts and healthy eating is proving to be an issue primary being acted on at the local city level.

Over the past several years, Chicago has taken on the task of becoming a leader in making progress in combating food deserts and health-related issues, primarily obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

Chicago’s A Recipe for Healthy Places initiative reported that, “Rates of obesity in Chicago have doubled among adults and tripled among children since 1980, which mirrors trends in other urban areas in the U.S. and the country as a whole.”

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Shell Oil To Pay Over $115 Million To Reduce Polluting Emissions From Its Houston Refinery

Shell’s Deer Park Refinery, Texas. Photo courtesy of Roy Luck.

Shell Oil Co. and its affiliated partners have agreed to resolve allegations against the refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, just outside of Houston.

They are accused of improperly operating 12 steam-assisted flaring devices in a way that caused excess volatile organic compounds, including benzene and other hazardous pollutants to be emitted into the atmosphere, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. Justice Department on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To understand things a little better, flare stacks are gas combustion devices used primarily to burn off flammable gases. These flare stacks are used largely in industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, chemical plants, and natural gas processing plants. They are also commonly used within oil and gas production sites that have oil wells, gas wells, offshore oil and gas rigs, and landfills.

In this settlement, Shell and its partner Deer Park Refining LP, have agreed spend over $115 million in efforts to control air pollution from its industrial flares and other processes, as well as paying about $2.6 million in civil penalties as part of resolving alleged violations against the Clean Air Act.

Specifically, Shell Oil operates the refinery, which is owned by Deer Park Refining. Shell Chemical LP owns and operates the chemical plant.

Shell is expected to spend about $100 million on new technologies to reduce air pollution from the industrial flares. The EPA explains that, “Improper operation of an industrial flare can send hundreds of tons of hazardous air pollutants into the air.”

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Over 50 Percent of U.S. Rivers Are In Poor Health, Says A Newly Released EPA Survey

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finally released the most recent data on the health of about 2,000 rivers and streams from across the country – and the results aren’t pretty.

The New River originates in Mexico and flows into the United States through Calexico, California. The river eventually meets up with the Salton Sea, a large inland sea. The New River is reported to be the most polluted river flowing into the U.S. from Mexico, says the California Report. Photo courtesy of the California Report.

States and tribes participated in the data collection, and found that 55 percent of the country’s rivers and streams are in poor condition based on their ability to support life.

The information was published in a collaborative survey report called the 2008-2009 National Rivers and Streams Assessment. The report looked at random samplings from river systems as large as the Mississippi River to as small as mountain headwater streams.

The report looked at how major stressors – both chemical and physical – are affecting these aquatic systems over time.

Chemical stress factors on the rivers and streams included excessive levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and mercury.

To begin with, the report showed that 28 percent of the country’s rivers and streams had excessive levels of nitrogen, and 40 percent had high levels of phosphorus.

Known as nutrient pollutants, the EPA explains that too much nitrogen and phosphorus in water can cause significant increases in algae that can harm water quality, food resources, habitats, and decrease the oxygen that fish and other aquatic life need to survive.

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New York City Expanding Municipal Recycling Service To Now Accept All Plastics, Even Toys

New York City selected the 30th Street Pier in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, as the location for a new state-of-the-art recycling facility to be built and operated by Sims Municipal Recycling. The facility is slated to open in Summer 2013 and will process the majority of New York City’s commingled curbside material. Rendering courtesy of Sims Municipal Recycling.

We all know how confusing it can be trying to figure out what plastics you can and can’t recycle, but at least in New York City, it’s about to get a little easier for residents.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced last week, that effective immediately, the city for the first time will allow residents to recycle all rigid plastics, including toys, hangers, shampoo bottles, coffee cups, and food containers. Until now, only plastics bottles and jugs were allowable.

The new service is part of the city’s partnership with Sims Municipal Recycling. The Bloomberg Administration says the recycling expansion will result in the removal of about 50,000 tons of waste from landfills every year and save “city taxpayers almost $600,000 each year in export costs.”

The administration says this is part of the city’s commitment to double its “recycling rate to 30 percent by 2017.” For the next few months, much of the recycling will go to the Sims-operated Claremont Recycling Center in Jersey City, N.J.

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