Region 2 entered into an Administrative Order and Settlement Agreement (AOC) with the Respondent relating to the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site, located in Brooklyn, New York. As a result of years of discharges, storm water runoff, sewer outflows and industrial pollutants, the Canal is extensively contaminated with PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals, and volatile organics. The AOC provides for the installation and sampling of groundwater monitoring wells at Respondent's former properties along the Gowanus Canal in support of the EPA's ongoing remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS). The AOC also provides for the performance of additional work that may be identified by the parties to support EPA's RI/FS, and for reimbursement of EPA's oversight costs.
The Amendment, entered on January 24, 2014, provides for $1 million in past cost recovery, preparation of Remedial Design work plans, and reimbursement of EPA?s oversight costs.
The Second Amendment, entered on September 26, 2019, provides for expediting the Respondent's construction of the sealed bulkhead barrier wall at the former Citizens Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Site under NYSDEC's MGP program. The barrier wall, which is being built within the Canal at the property edge pursuant to a Brownfields order with DEC, will prevent coal tar from entering the Canal and support EPA's future dredging. The amendment invokes the CERCLA permit exemption, providing the same standardized permit approach that EPA uses fo