EPA Will Take Early Action to Clean Up East Branch Portion of Newtown Creek Superfund Site
New York, N.Y. (January 17, 2025) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a plan to begin dredging and stabilizing contaminated sediment at the bottom of the East Branch of the Newtown Creek. This is part of the Newtown Creek Superfund Site, located in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City. This cleanup means that EPA will be removing some of the worst contamination now, even as the detailed investigation work is still being completed.
“This plan will help reduce risks in the East Branch Portion of Newtown Creek and is good news for the communities around Newtown Creek,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa Garcia. “The first phase of this plan requires contamination to be removed which will facilitate the broader cleanup work on the Newtown Creek site.”
This decision follows an extended public comment period and a public meeting where the community reviewed the plan and provided feedback. The cleanup plan is estimated to cost nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
The plan calls for:
- Dredging Contaminated Sediment: Removing contaminated sediment to a depth that allows for protective caps to be placed over the areas dredged without reducing water depths. This depth is expected to be at least three feet.
- Targeted Deeper Dredging: Conducting deeper dredging in some areas based on a series of specific considerations.
- In-place Stabilization: Stabilizing sediment where needed by mixing materials like cement into the contaminated sediment to lock in harmful substances, helping to contain and stabilize them in place.
- Sealed Bulkheads: Installing sealed bulkheads, as an initial measure where needed, to act as barriers to prevent contaminated water from seeping from the shoreline to the creek while the EPA and New York State work together to determine how best to address the sources of contamination found upland.
- Off-site Removal: Transporting all dredged materials to facilities licensed to receive the waste or to approved locations.
- Monitoring Program: Implementing an extensive monitoring program to ensure the cleanup approach is functioning as designed and remains protective in the long term.
Prior to completing the design, the EPA will conduct a comprehensive investigation to help develop the details of the cleanup approach, including where deeper dredging is needed and the details of the cap.
This early cleanup action is part of a broader strategy to address the extensive contamination at Newtown Creek, which EPA named a Superfund site in 2010. The cleanup plan, estimated to cost nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, is an interim action. This means that the cleanup begins now, but once it is completed, EPA could decide that additional work is needed to address any remaining contamination in this portion of the creek. However, it is the EPA’s expectation that this action will be consistent with the final remedy eventually selected for the entire site. The site spans 3.8 miles and includes several tributaries, with contaminants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, dioxins and heavy metals in the creek sediment. The comprehensive cleanup of Newtown Creek is expected to take several more years, which is still in development, and information from this early action will assist in determining the future cleanup.
Additional background and the finalized cleanup plan, called a Record of Decision, will be available at the Newtown Creek Superfund site profile page.
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