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July 31, 2008
should i...?
Posted by Dead Nancy at 11:32 PM | Comments (1)
July 24, 2008
the sub-neighborhoods of greenpoint, brooklyn
image stolen from very small array.
Posted by Dead Nancy at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2008
copyright infringement?
Posted by Dead Nancy at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2008
paramore
Posted by Dead Nancy at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)
July 14, 2008
it’s really not that bad living by the love canal...
Lawmakers Ask E.P.A. to Help with Creek Cleanup
New York Times, July 13th
By RAY RIVERA
Newtown Creek, the polluted estuary that separates Queens and Brooklyn, should be named a federal Superfund site, a move that could hasten long-stuttering cleanup efforts, a pair of New York lawmakers say.
Representatives Anthony D. Weiner and Nydia M. Velázquez, whose Congressional districts include the contaminated area, are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to test the area for inclusion in the Superfund program. If the tests turn up a significant level of chemicals and other hazardous waste, the site could be eligible for millions of dollars in federal assistance. A Superfund designation would also allow the agency to go after the companies responsible for the contamination.
“I think anyone involved would agree the pace of the cleanup is going slow, to be generous,” said Mr. Weiner, a member of the House Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials. “It’s time to really bring in the bigger guns.”
Mr. Weiner and Ms. Velázquez will join local residents and environmentalists at a news conference in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, on Sunday, seeking to pressure the environmental agency, which has been reluctant to intercede, Mr. Weiner said.
Officials with the agency did not return calls on Saturday.
Various tests have estimated that 17 to 30 million gallons of petroleum were spilled in the creek and surrounding area during nearly a century and a half of industrial activity, dwarfing the Exxon Valdez disaster, which dumped 11 million gallons of oil off the Alaskan coast in 1989. The Newtown spill went unnoticed until 1978 when a Coast Guard helicopter on a routine patrol spotted a silky cloud of oil oozing into the creek. That led to the discovery of an underground pool of petroleum in the area. The plume is estimated to cover 55 to 70 acres of commercial and residential property in Greenpoint.
An environmental agency study in September found that the greatest threat from the spill was the risk that vapors from the oil could seep into homes and businesses in the area.
One source of the plume is believed to be an industrial explosion in 1950 that spilled oil from refinery tanks owned by Standard Oil, a predecessor of Exxon Mobil. But the study said it was unclear whether the petroleum in the groundwater was from one or two events, or was the culmination of 140 years of spills. The industrial history of the area dates to the 1830s, and by 1870 more than 50 refineries were located on the banks of the creek.
Efforts to clean up the contaminants have led to a string of lawsuits, including one filed last summer by the state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, against Exxon Mobil. That suit is pending.
Posted by Dead Nancy at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)