New York City Sierrans Active on Several Fronts
The Gowanus Canal is a 1.8 mile waterway, bounded by Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Park Slope and emptying into New York Bay. Previously the site of many industrial facilities, the Canal is now highly polluted. It is also the recipient of sewage from multiple overflow outlets. It was the first location in New York City to be designated an EPA Superfund Site (2010). The EPA has scheduled a cleanup that will likely take at least 10 years.
The Sierra Club, along with others, has been fighting to fix the Gowanus Canal problem before Superfund designation and is active on the Community Advisory Group. Local Club activists, with our allies, are preparing comments about issues that need to be addressed in the Draft Proposed Remedial Action (Cleanup) Plan, which is due to be presented by the EPA Superfund program this summer. For more information, contact Diane Buxbaum, ddbuxbaum@earthlink.net.
Green Thumb This year’s federal budget cuts will fall hard on community gardeners, many in low-income neighborhoods. Sierra Club and other advocates for the gardens are asking the City to increase funding for Green Thumb, a program that has supported urban gardeners for the past 34 years.
Green Thumb provides supply services and training for 600 community gardens. Residents, growing fresh fruits and vegetables in small plots, supplement their diets in areas where fresh vegetables are often not available. And, 100 gardens are parts of schools, providing open-air laboratories where students can learn how food is grown. The gardens are also treasured as open spaces where neighbors can gather to enjoy a July 4th barbecue or just kick back.
We are asking the City to provide $75,000 to replace lost federal funds to sustain the program at last year’s level. For more information, contact Irene Van Slyke, irene.vanslyke@verizon.net.
Toxic Buying The City has done little to implement a law passed in 2005 requiring it to purchase more energy efficient products that also have more recycled content and fewer toxic chemicals. The Sierra Club testified at a City Council Oversight hearing in March to demand that the City implement the law.
The Sierra Club and other groups focused especially on PVC products, which contain toxic additives such phthalates, lead, cadmium and others that, when burned, is a major source of dioxin. Sierra Club testimony calling for the phasing-out of products containing PVCs by city agencies goes back to 1994. For more information, contact, Irene Van Slyke, irene.vanslyke@verizon.net.
Protecting the Lower Hudson Members of the NYC Group worked with Roger Downs to develop a memo opposing a bill that would facilitate harmful development in and along the lower Hudson River. For more information, contact Jim Lane, jamesmlane@aol.com.