Gowanus Pile Driving LTR

May 27, 2022
Basil Seggos, Commissioner

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233
Rohit T. Aggarwala, Commissioner

New York City Department of Environmental Protection
59-17 Junction Blvd.
Queens, NY 11368
Eric Ulrich, Commissioner

New York City Department of Buildings
280 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
Dear Commissioners Seggos, Ulrich, and Aggarwala:
We write to express our concerns about the unanticipated pile driving activity that began on Thursday,
May 19, 2022 at 475 and 463 Smith Street in Brooklyn, Parcel 3, the former Citizen's Manufacturing
Gas Site, a known polluted area which is both a state brownfield site and part of an Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) designated Superfund Site. The pile driving caused intense vibrations,
intense noises, and emitted a coal tar smell. No advance notice of pending construction was received
by any elected officials, EPA, Community Board 6, or the community from any agency or entity. The
public deserves to know when any aspect of construction is taking place in an environmentally fragile
area—particularly a highly toxic marshland full of coal tar which spreads in every direction through the
site—and what oversight measures have been made to protect them from the toxicity at the site.
On Thursday, May 19th, Assemblymember Jo Anne’s Simon’s office began receiving calls from
residents whose homes were shaking, reporting constant vibration, the smell of coal tar, and
intolerable noise levels. Her staff went to the site and were told by the workers that permits were
posted, but they were not posted until Saturday, May 21st. They confirmed the pile driving extremely
close to the perimeter fence on Smith Street, felt the ground shaking beneath them, and captured the
activity on video and audio.
Assemblymember Simon’s office reached out to the EPA, who had no knowledge of the activity
although they are responsible for the integrity of the Superfund remedy. They contacted the NYC
Department of Buildings (DOB), who sent an inspector on Saturday, but the pile driving was not taking
place at that time. They reached out to the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
representatives who attend the Gowanus Community Advisory Group (CAG) meetings, but could not
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reach them. They also reached out to the City Department of Environmental Protection, who did not
respond. As community complaints and fears poured in, the fact that we could not get a response
from various agencies also frustrated us and the community, as we could not confirm the purpose or
the environmental impacts of the construction.
Pile driving 90 feet down into the property started Thursday, May 19, continued Friday, May 20, began
again on Sunday May 22, continued on Monday, May 23rd until 6:50pm, and reportedly finished on
Tuesday, May 24th. The site is across the street from a playground which is frequented by children
and pregnant women. We were also informed by community members that the site workers told them
they had not been informed that they were working in a contaminated site. We were also told that the
pile driver broke at one point. Empire Management is listed on DOB permits as the site owner.
On May 24th, DEC informed us that they don’t issue permits even on brownfield sites, but that they
had sent an acknowledgement letter to the developer in response to the “change of use” letter that the
developer submitted to DEC, including listing safety protocols that the developer must follow. We
have learned that the developer aimed to sink in the pilings before June 15, 2022 to take advantage of
the State’s expiring 421-a tax abatement program for affordable housing. We appreciate the speed at
which DEC responded to our questions once contact was made.
At the Gowanus CAG meeting on May 24th, EPA’s Superfund project manager reported being
unaware of the pile driving and expressed concerns about the stability of EPA water and other site
equipment due to vibrations; EPA made a request on Friday, May 20th to suspend the activity until
more information could be gathered; that request was rejected. The EPA also reported that they were
informed by an attorney for the developer that the city and state agencies had been notified and that
the developer had allegedly received necessary approvals. We are also concerned that the five DEC
representatives at the CAG meeting did not respond to several requests made from CAG members
and meeting attendees to answer questions or discuss DEC’s role; eventually a DEC representative
provided limited information and explained that she was new and not the project manager. The DEP
did not send a representative to this meeting.
This community is about to undergo the development of many new buildings as a result of a major
rezoning. The Gowanus rezoning was approved contingent upon a list of conditions the community
expected to be fulfilled, especially with regard to the integrity of the Superfund remedy to ensure the
health and safety of existing and future residents. Failure to communicate about this recent pile
driving does not bode well for the public trust which needs to be repaired. Competent and transparent
communications are critical for the accountability demanded by the Community Board and local
residents and agreed to by the City.
Correspondence between the EPA, DEP and DEC indicates a long history of the City violating many
of the orders issued by the EPA which has overall authority at this site.
Developers shouldn’t be able to make massive noise and vibrations in a contaminated site into the
weekend with no notice to the public or to EPA, and NYC should not have approved such permits
without notifying the community, elected officials and the agencies charged with oversight of the
clean-up. That it did so shows a reckless disregard for our community and its health and safety.
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We are requesting timely information on the outreach made by the developer to any city, state and
federal agencies and your response. We are also requesting increased transparency, communication
and accountability on this matter as we move forward. In addition, it is unclear to us what the DEC
means by a “change of use” and we ask that the community and elected officials be fully briefed on
those criteria and the steps to be followed for any future pile driving and other construction activities.
We also would like you to identify a point person from your agency who is available to collaborate on
this matter. Lastly, we also want assurances that this will not happen again in this district for any
construction activity, regardless of Superfund or brownfield status.
Sincerely,
Jo Anne Simon Nydia M. Velázquez Jabari Brisport

NYS Assemblymember Congresswoman NYS Senator
AD 52 SD 25
Shahana Hanif Lincoln Restler

NYC Council Member NYC Council Member
District 39 District 33
Cc: EPA
Empire Management
Community Board 6 - Brooklyn
Gowanus Community Advisory Committee

Gowanus Pile Driving LTR

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May 27, 2022

Basil Seggos, Commissioner

Rohit T. Aggarwala, Commissioner

Eric Ulrich, Commissioner

Dear Commissioners Seggos, Ulrich, and Aggarwala:

Jo Anne Simon Nydia M. Velázquez Jabari Brisport

Shahana Hanif Lincoln Restler

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