Newtown Creek could become a Superfund site. That’s the word coming up from Washington today, where the EPA has agreed to “develop a sampling plan” to determine just how polluted the oil-saturated 3.5-mile waterway between Brooklyn and Queens might be. If they agree that it is indeed toxic (it did, after all, suffer an oil spill larger than Exxon-Valdez’s, according to the Brooklyn Eagle), the Feds could cover 90 percent of the cleanup costs.

Should we give Hillary a little bit of the credit for catching the EPA’s ear? A week or so ago she sent a letter to the EPA saying that “there are dangerous chemicals in the soil, water and air at sites around Newtown Creek,” though Congressmembers Anthony Wiener and Nydia Velazquez also requested the tests. Even if Superfund designation isn’t awarded, hope is not lost. Groups involved with the site’s cleanup won grants this year including $625,000 from the state-funded Brownfield Opportunities Area and a $326,000 federal forestry grant.
E.P.A. Will Review Pollution at Newtown Creek [NY Times]
Feds Commit to New Tests At Polluted Newtown Creek [Brooklyn Eagle]
Clinton Wants Federal Aid for Newtown Creek Tests [Queens Chronicle]
Newtown Creek. Photo by dandeluca.