The hideously polluted Newtown Creek, which divides Brooklyn and Queens, may be a step closer to becoming a federal Superfund site and (in theory) getting cleaned up faster. The Environmental Protection Agency will do “preliminary tests” to figure out if the creek contains bad things. (Betting pool on the test results, anyone?) Last month, local lawmakers called on the government to place the Creek, which is home to both the massive Exxon-Mobil Oil Spill and a long list of environmental issues, in the clean up program. If the testing finds "a significant level of chemicals and other hazardous waste" there could be millions of dollars from Washington in cleanup money and the EPA could go after the original polluters. The sites that could be tested include two former hazardous waste dumps, a former Phelps Dodge copper smelting plant and a former Manufactured Gas Plant site, not unlike the one in Gowanus that will be cleaned up for the Gowanus Green development.
· EPA Will Review Pollution at Newtown Creek [CityRoom]
· Will Newtown Creek Get Into Detox Faster? [Curbed]
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