Minutes of the Gowanus Canal CAG Outreach Committee’s Meeting of July 13, 2026

Attendees: Jason Schwartzman (Facilitator), Katie Bishop, Lisa Bowstead, George Fiala, Andrea Parker, Joan Salome-Rodriguez

Overview and Timeline for Town Hall on Soil Vapor Intrusion
• Target Date: September, aligned with the timing of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) annual soil vapor investigation reports.
• Primary Goals: 1) To raise awareness of Soil Vapor Intrusion and the health impacts among Gowanus property owners and renters; 2) To encourage property owners to opt into DEC’s free testing and mitigation; 3) To provide practical information on the nuts and bolts of what’s involved in the testing and mitigation of a property.
• Target Audience: Property owners, renters, businesses and schools within the specific Gowanus soil vapor investigation area.

Immediate Action Items & Strategy
• The committee will first approach local elected officials—Council Member Shahana Hanif, Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, and State Senator Andrew Gounardes—to ask them to co-host the event and officially invite the DEC.
• Andrea volunteered to email the officials and their top staff.
• The committee will meet in August to finalize the specifics of the outreach campaign, hopefully with feedback from the elected officials.

Community Outreach & Spreading the Word
The committee emphasized that previous DEC meetings failed to draw a crowd because they were poorly publicized, and brainstormed outreach strategies, including the following ideas:
• George Fiala offered printing services and space in The Red Hook Star-Revue.
• Handing out flyers block-by-block and door-to-door.
• Partnering with neighborhood groups to get the event publicized through their networks.
• Reaching out directly to local PTAs to engage parents whose children attend schools in the area.
• Leveraging the email lists and newsletters of local electeds and Community Board 6.

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Minutes of the July 6, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Archaeology & Historic Preservation Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Moderator. Jason Schwartzman; Joseph Alexiou arrived late but meeting had ended; Michael Kilian was out of town but emailed.  

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Aaron Kaufman, Gowanus Remediation Trust, stuck in transit and could not attend.

You can watch a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter passcode yRz%As.0 for access.

1. Discussed ways to get the Storyboard and other materials out to the community. Outreach help? Yes. Jason will discuss with Aaron Kaufman and Celeste via email to figure out if the Storyboard can go up on the Website and Instagram. The question is technical. Can the programs we have actually accommodate it?

2. Joan reported that Clinton and Union St library scheduled to open in the fall. What would an email to the library say? Library should be very interested in the Storyboard. Joan will visit once its open.

3. Agreed to work with Outreach and reach out to Celeste at Gowanus Dredgers for an event including a projection of the Gowanus Graffiti materials and various dredged objects. Celeste is interested – slideshow of graffiti, objects displayed? Awaiting slideshow from Joseph.

4. Joan emailed John Quadrozzi (see email correspondence here) to set up a visit with Peter to the site and get photos and a sense of what could potentially be moved for display. See below – does anyone have a relationship with him? Maybe Michael could follow up and introduce himself? Michael Kilian was out of town but e-mailed that he and his wife will reach out to John Quadrozzi. Will follow up in August.

5. Eymund not present but had agreed to share a bunch of Gowanus Graffiti subway art from 2011. Joan will do another paddle to capture some of the stuff along the Canal.

6. At the last meeting Peter suggested that a few of the images in our collection of graffiti be printed and framed and ask the nearby buildings where the artwork was to display in their space. See notes in the Gowanus Graffiti collection. How to raise $ for framing? Donations? Joan will search online for cheap frames to see if it can just be done out of pocket.

STILL TO DO
7. New semester so outreach to Brooklyn College Museum Studies Program and to Pratt’s archaeology team is timely now to see if there are any opportunities there. https://www.brooklyn.edu/bc-news/curating-excellence/. If we are going to set up exhibits they may be able to help. bbingham@pratt.edu – What should an email to these programs say? Draft at this meeting.

Jason suggests to pitch with the storyboard to the colleges and the provenance we have for the items as well as the slide show of Gowanus Graffiti and, hopefully, of Gowanus wildlife.

Minutes of the July 6, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality & Technical Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez (Moderator), Erica Eliason, Corinne Jenner, Jason Schwartzman, Susan Yung

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Aaron Kaufman, Gowanus Remediation Trust.

You can view a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter code Hg4&gbW# when prompted for access.

The members edited, reviewed and approved emails (see addenda linked here for text) the committee had previously approved sending to various agencies regarding the following:

– Basement flood water testing. DEC & DEP, DOH
– Real-time canal monitoring/public reporting DEP – Alicia West this may deserve a resolution and a presentation
– Bond-Lorraine Sewer – DEP Alicia West
– CSO’s – DEP Alicia West, EPA Victoria Sacks
– Hydrology – This may deserve a resolution: Current hydraulic conditions, including groundwater elevations and flow direction. This study by DEC was scheduled for completion in late 2024. Per Aaron DEC is working on it. Followed up with Aaron 4/27/2026. See addenda – we know they are not including toxins in the study. Suggestion – overlay the map. – Now that Jason has created a tool, can DEC use it once its survey is done? Though we want answers to the questions above, for now, we asked only ETA for the study and what the purpose of it was for DEC.

Housekeeping:

1) PowerHouse walkway at TB1.
2) Mounding: We will follow on the mounding studies once EPA presents on them again. Issue is forward looking – climate change.
3) Dissolved Oxygen Levels: Any acknowledgement from Fagel, Waldron or Smith to our resolution re: DO levels, Erica? NOT YET
4) OMP: What is EPA’s demand for responsible parties to maintain an operation and maintenance plan (OMP) for the Gowanus Canal Clean-up strategy? Who will ensure that the OMP is done going forward? Will EPA continue to check that the water quality remains good and that the cap is intact? Does EPA have an OMP Plan? Where is it? Will follow with Katia at next meeting. Any answer?

– Has DEP started to measure how much of first flush the new buildings are capturing? We did not cover this yet.
– Did the scientific projections in the LTCP account for the results of climate change? We eventually will ask questions about this.
– Outreach – can the artists stop dumping their paint in the canal by washing brushes, etc… Eymund said at the June meeting that this is an issue in the canal.

Minutes of the June 1, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality & Technical Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Moderator. Eymund Diegel, Emily Mitchell, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Yarish, Susan Yung.

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid. Fabio Perla, Gowanus Remediation Trust.

You can view a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter code %m0$UAWI when prompted for access.

Agency Questions –

Long discussion on how to get basement flood water tested. Per Eymund, if there is a repetitive flooding condition, people could bottle the water (clean container) and have the Water Quality Testing Committee send the sample to the lab at Brooklyn Army Terminal but mostly what they are testing is enterococcyx, not chemicals. Eymund says it is hard to know what chemicals are from historical industry and what is stuff just lying around the basement. However, they would consider doing the testing if the flooding is consistent like Peter’s building.

Thus – Joan will email the three agencies below to see if test kits could be made available and one of those agencies could do basement flood water testing. DEC, DEP & DOH
– Basement floodwater testing: Can residents/businesses have a practical way to check floodwater for contamination (kits or an agency-supported sampling option)? If kits aren’t recommended, what alternative is feasible?

Further discussion of whether real-time canal monitoring/public reporting is a possibility: Can agencies evaluate deploying monitors along the canal/outfalls (storm-event focused) and publishing results (e.g., open data/dashboard) with public health context? Prepare an email to DEP – Alicia West – ask for it at Bond Street and 2nd Street outflows. (Double check these locations with Eymund). Also reach out to FLOOD NET at NYU.

Additional questions as a follow-up to Alicia West’s answer to some of our questions (see email correspondence in the addenda here):.

Addressing Sewer Backups – When or will the City turn to Gowanus? June 9, 2026 Gowanus Oversight Task Force meeting will cover flooding issues.
– Does the new sewer Alicia West described for the west side of the Canal already have a funded line in the City budget?
– Has DEP started to measure how much of first flush the new buildings are capturing?
– A government agency is supposed to model projections for population increases and climate change. Did the scientific projections in the LTCP account for the results of climate change?
Can we get a presentation on the issues above?.

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Minutes of the May 4, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Water Quality & Technical Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez (Moderator), Corinne Brenner, Eymund Diegel, Erica Eliason, Katia Kelly, Louis Kleinman, Emily Mitchell, Jason Schwartzman, Susan Yung.

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Aaron Kaufman, Gowanus Remediation Trust.

You can view a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter code bK&51$#6 when prompted for access.

Housekeeping:
1) PowerHouse walkway at TB1. NO INFO YET – Brian says we need community advocacy on this.
2) Mounding: Just waiting.
3) Dissolved Oxygen Levels: Any acknowledgement from Fagel, Waldron or Smith to our resolution re: DO levels? No. Erica followed up 5/4/2026.
4) OMP: What is EPA’s demand for responsible parties to maintain an operation and maintenance plan (OMP) for the Gowanus Canal clean-up strategy? Who will ensure that the OMP is done going forward? Will EPA continue to check that the water quality remains good and that the cap is intact? Does EPA have an OMP Plan? Where is it? No answer. Katia followed up 5/4/2026.

HYDROLOGY: Current hydraulic conditions, including groundwater elevations and flow direction. DEC is working on it. They are not including toxins in the study. Suggestion – overlay the map – see link (https://dec.ny.gov/maps/interactive-maps/decinfo-locator).

Turning Basins – what can be done?

Housekeeping:
5) How much water are we losing? Update is – a lot because of steel bulkheads, tiebacks and toes at bottom we lose surface area but gain depth due to dredging.
6) How will what we lose here be returned to us at Turning Basins 1 & 11 (near Lowe’s in RTA 3? Does not look that way. We get a little back at 5th Street turning basin. GRT is not up to planning at 11 yet.

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Minutes of the June 1, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Archaeology & Historic Preservation Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Moderator. Eymund Diegel, Peter Reich, Jason Schwartzman.

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Fabio Perla, Gowanus Remediation Trust.

You can watch a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter passcode O4AK1%A2 for access.

1. Discuss ways to get the Storyboard and other materials out to the community..

2. Agreed to work with Outreach and reach out to Celeste at Dredgers for an event including a projection of the Gowanus Graffiti materials and various dredged objects.

3. Joan emailed John Quadrozzi to set up a visit with Peter to the site and get photos and a sense of what could potentially be moved for display.

4. Eymund to share a bunch of Gowanus Graffiti subway art from 2011.

5. Peter suggests that a few of the images in our collection of graffiti be printed and framed and ask the nearby buildings where the artwork was to display in their space. See notes in the Gowanus Graffiti collection.

6. Joan reported that Clinton and Union Street library scheduled to open in the fall.

Still To Do

7. New semester so outreach to Brooklyn College Museum Studies Program and to Pratt’s archaeology team is timely now to see if there are any opportunities there. https://www.brooklyn.edu/bc-news/curating-excellence/. If we are going to set up exhibits they may be able to help. bbingham@pratt.edu – What should an email to these programs say?

Minutes of the May 4, 2026 Meeting of the Gowanus Canal CAG’s Archaeology & Historic Preservation Committee

Attendees, CAG Members: Joan Salome-Rodriguez, Moderator. Joseph Alexiou, Eymund Diegel, Katia Kelly, Michael Kilian, Louis Kleinman, Peter Reich, Jason Schwartzman.

Guests: Irene Baker, National Grid; Aaron Kaufman, Gowanus Remediation Trust.

You can watch a video recording of the meeting here. Please enter passcode fp^+^7v^ for access.

1. Get the Storyboard out to the community – It is already integrated on Arc GIS and we can share. Arc GIS is a multi-media platform that allows photos, video, text and audio, and the Story Map is the Hx of the Gowanus Canal.

Getting our stuff out there

2. Shared materials with committee to send first tranche to Johnny & Emily (Arts Gowanus) for the Walkabout Tour. Many of the Gowanus Graffiti items are already on Michael’s Instagram site but Joseph and I are building out the Google docs for sharing with Arts Gowanus. Eymund has material that can be added.

3. Then we can share the other Gowanus dredged material.

Gowanus Canal Remedial Target Area 1 Supplemental Mitigative Action Scope of Work

At its June 23, 2026 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group asked the EPA to provide the Supplemental Mitigative Action Scope of Work for Remedial Target Area 1 (RTA1), the upper portion of the Gowanus Canal. The supplemental work is intended to remove observed nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) impacts and eliminate associated potential recontamination pathways along the western bulkhead near Douglass Street.

You can download the full memorandum outlining the RTA1 Supplemental Mitigative Action Scope of Work here.

Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group Resolution Calls for Creation of a “Gowanus Protection Framework”

At its June 23, 2026 general meeting, the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group passed a resolution calling for the creation of a Gowanus Protection Framework.

The resolution, sent to the EPA, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, proposes a collaborative Gowanus Protection Framework––built on transparent safety thresholds, clear monitoring protocols, single points of contact, and advance community notice––to ensure coordinated communication from the EPA, DEC, and DEP. The resolution asks all three agencies to use the CAG’s monthly General Meetings as the shared forum for regular updates on canal and upland remediation progress, and in turn, commits the CAG to spreading the information and keeping the community fully informed.

You can download a PDF of the complete resolution here.

Missed our June 2026 General Meeting? You can find a recording here.

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Gowanus Canal CAG June 23, 2026 General Meeting