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The Drawingboard
The Drawingboard September 2006 Volume 6, Number 9 In This Issue President’s Message • President’s Message By Brian Flynn, P.E. President • Next Meeting – Sept 28th @ 6:30PM Welcome back, I hope everyone took some time to enjoy the sumer weather. It was a wonderful summer marred only by the • UPDATE – Dept. of Buildings Park's Department last minute cancellation of the PDC Picnic in News Brief August. Now that fall has arrived, we are back in full swing with • Useful Websites for Engineers our schedule of Chapter Meetings and events. This month's • Profile of an Engineer meeting promises to be very interesting with our sponsor Hilti discussing Firestopping techniques. As you all know Professional • 2006 Meeting Schedule Development Hours (PDH's) are available for free to our • Professional Directory and members at all of our meetings every month. In addition, the Sponsors PDC has a lecture series for additional PDH's every month as • PIE August Newsletter well. The next lecture on Tuesday, October 17 will most likely (attached) feature Tim Lynch, PE of the Building Department's Forensic Unit to discuss shoring and underpinning. I would like to announce the appointment of several individuals Board of Directors to head chapter committees. First is Sal Galletta, PE who will Brian Flynn, President head our Committee for Political Action to spear head actions to P.E. (718) 707-0416 promote licensed engineering, including the proposed resolution George L. to create a position of Deputy Mayor for Infrastructure, who is a 1ST Vice Pres. Tavoulareas, licensed engineer or registered architect. -
Federal Register/Vol. 65, No. 148/Tuesday, August 1, 2000/Rules
46870 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 148 / Tuesday, August 1, 2000 / Rules and Regulations significant economic impact on a Civil Justice Reform Dated: July 19, 2000. substantial number of small entities. G.N. Naccara, ``Small entities'' comprises small This rule meets applicable standards Rear Admiral, U.S. Coast Guard, Commander, businesses, not-for-profit organizations in sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) of Executive First Coast Guard District. that are independently owned and Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform, to [FR Doc. 00±19396 Filed 7±31±00; 8:45 am] operated and are not dominant in their minimize litigation, eliminate BILLING CODE 4910±15±P fields, and governmental jurisdictions ambiguity, and reduce burden. with populations less than 50,000. Protection of Children The Coast Guard certifies under 5 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION U.S.C. 605(b) that this rule will not have We have analyzed this rule under a significant economic impact on a Executive Order 13045, Protection of Coast Guard substantial number of small entities. Children from Environmental Health 33 CFR Part 117 This conclusion is based on the fact that Risks and Safety Risks. This rule is not three of the bridges presently open after an economically significant rule and a six-hour notice May 1 through does not concern an environmental risk [CGD01±99±069] September 30, which is greater than the to health or risk to safety that may proposed two-hour notice during those disproportionately affect children. RIN 2115±AE47 five months. The Coast Guard believes that the Environment Drawbridge Operation Regulations: two-hour advance notice October 1 Newtown Creek, Dutch Kills, English The Coast Guard considered the through April 30 is reasonable because Kills and their tributaries, New York the bridges will still open on signal environmental impact of this rule and provided the two-hour notice is given. -
Newtown Creek Project Packet
NEWTOWN CREEK PROJECT PACKET Name: ________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTORY READING: Encyclopedia. “Newtown Creek.” The Encyclopedia of New York City. 2nd ed. 2010. Print. Adaptation Newtown Creek is a tributary of the East River. It extends inland for a distance of 3.5 miles, including a number of canals into Brooklyn, and it is the boundary between Brooklyn and Queens. The creek was the route by which European colonists first reached Maspeth in 1642. During the American Revolution the British spent the winter near the creek. Commercial vessels and small boats sailed the creek in the early nineteenth century. About 1860 the first oil and coal oil refineries opened along the banks and began dumping sludge and acids into the water; sewers were built to accommodate the growing neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint and discharged their wastes directly into the creek, which by 1900 was known for pollution and foul odors. The water corroded the paint on the undersides of ships, and noxious deposits were left on the banks by the tides. High-level bridges were built from 1903 (some remain). State and city commissions sought unsuccessfully to improve the creek as it became of the busiest commercial waterways in the country, second only to the Mississippi River. The creek was dredged constantly and widened by the federal government to accommodate marine traffic; the creek’s natural depth was between 4 and 12 feet. After World War II the creek’s importance as a shipping route decreased, but it continued to be the site of many industrial plants. During the 1940s and 1950s, leaks at oil refineries including ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco precipitated one of the largest underground oil spills in history. -
July 8 Grants Press Release
CITY PARKS FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 109 GRANTS THROUGH NYC GREEN RELIEF & RECOVERY FUND AND GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC GRANT APPLICATION NOW OPEN FOR PARK VOLUNTEER GROUPS Funding Awarded For Maintenance and Stewardship of Parks by Nonprofit Organizations and For Free Live Performances in Parks, Plazas, and Gardens Across NYC July 8, 2021 - NEW YORK, NY - City Parks Foundation announced today the selection of 109 grants through two competitive funding opportunities - the NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund and GREEN / ARTS LIVE NYC. More than ever before, New Yorkers have come to rely on parks and open spaces, the most fundamentally democratic and accessible of public resources. Parks are critical to our city’s recovery and reopening – offering fresh air, recreation, and creativity - and a crucial part of New York’s equitable economic recovery and environmental resilience. These grant programs will help to support artists in hosting free, public performances and programs in parks, plazas, and gardens across NYC, along with the nonprofit organizations that help maintain many of our city’s open spaces. Both grant programs are administered by City Parks Foundation. The NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund will award nearly $2M via 64 grants to NYC-based small and medium-sized nonprofit organizations. Grants will help to support basic maintenance and operations within heavily-used parks and open spaces during a busy summer and fall with the city’s reopening. Notable projects supported by this fund include the Harlem Youth Gardener Program founded during summer 2020 through a collaboration between Friends of Morningside Park Inc., Friends of St. Nicholas Park, Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, & Jackie Robinson Park Conservancy to engage neighborhood youth ages 14-19 in paid horticulture along with the Bronx River Alliance’s EELS Youth Internship Program and Volunteer Program to invite thousands of Bronxites to participate in stewardship of the parks lining the river banks. -
Gowanus Canal & Newtown Creek Superfund Sites: a Proposal
Gowanus Canal & Newtown Creek Superfund Sites: A Proposal by Larry Schnapf he federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2010 designated as fed eral superfund sites the entire length of T the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and 3.8 miles of Newtown Creek on the border of Queens and Brooklyn. Property owners near these water bodies fear that EPA's action will lower property values and make it even more difficult to obtain loans and other wise develop their land. Many small businesses also fear that they may become responsible for paying a portion of the cleanup costs. The superfund process could take five to ten years to complete, during which time property owners will be faced with significant economic uncertainty. There is, however, a way tore lieve many of the smaller property owners by giving them an early release. Gowanus Canal Superfund Site The Gowanus Canal (Canal) runs for 1.8 miles through the Brooklyn residential neighborhoods of Gowanus, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, TABLE CJF' CONTENTS and Red Hook. The adjacent waterfront is primarily commercial and industrial, currently consisting of Legislative Update ....................... 75 concrete plants, warehouses, and parking lots. At one CityRegs Update......................... 75 time Brooklyn Union Gas, the predecessor of National Decisions of Interest Grid, operated a large manufactured gas facility on Housing ............................ 76 the shores of the Canal. Affirmative Litigation ................. 77 EPA's initial investigation identified a variety of Human Rights ....................... 77 contaminants in the Canal's sediments including poly Health .............................. 79 cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organ Audits & Reports ..................... 79 ic contaminants (VOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls Land Use ........................... -
Reel-It-In-Brooklyn
REEL IT IN! BROOKLYN Fish Consumption Education Project in Brooklyn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This research and outreach project was developed by Going Coastal, Inc. Team members included Gabriel Rand, Zhennya Slootskin and Barbara La Rocco. Volunteers were vital to the execution of the project at every stage, including volunteers from Pace University’s Center for Community Action and Research, volunteer translators Inessa Slootskin, Annie Hongjuan and Bella Moharreri, and video producer Dave Roberts. We acknowledge support from Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and funding from an Environmental Justice Research Impact Grant of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Photos by Zhennya Slootskin, Project Coordinator. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Study Area 3. Background 4. Methods 5. Results & Discussion 6. Conclusions 7. Outreach Appendix A: Survey List of Acronyms: CSO Combined Sewer Overflow DEC New York State Department of Environmental Conservation DEP New York City Department of Environmental Protection DOH New York State Department of Health DPR New York City Department of Parks & Recreation EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency GNRA Gateway National Recreation Area NOAA National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency OPRHP New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls WIC Women, Infant and Children program Reel It In Brooklyn: Fish Consumption Education Project Page 2 of 68 Abstract Brooklyn is one of America’s largest and fastest growing multi‐ethnic coastal counties. All fish caught in the waters of New York Harbor are on mercury advisory. Brooklyn caught fish also contain PCBs, pesticides, heavy metals, many more contaminants. The waters surrounding Brooklyn serve as a source of recreation, transportation and, for some, food. -
HUDSON RIVER RISING Riverkeeper Leads a Growing Movement to Protect the Hudson
Confronting climate | Restoring nature | Building resilience annual journal HUDSON RIVER RISING Riverkeeper leads a growing movement to protect the Hudson. Its power is unstoppable. RIVERKEEPER JOURNAL 01 Time and again, the public rises to speak for a voiceless Hudson. While challenges mount, our voices grow stronger. 02 RIVERKEEPER JOURNAL PRESIDENT'S LETTER Faith and action It’s all too easy to feel hopeless these days, lish over forty new tanker and barge anchorages allowing storage of crude when you think about the threat posed by climate oil right on the Hudson, Riverkeeper is working with local partners to stop disruption and the federal government’s all-out another potentially disastrous plan to build enormous storm surge barriers war on basic clean water and habitat protection at the entrance to the Hudson Estuary. Instead, we and our partners are laws. Yet, Riverkeeper believes that a better fighting for real-world, comprehensive and community-driven solutions future remains ours for the taking. to coastal flooding risks. We think it makes perfect sense to feel hope- History was made, here on the Hudson. Groundbreaking legal pro- ful, given New York’s new best-in-the-nation tections were born here, over half a century ago, when earlier waves of climate legislation and its record levels of spend- activists rose to protect the Adirondacks, the Palisades and Storm King ing on clean water (which increased by another Mountain and restore our imperiled fish and wildlife. These founders had $500 million in April). This year, The Empire State also banned river-foul- no playbook and certainly no guarantee of success. -
Congressional Record—House H2666
H2666 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE April 24, 2008 who ensure the safety of the maritime diligence and work, and also for ex- ranking member, Mr. MICA, relative to industry prepare for these highly tech- pressing his remaining concerns. waterside security for liquefied natural nical jobs by meeting requisite train- I also want to express my apprecia- gas facilities. ing standards. The bill also requires tion to the chairman of our sub- Again, I want to thank the Chair of that as new liquefied natural gas (LNG) committee, Mr. CUMMINGS, who I’ve the subcommittee and the full com- terminals are approved, all of the re- had the pleasure now of working with mittee for working with us. I want to sources necessary to adequately secure about a year and a half, and I will tell thank Mr. BOUSTANY for his dogged these terminals are in place. I empha- you there is no Member that is more work to make sure that we come up size that these provisions will not im- dedicated to not only the mission of with a resolution that not only fits pede the development of any new the Coast Guard, but the safety of with the reality of assets that are project. They will simply ensure that those that they entrust with super- available, builds on a long tradition security requirements are met before vising. It is a pleasure to serve in the that we established in 2005, but also new terminals become operational. post of ranking member with Mr. permits us to move forward with the Further, H.R. -
CUOMO ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT with EXXONMOBIL to PROVIDE for COMPREHENSIVE CLEANUP of GREENPOINT OIL SPILL Oil Giant Will Pay for C
Page 1 of 4 CUOMO ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT WITH EXXONMOBIL TO PROVIDE FOR COMPREHENSIVE CLEANUP OF GREENPOINT OIL SPILL Oil giant will pay for cleanup of spill as well as related soil and environmental contamination in Brooklyn community ~ ExxonMobil will also pay $25 million for penalties, costs and restoration of local environment NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 17, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a settlement that commits ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) (“ExxonMobil”) to perform a full clean up of its oil spill as well as any related environmental contamination in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The massive spill has been a source of contamination in the Greenpoint community for decades. The settlement was filed today in Federal Court in the Eastern District and requires ExxonMobil to pay for the costs of cleaning up the Greenpoint oil spill. The settlement requires ExxonMobil to conduct a comprehensive cleanup of its oil and related contamination at its Greenpoint facility and in the surrounding community, including oil floating on top of the water table, contaminated groundwater, soil as well as soil vapors. The settlement requires ExxonMobil to keep the cleanup moving forward expeditiously, including specific milestones such as: A plan for identifying the scope of the contamination involving oil, groundwater, soil and soil vapor problems must be created within 90 days of the agreement. A report on groundwater problems must be done within 120 days. A report on soil problems must be done within 180 days. A plan to involve the community must be submitted within 90 days. A report on the status and progress of the cleanup effort must be submitted quarterly and annually. -
Site History an EPA Study of the Site in 2007 Estimated the Size of the Spill Was Potentially Much Larger Than the Original Estimate
SITE HISTORY An EPA study of the site in 2007 estimated the size of the spill was potentially much larger than the original estimate. Perhaps well over 30 million gallons comprised the “free product” plume underneath Greenpoint. Comparatively, the size of Petroleum refining began within the Greenpoint area in 1866. More than 50 refineries had been established along Newtown the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 (considered one of the worst spills in U.S. history) was estimated at 10.9 million gallons. Creek by 1870. Refinery operations ceased in 1966, and petroleum bulk storage discontinued in 1993 on the ExxonMobil- BROOKLYN, NY owned properties of the former refinery parcels. British Petroleum began operation of a bulk fuel storage terminal in 1969, Since 1979, subsurface petroleum product remediation has occurred at multiple sites in Greenpoint. As of 2006, POPULATION: 39,360 which continues to operate today. approximately 9.5 million gallons of product had been recovered from the plume area. SCALE 1” = 200 feet On September 2, 1978, the U.S. Coast Guard discovered an oil spill entering the Newtown Creek from Meeker Avenue. In Additional studies of the plume have revealed that its reach goes deeper into residential neighborhoods than previously 1979, an investigation of the spill beneath the Greenpoint area determined the release to be approximately 52 acres, with believed. Further complicating matters, a May 2009 study of the area discovered residual toxic pollution from dozens of Annotated Map of The Greenpoint Oil Spill and Vicinity the total spill volume consisting of approximately 17 million gallons of petroleum products. -
New York City Department of Transportation
INNOVATIONS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS East River Bridges A $3.14 billion reconstruction program is underway to rehabilitate all four East River crossings. In 2005, these bridges carried some 498,213 vehicles per day. In 2002, working in coordination with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies, the Division implemented enhanced security measures on these bridges. This work is ongoing. BROOKLYN BRIDGE The Brooklyn Bridge carried some 132,210 vehicles per day in 2005. The $547 million reconstruction commenced in 1980 with Contract #1, and will continue with Contract #6, currently in the design phase and scheduled for completion in 2013. This contract will include the rehabilitation of both approaches and ramps, the painting of the entire suspension bridge, as well as the seismic retrofitting of the structural elements that are within the Contract #6 project limits. Engineering Landmark Plaque. (Credit: Russell Holcomb) 1899 Plaque Near the Franklin Truss of the Bridge, Marking the Site of George Washington’s First Presidential Mansion, Franklin House. (Credit: Hany Soliman) Historic Landmark, 1954 Reconstruction, and Two Cities Plaques. (1954 & Cities Credit: Michele N. Vulcan) 44 2006 BRIDGES AND TUNNELS ANNUAL CONDITION REPORT INNOVATIONS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS The fitting of the remaining bridge elements requiring seismic retrofitting will be carried out under a separate contract by the end of 2013. Work completed on the bridge to date includes reconditioning of the main cables, replacement of the suspenders and cable stays, rehabilitation of the stiffening trusses, and the replacement of the suspended spans deck. The next work scheduled for the bridge is a project to replace the existing travelers with a state of the art technology system. -
Innovations & Accomplishments
INNOVATIONS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS East River Bridges A $2.9 billion reconstruction program is underway to rehabilitate all four East River crossings. In 2003, these bridges carried some 493,418 vehicles per day. In 2002, working in coordination with the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies, the Division implemented enhanced security measures on these bridges. This work is ongoing. BROOKLYN BRIDGE The Brooklyn Bridge carried some 134,444 vehicles per day in 2003. The $470 million reconstruction commenced in 1980 with Contract #1, and will continue with Contract #6, currently in the design phase and scheduled for completion in 2013. This contract will include the rehabilitation of both approaches and ramps, as well as the painting of the entire bridge. In addition, the bridge is scheduled to be seismically retrofitted by the end of 2013. Work completed on the bridge to date includes reconditioning of the main cables, replacement of the suspenders and cable stays, rehabilitation of the stiffening trusses, and the replacement of the suspended spans deck. The next work scheduled for the bridge is a project to replace the existing travelers with a state of the art technology system. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2006 and conclude in the spring of 2008. Brooklyn Bridge in 1909. Bridge Repairer & Riveter Joseph Antony Repairing a Red-Flagged Stringer on the Bridge. (Repair Credit: Hany Soliman) Pedestrian Vibration Study The major blackout of August 14, 2003 forced City officials to close the bridge to vehicular traffic and open the entire bridge to pedestrians. During this mass exodus, several pedestrians reported that the bridge was vibrating and thus causing them great anxiety.