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"New" Landfill Parks To Become Reality In 2012
A visit to the landfills, south of the Belt Parkway not far from Starrett City, east of Canarsie and on the Queens border, was recently hosted by the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), an East New York based organization. The committee, along with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the National Park Service, coordinated the seventh annual community tour, which focused on the progress of plants.
The tour began at the Brooklyn Sports Club, where a brief report was presented by DEP officials on conditions at the sites. Samples of material used to establish environmental safety were also on display. During the early 1980s closure of the landfills, which are less than a mile apart, was discussed by the Depart-ment of Sanitation and the New York City Parks Department. The site was originally scheduled to become part of Gateway National Park Service by the end of the '70s, but the city did not meet its commitment to testing toxic conditions at the sites by the expected time.
According to public interest groups at the time, hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals and industrial waste was shown to be illegally dumped at the sites as early as the 1960s. A $270,000 study was conducted to analyze water quality near the landfills and a $1 million contract was awarded to the Depart-ment of Sanitation to conduct environmental analyses of the land and air quality. In 1984, community protests were held to close the landfills. In one event, Democratic leader Tony Genevesi led over 100 protestors down paths along the landfills and called for immediate closure of the sites. In the mid 1980s, Gateway National Recreation Area officially took over the land and discussions generated on transforming the landfills into federal parkland. "We wanted this park to have a community associated design," said DEP representative John McLaughlin. "But we also want this park to have a lot of nature and wildlife characteristics. Visitors will be closer to nature than they would be in other city parks." Construction on the sites began in 2002. In 2006, DEP finished capping and securing the land. "Most parks in the city are ground level parks," said Lee Shelley, president of the CAC. "But these are the only man made parks in the city. These parks also have height - the Pennsylvania site is 90 feet above sea level and the Fountain Avenue site is 120 feet above sea level. The parks are currently in childhood stages, but we can't wait until they're available for everyone in Canarsie, East New York and Howard Beach to enjoy." Officials say work on the Fountain Avenue site is approximately a year behind schedule but the parks are scheduled to open in 2012.
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