What is the history of the site?
The Newtown Creek Superfund site is a 3.8-mile reach that includes Newtown Creek and its tributaries: Dutch Kills, Maspeth Creek, Whale Creek, East Branch, and English Kills. The site is the ancestral territory of the Munsee Lenape and Canarsie Native American Tribes. The waterway during this time was known by the different Lenape translations either as maspaethes “great brook with tides,” mech-pe-is~it “bad-water place,” or massapichtit “lands of those living here and there.”
Over a period of approximately 200 years, during European Colonization, the American Revolution, and the beginning of the Second Industrial Age, Newtown Creek and its surroundings underwent major transitions. By the mid-1800s, the area next to Newtown Creek was one of the busiest industrial areas in New York City. In 1856, the City began dumping raw sewage into the water. During World War II, the creek was one of the busiest ports in the nation. Factories, warehouses, petroleum bulk storage facilities, municipal utility infrastructure, and other industrial commercial facilities still operate along the creek. As a result of its industrial history, including countless spills, Newtown Creek is one of the nation’s most polluted waterways.
Potential contaminants of concern (PCOCs) in creek sediments include metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
The compounds pose potential risks to both humans and the ecosystem. For people, the risks are created when a person comes in contact with the contaminants. They can do this by eating fish/shellfish, coming in contact with water or sediment, or breathing airborne toxins. Today, the following cautions are in order:
- Eating fish or shellfish from the Creek is not advised.
- Swimming or wading in the Creek could harm health and should be avoided.
- Recreational boaters should minimize contact with water and wash or bathe afterwards.
- Some construction workers face increased health risks.
For a detailed story map of the Creek, please visit: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d38389f05a94d5e8bb67ef7e5b03b32
What is Superfund?
In response, Congress established the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980.
CERCLA is informally called Superfund. It allows the US EPA to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work. The Region 2 EPA Regional Office oversees this Superfund site.
Why is the Creek a Superfund Site?
In the 1990s, Concerned Citizens of Greenpoint formed and a modern local effort was set in motion to improve the quality of life for the residents living alongside the industrial Newtown Creek. By the early 2000s, advocacy led to public attention to the Creek’s pollution. After lawsuits by the State of New York and citizen’s groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began a preliminary assessment and site inspection (PA/SI) in 2009 and listed Newtown Creek on the National Priorities List (NPL) of Superfund sites in 2010.
The Creek, for the purposes of Superfund, is defined generally, as the water and sediment of Newtown Creek and its tributaries up to and including the landward edge of the shoreline
In 2011, EPA issued an administrative order on consent (AOC) that requires the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) to complete a remedial investigation and feasibility study (RI/FS) for Newtown Creek under EPA oversight. Today, most of the Newtown Creek Site is in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) phase. The remedial investigation (RI) serves as the mechanism for collecting data to characterize site conditions, determine the nature of the waste, assess risk to human health and the environment, and conduct treatability testing to evaluate the potential performance and cost of the treatment technologies that are being considered. The feasibility study (FS) is the mechanism for the development, screening, and detailed evaluation of alternative remedial actions.
The RI and FS are conducted concurrently – data collected in the RI influence the development of remedial alternatives in the FS, which in turn affect the data needs and scope of treatability studies and additional field investigations. This phased approach encourages the continual scoping of the site characterization effort, which minimizes the collection of unnecessary data and maximizes data quality.
In terms of administration, the site has been divided into Operable Units (OUs). Operable units (OUs), may address geographic areas, specific problems, or medium (e.g., groundwater, soil) where a specific action is required. The remedies are displayed for the OU numbers indicated in the original decision document. OU numbers may change over time. OU1 is the entire Creek from the mouth of the East River to the head of the Creek. OU2 is the Superfund aspect of the City of New York’s approach to combined sewage overflows (CSOs). There was a proposed OU3 which would have covered an early action remedy for the first two (2) miles of the Creek, however this option was not proceeded with. OU4 is a portion of the entire Creek and is slated for an expedited cleanup. OU4 is the East Branch of the Creek.
After a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) is completed for an operable unit, EPA selects a remedy (i.e. a cleanup plan) in a decision document called a Record of Decision (ROD). Leading up to the ROD, EPA selects a preferred remedy and presents this remedy in a document called the Proposed Plan. After the ROD, detailed cleanup plans are developed and put in place during the remedial design and remedial action (RD/RA) stage. Cleanup completion and monitoring follow, during the construction completion and post-construction completion stages. Once the site remedies are fully protective of public health and the environment, EPA will remove the site from the NPL (a process known as “delisting”).
Full details about the process and the site can be found on the US EPA Newtown Creek Superfund Site web page.
Who are the Potentially Responsible Parties?
As of March 5, 2025, EPA has issued notice of liability letters naming the following entities as Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs):
- Phelps Dodge Refining Corporation, Texaco, Inc.
- BP Products North America Inc.
- The Brooklyn Union Gas Company d/b/a National Grid NY
- ExxonMobil Oil Corporation
- The City of New York
- Simsmetal East LLC
- Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
- National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
- American Premier Underwriters, Inc.
- SWC Limited Partnership (formerly Connell Limited Partnership)
- The Long Island Railroad Company
- Motiva Enterprises, LLC
- Shell Oil Company
- Darling Ingredients Inc.
- Sunoco Entities: Sunoco, Inc. and Energy Transfer, LP
- Enviri (formerly Harsco Corporation)
- The Brink’s Company
- ConocoPhillips
- Howmet Aerospace Inc.
- Pfizer Inc.
- Valvoline Inc.
- Waste Management of New York, LLC
- Cascades Holding US Inc.
- Republic Services, Inc. Entities: Browning-Ferris Industries of New York, Inc. and BFI Waste Systems of New Jersey, Inc.
- Honeywell International Inc.
- U.S. General Services Administration
- U.S. Department of Navy
Related Clean-Up Efforts
While not a part of the Superfund program, two other related programs are ongoing:
1. Upland property investigation and remediation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is currently investigating adjacent upland properties along the Creek that were or are contributors to the Creek’s contamination. The figure below identifies these properties.
2. Long Term Control Plan for combined sewage overflows (CSOs)
There are 22 combined sewage overflows (CSOs) draining directly into the Newtown Creek discharging some 1.2 billion gallons annually. CSOs occur where the sewage system was designed to collect both wastewater and storm runoff in the same pipes. In dry weather wastewater is transported to a treatment plant. But during periods of heavy rainfall, the combined sewage and stormwater volume can exceed a sewage treatment plant’s capacity. The CSOs are designed to overflow during heavy precipitation events and discharge excess wastewater directly into Newtown Creek. NYSDEC has required NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop a long-term control plan (LTCP) to reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) into the Creek to comply with Clean Water Act standards.