Congressman Goldman Pushes for Hazardous Superfund Site Cleanup Funding in FY 2024 Budget

Over 1,300 Toxic Superfund Sites Pose Significant Risks to Human Health and Environment

Gowanus Superfund Site in NY-10 Leaking Toxic Fumes into Nearby Residences, Businesses, and Recreational Center

Read the Letter Here

Washington D.C. – Last week, Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez (NY-7) led a group of 30 members of Congress in requesting increased funding for the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account to stimulate the cleanup effort of over 1,300 Superfund sites across the country. Superfund sites are contaminated sites that pose significant risk of human health and the environment, often causing lifelong health complications or death. The Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund site in 2010 while the cleanup effort only began in 2020.

This request is one of Congressman Goldman’s letters to the House Appropriations Committee for inclusion in the Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2024.

“While cleanup efforts have finally begun on a number of Superfund sites, including the Gowanus Canal, we are still far from the robust cleanup effort necessary to protect the health of our communities,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “This funding will ensure efficient and adequate cleanup projects receive the urgent care required to remove hazardous materials and preserve public health. I am proud to lead my colleagues as we fight to eliminate hazardous pollution and create a cleaner future for all of us.”

“The EPA’s Superfund program is vital to districts like NY-7, which is home to three Superfund sites. These sites pose substantial environmental and health risks to our communities if clean-up efforts aren’t properly supported,” Congresswoman Velázquez said. “For years, I’ve been proud to lead the effort to ensure adequate funding for this vital program. By investing in the Superfund account, we can revitalize contaminated areas across the country and protect the health of our families.”

Congressman Goldman led his colleagues in requesting $356 million to fund the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account for the Fiscal Year 2024. Since 2010, the number of Superfund sites has grown from 1,282 in FY 2010 to 1,327 in 2021. Superfund sites disproportionately impact communities of color, low-income households, and families living in public housing. In 2020, the Shriver Center on Poverty Law found that “seventy percent of the most hazardous, polluted sites in the United States are located within one mile of federally assisted housing.”

The Gowanus Superfund site located at the Gowanus Canal in NY-10 was designated a Superfund site over a decade ago with cleanup efforts only beginning in 2021. The Environmental Protection Agency considers the Gowanus Canal “one of the nation’s most seriously contaminated water bodies.” It has been demonstrated that toxic cancer-causing chemicals have risen into buildings near the Gowanus Superfund site for over two years. Projects meant to reduce and ventilate the underground pollution will not be completed until the end of 2024.

This increased funding to the Hazardous Substance Superfund Account would ensure a more efficient cleanup process to protect the various communities located near Superfund sites.