Newton Creek Needs Massive Cleanup

The Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday that Newton Creek, which separates Brooklyn and Queens, has been added to the Superfund’s National Priorities List. As such, the 3 1/2 mile body of water will be cleaned of toxic materials left behind from a 1950 ExxonMobil oil spill, according to the New York Post. “The biggest problem with Newtown Creek is we just don’t know how dangerous the pollution is,” Evan Thies, spokesman for Newtown Creek Alliance, told the Post. The Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund site in March; the cleanup of that site has been estimated to cost between $300 and $500 million.