On Thursday, April 20, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, and Assembly Member Felix Ortiz to announce $36 million in federal, state, and city funds for the environmental cleanup and redevelopment of the Bush Terminal Piers on the Sunset Park waterfront.

The City of New York will remediate the Bush Terminal Piers Open Space Site between 43rd and 51st Streets. Soil, groundwater, and sediment at and underneath the site became contaminated in the 1970s due to the unauthorized disposal of construction and demolition debris, as well as liquid wastes, including oils, oil sludges, and wastewater.

The remediation area consists of approximately 14 acres of urban land that was created by landfilling between four piers (Piers 1 through 4) which were part of Bush Terminal. Most of the landfilled areas are covered with grasses or soils, with mature trees between Pier 2 and 3, and two pond areas on the northern portion of the property. The site is currently fenced to prevent public access.

“Not only are we helping build a new park in a growing community that is starved for open space; not only are we creating desperately needed new jobs at manufacturing facilities planned nearby; and not only are we cleaning up an environmental eyesore that has festered for too long,” said Borough President Markowitz. “What we are all here to say to Brooklynites and New Yorkers is that with our leadership and our continued cooperation, in the days to come, the wonderful natural resource that is Brooklyn’s waterfront will be inaccessible no more.”