There is a petition by the Friends of Douglass Greene Park to save the Double D pool. They are petitioning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Region 2 to insist the polluters pay, not our community! Sign the petition here today! Comments on the plan are due April 27th.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its proposed plan for the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund site. As part of the plan, the EPA is proposing to close a much loved community resource, the “Double D” community pool, to excavate and build a 2 to17 million gallon raw sewage storage facility with flow through tanks beneath it.
The Double D pool was slated to be closed by the Mayor’s office just two years ago and the neighborhood residents successfully rallied against this closure to save the pool. The pool serves nearby public housing and neighborhood residents during the summer season, and provides free swimming lessons, and free breakfast and lunch are served while school is out. It also serves as a cooling center during heat waves and has a unique toddler pool which our youngest residents enjoy.
While Friends of Douglass Greene Park support a comprehensive Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, we also insist that Superfund follow its own principles and make the polluters pay, not our community!
For these reasons, we, the undersigned, strongly oppose the EPA’s proposed placement of a raw sewage retention tank to be built beneath the Douglass and Degraw (Double D) community pool and request that an alternative location for the proposed raw sewage retention tank be identified and selected.
We also ask for guarantees to our community that any displacement or disruption to the Thomas Greene Park and Double D Pool as a result of the EPA Gowanus Canal Superfund cleanup provide for seamless transition of the park facilities (pool, playground, skatepark, basketball courts) and services (the School Food Lunch, Learn to Swim, cooling centers, etc.) at a nearby location.
Sign the petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/epa-make-the-polluters-pay-not-our-community-save-the-double-d-pool