President Trump's Budget Proposal Guts EPA, Superfund Cleanup

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — The federal budget proposed by President Trump on Tuesday would gut funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and its efforts to clean up "Superfund" sites around the country.

That could be bad news for cleanup efforts along the Gowanus Canal, one of the most toxic waterways in the country, that rely on funding in part from the federal government to move forward.

The proposed EPA budget calls for a cut of about $2.6 billion from the federal agency called to "protect human health and the environment." That would take the agency from about $8.2 million in the 2017 fiscal year to $5.7 in 2018. That 31 percent slash would be the largest percentage reduction of any federal agency.

Within the agency, Superfund cleanup would go from $709.7 million to about $515.8, a slash of $193.9 million.

At a meeting Tuesday night of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group, a panel of people in and around the neighborhood that acts as a community liaison with the EPA, Christos Tsiamis, the project manager of the cleanup, said he is confident the site will get money through a settlement.

"We are confident that we are going to have some kind of settlement that will bring us additional money," Tsiamis told the group. "It remains the same. The way we see it is that whatever happens in Washington will not affect us at this stage, because we do have money committed. And we do expect to get money through a site specific settlement."

You can see the full EPA budget proposal here.

Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called Trump's budget — which also includes deep cuts for social programs while boosting military spending — "comic-book villain bad."

"The Trump budget takes a sledgehammer to the middle class and the working poor, lavishes tax breaks on the wealthy and imagines all of the deficit problems away with fantasy math," Schumer said.

Of course, it's important to note that presidential budget proposals are just that and nothing more. Congress and the Senate ultimately pass the nation's budget, and they may not be so willing to take a blowtorch to programs for the poor as Trump is.

And EPA head Scott Pruitt said he will prioritize Superfund cleanup sites that cost more than $50 million, which puts the $500 million Gowanus Canal project comfortably ahead of that milestone.

Lead photo by Steven Pisano/Flickr