On the morning of January 25 the project team was made aware by the remedial contractor that a barge moored in the Bay Ridge Flats had taken on water and became submerged. At the time, the barge was planned for transport to the material processing facility in New Jersey.

Over the course of the week of January 25, the team responded to the incident and worked to safely recover the submerged barge.

On Tuesday, January 26, our crews successfully refloated the sunken barge by pumping water that had been taken on into a separate empty barge. The refloated barge was safely returned to the transloading area.

After refloating the barge, a small hole in the barge hull was identified and determined to be the cause of the barge taking on water. EPA has concluded that material released from the barge, if any, was minimal. The team is reviewing operating protocols and will be increasing inspection frequency to minimize the likelihood of any similar incidents occurring during future operations.

To read EPA’s full statement about the incident, please visit:
https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0206222

Dredging and pipe pile bulkhead installation were suspended temporarily while all efforts focused on reacting to the incident.

When the dredging and pipe pile bulkhead installation resume, please keep in mind that due to the high volume of project related maritime traffic, the Carroll Street Bridge will remain in the open position from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM Monday through Friday to accommodate active construction. During this timeframe, Carroll Street will remain closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic between Bond Street and Nevins Street until further notice.

Photos of construction activities are provided on the remaining pages of this progress update.