Where are the environmental activists?
Laura Hofmann is getting tired. She has just sent out an email blast to a number of public officials, community leaders and reporters about refuse that has been washing up on the steps of the Newtown Creek Nature Walk and an oily film that has blanketed sections of the waterway. A mother of six and grandmother of three, Hofmann is a constant presence at community meetings throughout the neighborhood, including the Newtown Creek Alliance, Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee, Open Space Alliance, Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, Community Board One’s Transportation and Environment Committees and full board meetings. Whenever there is an environmental forum about toxic soil contaminants in Greenpoint, or a press conference urging the EPA to add Newtown Creek to the federal Superfund list, Hofmann is there. The problem is that few other people are. “Where are the young environmental activists?” Hofmann asked, just after a public information forum on the state’s efforts to clean up chlorina
