Canal Gowanus is not just considered to be one of the most polluted water bodies in the country. In 2010, the Agency for environmental protection has brought the Brooklyn waterfront with a long 1.8 mile to the list of contaminated sites under the Superfund program, and since then local community groups and authorities are working on its purification.
The bottom of the channel covers 10 feet of toxic sludge, which is called «black mayonnaise«. Poisonous thick slurry is the result of ten years of activities of industrial companies, particularly those engaged in the production of gasoline, dumping waste in the waterway. This month, the Agency for environmental protection will take an important step in their long struggle for the purity of the channel. This was reported by the project coordinator, Natalie Loney.
A new stage in the transformation of feed from a lifeless wasteland into a relatively clean waterway is to get rid of the sediment in the turning basin on 4th Street. Date of start of work yet to be announced, but Lonnie said that the preparatory stage will begin later this month.
Last fall, the Agency for environmental protection has completed a pilot project to remove contaminants and debris from the canal. Then he removed two old boats and wood. This project helped the workers to determine the best cleaning methods that will be used this time.
It is expected that cleaning work in the Gowanus canal will be completed in 2022, but it’s possible that deadlines will be shifted. The residents of Brooklyn for many years sought a solution to the problem of contaminated channel, and future work must bring relief to all who every day is forced to pass by one of the city’s waterways.
