The Gowanus Canal’s Toxic Upside

Artifacts! Not only will residents benefit from an environmental cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, but also archaeologists. According to the New York Times, there’s a good likelihood that historical treasures from the Revolutionary War or other eras will be uncovered beneath the muck and chemical debris. The Environmental Protection Agency will be in charge of managing the superfund site and reportedly does a thorough job documenting and preserving what bubbles to the surface. (Photo: edwhitaker/flickr)

By on March 15, 2011 at 10:53 am
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Hoping to avoid the stigma of a Superfund project which could “scare away developers,” the city is proposing a new plan to cleanup the polluted Gowanus Canal. Officials claim their proposal would more quickly rid the waterway of “pesticides, metals and cancer-causing chemicals called PCBs” and “allow polluters to voluntarily pay for the cleanup” costs. Naturally, E.P.A. officials are skeptical that the nearly dozen responsible parties would ever come to agreement with one another. |NYT|

By on July 2, 2009 at 11:04 am
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Gowanus Canal May Become Superfund Site

The Environmental Protection Agency is planning to declare Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal a Superfund site, a move that would bring in federal money to thoroughly cleanup the polluted waterway. The EPA reports that sediment in the canal is “contaminated with a variety of pollutants, including pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals and volatile organic contaminants (VOCs), and significant contamination associated with coal tar.” There’s widespread support for flushing out the canal, however critics worry that proposed developments in the area will be delayed, or even killed, by the cleanup efforts. Some developers are even concerned that the Superfund status has too much negative stigma, as though the 1.8-mile cesspool didn’t have any already. |NY Times|

Photo by Will Sherman

By on April 10, 2009 at 11:09 am
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