Gowanus Canal
Gowanus Canal | |
---|---|
Superfundsite | |
![]() View fromUnion Street Bridge | |
Geography | |
City | Brooklyn,New York City |
County | Kings |
State | New York |
Coordinates | 40°40′1″N74°0′11″W/ 40.66694°N 74.00306°W |
![]() Map of the canal and its crossings | |
Information | |
CERCLIS ID | NYN000206222 |
Contaminants | PAHs,VOCs,PCBs,pesticides, metals |
Progress | |
Proposed | September 4, 2009 |
Listed | April 3, 2010 |
List of Superfund sites |
TheGowanus Canal(originally known asGowanus Creek) is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km)canalin theNew York City boroughofBrooklyn,on the westernmost portion ofLong Island.Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century as domesticshippingdeclined. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs, and barges. It is among the most polluted bodies of water in the United States.
Connected to Gowanus Bay inUpper New York Bay,the Gowanus Canal borders the neighborhoods ofRed Hook,Carroll Gardens,andGowanus,all withinSouth Brooklyn,to the west;Park Slopeto the east;Boerum HillandCobble Hillto the north; andSunset Parkto the south. Sevenbridgesor viaducts cross the canal, carrying, from north to south, Union Street,Carroll Street,Third Street, theNew York City Subway'sCulver Viaduct,Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, and theGowanus Expressway.
The canal was created in the mid-19th century from local tidalwetlandsand freshwater streams. For roughly a century, heavy industrial use poured pollutants into the canal. Various attempts to remove the pollution or dilute the canal's water have failed. High ratios offecal coliforms,deadly proportions ofpathogens,and a low concentration ofoxygenhave left it generally incompatible with macroscopic marine life, although a variety ofextremophileshave been observed in the canal.
Despite the canal's heavy pollution, its proximity to Manhattan and upper-class Brooklyn neighborhoods is attracting concerted waterfront redevelopment. This has restarted calls forenvironmental cleanup,and prompted concerns that adjacentwaterfront economic developmentwould be incompatible with environmental restoration and environmental risks. It was designated aSuperfundsite in 2009, and work to clean up the canal began in 2013.
Course
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/The_Gowanus_Canal_-_Brooklyn%27s_very_own_Superfund_site_-_panoramio.jpg/260px-The_Gowanus_Canal_-_Brooklyn%27s_very_own_Superfund_site_-_panoramio.jpg)
The Gowanus Canal begins at Butler Street in the neighborhood ofBoerum Hill,in the northwestern part of Brooklyn. The wastewater pumping station at 201-234 Butler Street, aterracottastructure dating to 1911,[1]: 167 [2]is located north of the canal's head.[3][4]: 7 The canal then runs in a south-southwest alignment parallel to the local street grid. Its course is located mid-block between Bond Street to the west and Nevins Street to the east.[5]Along the way it passes bridges at Union Street, Carroll Street, and Third Street from south to north. While the Union Street and Third Street Bridges are movablebascule bridges,theCarroll Street Bridgeis aretractable bridgethat can be rolled diagonally to let ships through.[6]
The western bank of the Gowanus Canal hosts aboat launchat Second Street.[7]: 8 The Second Street boat launch is located adjacent to a "Sponge Park", which absorbs pollutants from the western bank before they can go into the canal.[8]At Fourth Street, the Fourth Street Basin splits off to the east, while the Gowanus Canal proper turns west.[5]A walkway with seating, built as part of the construction of aWhole Foods Market,is located on the north bank of the 4th Street Basin.[7]: 8
At Hoyt Street, two blocks west of Bond Street, the canal turns south with two extratributariesat the east: one 480-foot-long (150 m) tributary at Seventh Street, and another 700-foot-long (210 m) near Sixth Street.[5]Shortly afterward, it crosses under the Ninth Street Bridge, avertical-lift bridgeopened in 1999.[6]TheNew York City Subway'sCulver Viaduct,a 90-foot-tall (27 m) fixed-span viaduct, crosses above the Ninth Street Bridge.[9][10]The viaduct contains theSmith–Ninth Streetsstation, which is partially located above the canal[10]and is served by theF,<F>,and Gtrains.[11]There is a short tributary to the east, about 185 feet (56 m) long, connecting to the parking lot of aLowe'shome-improvement store to the east, and Hamilton Plaza: a shopping center located at 1-37 12th Street which formerly housed aPathmarksupermarket and aDunkin' Donutsdirectly to the south.[5][12]At this point, a walkway leads from Lowe's north to Ninth Street along the northern bank of the tributary and the eastern bank of the canal.[7]: 8 [13][14]Owing to its hidden location, the waterfront promenade has seen little use.[15]
At approximately 14th Street along the eastern bank, Hamilton Avenue and theGowanus Expresswaycross the canal at a diagonal from southeast to northwest, connecting to Lorraine Street on the western bank.[5]Separate movable bascule bridges built in 1942 carry both directions of Hamilton Avenue's traffic,[6]while the Gowanus Expressway rises on a viaduct far above the canal.[16]
The Gowanus Canal's mouth is at the Gowanus Bay, a portion ofUpper New York Baybordering western Brooklyn. The mouth is located near 19th Street on the eastern bank, or Bryant Street on the western bank. The canal takes a north-northeasterly course from this point, running east of Smith Street. An asphalt plant and marine transfer station are located on the canal's eastern bank, as well as aHome Depotand aFedExShipping Center.[5]
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]Mill Creek
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/BrooklynMap1766.jpg/240px-BrooklynMap1766.jpg)
The Gowanus neighborhood originally surrounded Gowanus Creek. It consisted of a tidalinletof navigablecreeksin original saltwatermarshlandandmeadowsthat containedwildlife.TheDutch governmentissued the first land patents withinBreukelen(modern-day Brooklyn), including the land of the Gowanus, from 1630 to 1664. In 1636, the leaders ofNew Netherlandbought the area around the Gowanus Bay. In 1639, the inhabitants swapped land claims with each other to build a tobaccoplantation.[17]The area's early settlers named the waterway "Gowanes Creek" afterGouwane,sachem(chief) of the localLenapetribe called theCanarsee,who farmed on theshores.[17][18][1]: 167
Adam Brouwer, who had been a soldier in the service of theDutch West India Company,built and operated the firsttide-watergristmillpatented in New York at Gowanus. The mill was located on land that was deeded on July 8, 1645, to Jan Evertse Bout. It was the first gristmill in the town of Breukelen and the first mill to operate in New Netherland. The mill was located north of Union Street, west of Nevins Street, and next to Bond Street. A second mill—Denton's Mill, also called Yellow Mill—was built on Denton's Mill Pond, after permission was granted todredgefrom the creek to the mill pond once located between Fifth Avenue and the present-day canal at Carroll and Third Streets. On May 26, 1664, several Breuckelen residents, headed by Brouwer, petitionedDirector GeneralPeter Stuyvesantand his Council for permission to dredge a canal at their own expense through the land of Frederick Lubbertsen to supply water to run the mill. The petition was presented to the council on May 29, 1664, and the motion was granted. Another mill, Cole's Mill, was located just about at present day 9th Street, between Smith Street and the canal. Cole's Mill Pond, located north of 9th Street, occupied the present location of Public Place.[19]
Farms and oyster fishing
[edit]In 1700, a settler named Nicholas Vechte built a farmhouse of brick and stone now known as theOld Stone House.In 1776, during theBattle of Long Island,American troops engagedBritish Army troopsat the house, enabling GeneralGeorge Washingtonto relocate his troops behind American lines.[20]This house sat at the southeastern edge of the Denton's Mill pond. Brower's Mill, also known as Freeks Mill or Brouwer's Mill, was located at the present-day intersection of Union and Nevins Streets. It can be seen in drawings depicting theBattle of Brooklyn.[21]
Throughout this period, a few Dutch farmers settled along the marshland and engaged inclammingof largeoystersthat became a notable first export to Europe.[1]: 169 [22]The Gowanus Bay's 6-foot (1.8 m)tidespushedbrackish waterfurther into the creek, creating an environment where largebivalvesthrived. In succeeding generations, negativeartificial selectionslowly reduced the size of the bivalves, since smaller bivalves were better adapted to the creek's water. Larger bivalves were less likely to survive, and thus, less likely to reproduce.[23]In 1774 the Government of New York enacted a law to widen the creek into a canal, to keep the watercourse in good condition, and to levy taxes on people who used land near it.[18]
Industrial use
[edit]Transformation to city
[edit]By the mid-19th century, the City of Brooklyn was quickly growing and was the United States' third-largest city. The creek and surrounding agricultural land was now part of an urban agglomeration, consisting of villages along the creek's shores.[17]That same shoreline of river and swamp functioned as both a transportation system and an informal sewage system for the growing city.[24]The valley's watershed is approximately 6 square miles (16 km2) and includes drainage from what are now the adjacent neighborhoods of Carroll Gardens and Park Slope.[25]Wealthier residents tended to live inland and uphill to avoid the smells and "discomforts" of lower areas. Industries, which needed water for processing, transport, and disposal of wastes, gravitated toward sites along the shoreline.[24]
The mills on the Gowanus were home to public landing sites, connecting the water route to the old Gowanus Road. As the local population grew, and the 19th-century industrial revolution reached Brooklyn, the need for larger navigational anddocking facilitiesgrew. Colonel Daniel Richards, a successful local merchant, advocated building a canal to benefit existing inland industries, and draining the surrounding marshes forland reclamationthat would raise property values.[26]
In 1849, under a decree by theNew York Legislature,the Gowanus Creek was deepened so it could be used as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) commercial waterway connected toUpper New York Bay.The creek's dredging was completed in 1860.[17]Another act of the Legislature in 1867 allowed the canal to be deepened further.[27]In the same decade, a developer named Edwin Litchfield undertook a project to straighten the creek into a canal.[1]: 167
At the time the 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km),[28]100-foot-wide (30 m)[29]canal was built, several designs were proposed for it. Some included lock systems that would have allowed daily flushing of the whole waterway. However, these designs were considered too expensive.[16]After exploring numerous alternative (and some more environmentally sound) designs, the final plan was chosen for its low cost.United States Army Corps of Engineers(USACE) Major David Bates Douglass was hired to design the canal, which was essentially complete by 1869. The cost of the construction came from assessments on the local residents of Brooklyn and State money.[30]
Industrial heyday and massive pollution
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Gowanus-1851.jpg/290px-Gowanus-1851.jpg)
Despite its relatively short length, the Gowanus Canal was a hub for Brooklyn's maritime and commercial shipping activity. At its busiest, as many as 100 ships a day transported cargo through it.[24]In addition, the industrial sector around the canal grew substantially over time to include stone and coal yards;flour mills;cement works, andmanufactured gas plants;tanneries,factories for paint, ink, and soap;machine shops;chemical plants;andsulfurproducers. All of these industries emitted substantialwaterandairborne pollutants.[18][31]Chemical fertilizers were manufactured along the canal soon after theCivil War.[32]: 5
Coal processing had been a dominant industry since 1869.[31]: 3 (PDF p. 6) By the late 19th century, there were 22 coal plants with frontage on the canal.[18]Coal plants along the upper canal used large amounts of water in the conversion of coal to coke, liquids and gases. Coal gas was soon used for heating, light, and factory power. Coke was used to make steel. Wastewater andcoal tar(now known to be a source ofcarcinogens) were dumped back into the canal. Brooklyn's slaughterhouses dumped blood and other wastes into the canals.[24]
There was no through-flow of water and the canal was open at only one end, but the hope was that tides would be enough to flush the waterway.[33]With the canal's wooden and concrete embankments, the strong tides of fresh diurnal doses of oxygenated water fromNew York Harborwere barred from flowing into the channel. With the high level of development in the Gowanus watershed area, excessivenitratesandpathogensare constantly flowing into the canal, further depleting the oxygen and creating breeding grounds for the pathogens responsible for the canal's odor.Water qualitymeasures of the concentration ofoxygenin the canal were just 1.5ppm,well below the minimum 4 ppm needed to sustain life.[16]The canal water took on a reddish-purple color, and a colloidal mixture described as "black mayonnaise" accumulated on its bottom.[24]
In 1887, the New York State Legislature closed the Bond Street outflow point.[34]By 1889, pollution in the Gowanus Canal had become so bad that the Legislature appointed a commission to study ways to ameliorate the canal's condition.[35]It concluded that the canal would be best off if it were closed to commercial traffic and then covered-over.[36]The commission also called the canal "a disgrace to Brooklyn" because of the foul smells arising from the waterway.[37]
Attempts to lessen pollution
[edit]The first step to ameliorate the canal's pollution was the 1890s construction of the Bond Street sewer pipeline that carried sewage out into the harbor. This proved inadequate. In the first attempt to improve flow at the northern, closed end of the canal, the "Big Sewer" was constructed from Marcy Avenue inProspect Heightsto Green and 4th Avenues in Gowanus. It then entered the canal at an inflow point near Butler Street.[17][38]Scientific Americanfeatured this sewer design for its innovative construction method and size.[39]The area the sewer ran through was known as the "Flooded District".[34][40]It was believed that this new sewer would serve two purposes: to drain the flooded district, and to use the flow of that excessive water to move the water of the upper Gowanus Canal.[41]The tunnel was completed by 1893, but Brooklyn residents complained their sewage outputs were not connected to the Big Sewer.[42]TheBrooklyn Daily Eagleinitially hailed the sewer's size and extent.[38]However, the newspaper declared it an "engineering blunder" in 1898, saying the Big Sewer caused sewage to go back into the Gowanus Canal, rather than its intended purpose of draining sewage from it.[43]
During the first decade of the 20th century, up to 700 structures were built in South Brooklyn every year.[17]Thriving industry brought many new people to the area, but important questions aboutwastewatersanitationhad not been properly addressed to handle such growth. All sewage from the new buildings drained downhill and into the Gowanus. Since there was less open ground than before, rainwater now went onto the roofs of the buildings and down into the canal. The building of new sewer connections only compounded the problem by dischargingraw sewagefrom farther away neighborhoods into the canal. Pollutants, stormrunoff,and discharge from the sewage system combined to make the canal's malodor so disgusting it was nicknamed "Lavender Lake".[17][31]: 4 (PDF p. 7) [33][44]Compounding the problem, area property owners sued the city for damages related to the flooding issues that plagued the canal.[34][40]
By 1910, complaints were being made about the canal's water being almost solid waste,[45]: 186–187 which provoked the installation of a flushing tunnel that was 12 feet (3.7 m) across.[31]: 4 (PDF p. 7) [46]The Butler Street Pumping Station, aBeaux-Artsstructure at the canal's inland end, opened on June 21, 1911.[1]: 167 The new flushing tunnel connected to the Pumping Station.[1]: 168 [46]At first, the brick-lined 1.2-mile (1.9 km) tunnel supplied clean water from theButtermilk Channelbetween Brooklyn andGovernors Island,carried it eastward underneath Butler Street, and discharged the clean water at the mouth of the Gowanus Canal.[17]The flushing tunnel also failed, and aside from numerous operational glitches, a long series of errors and mistakes occurred throughout the 1960s. This culminated in an incident when a city worker dropped amanhole cover,severely damaging the pump system, which was already suffering from the effects of the corrosivesalt water.[45]: 186–187 TheClean Water Actof 1972 had not yet been passed,[1]: 169 and the city, stretched for funds at the time, did nothing to address the issue. As a result of the unrepaired damage to the flushing tunnel, and the long stretch of economic recession, the waters of the canal lay stagnant and under-used for years.[17]
Reputation as dumping ground
[edit]There is anurban legendthat the canal served as a dumping ground for theMafia.Some cases are on record: news reports state that the bodies of a Brooklyn racketeer in the 1930s and a president of the Grain Handlers Union in the 1940s were found in the Gowanus Canal.[47]InLavender Lake,a 1998 documentary film about the canal, twoNew York City policediscussed the then-recent discovery of a suitcase containing human body parts that was taken from the waterway by fishermen.[48]
There have been reports of not just persons who have died in or near the canal, but vessels lost as well. For instance, on January 2, 1889, the tug boat "Hugh Bond" sank in the canal during a gale, though the crew escaped.[49]On May 10, 1892, the canal boatAlphasank with a cargo of coal.[50]On December 31, 1903, a dredge was found sunk in the canal, and an unnamed engineer/nightwatchman was reported missing and believed to be drowned.[51]
Economic decline
[edit]With six million tons of cargo produced and trafficked annually though the waterway afterWorld War I,the Gowanus Canal became the nation's busiest commercial canal, and arguably the most polluted. The heavy sewage flow into the canal required regular dredging to keep the waters navigable. By the 1950s Brooklyn's fuel trade was already converting from coal and artificial gas to petroleum, which was served by the wider and deeperNewtown Creek,and natural gas, which arrived bypipeline.In 1951, with the opening of the elevatedGowanus Expresswayover the waterway, easy access for trucks and cars catalyzed industry slightly. The expressway carried 150,000 daily vehicles, which unloaded tons of toxic emissions into the air and water beneath.[16]Around this time, sewage going to the Gowanus Canal was redirected into sewage treatment plants near the Buttermilk Channel.[31]: 4 (PDF p. 7)
With the early 1960s growth ofcontainerization,the number of industrial waterfront jobs in the state declined, and the canal's industries were no exception. With much fanfare, the USACE completed its last dredging of the canal in 1955, and soon afterward abandoned its regular dredging schedule, deeming it to no longer be cost-effective.[52]The intake fan that brought Buttermilk Channel water into the flushing tunnel broke in 1963,[53]leading to its closure.[1]: 169 A year later, theVerrazano-Narrows Bridgeopened, eliminating the need for industrial boats to use the canal at all, since trucks could use the bridge andInterstate 278to ship goods from around the country to the Gowanus area.[54]
With the failure of the city sewage and pump station infrastructure, the Gowanus Canal was used as a derelict dumping place.[29]It remained in that condition for almost three decades.[54]By 1993, a single company was actively using the Gowanus Canal as a shipping channel, and three of the drawbridges along the canal would only retract to let that company's boats pass.[18]The few remaining barges mostly carried fuel oil, sand, gravel and scrap metal for export. The canal still serves as a port moving goods in and out of Brooklyn.[54]
Environmental cleanup
[edit]Early attempts at cleanup
[edit]External videos | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() | |
![]() |
Repeated calls have been made to revitalize the economy and the environment of the Gowanus area. The first major U.S. law that would allow this, a law to address water pollution, was theFederal Water Pollution Control Actof 1948. It was followed by the establishment of theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) in 1970 and the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972.[55]
Beginning in the 1960s, locals formed the Carroll Gardens Association (CGA) to lobby for civic improvements, including cleanup of the Gowanus Canal.[56][57][58]Long-time restaurateur Nick Monte called it a "stinking, cancerous sore"[56]: 327 and a "stinking cesspool".[57]CGA founder Salvatore "Buddy" Scotto Jr. referred to the canal as "the most polluted waterway in the world", and "the spine of our deterioration", relating it directly to the economic problems of the area.[57]In 1971, theCity of New Yorkheld hearings on a Gowanus Industrial Urban Renewal Project, but did not support it with funding.[59]
In 1974, Scotto brought microbiologists from theNew York City Community College(nowNew York City College of Technology,or City Tech) to test the Gowanus Canal's water for bacteria. The organisms they found included several that causedtyphoid,cholera,dysentery,andtuberculosis.[56]: 325–326 The next year, funding was obtained for a preliminary assessment of the canal. Initial findings revealed an almost total absence of oxygen, much raw sewage, grease, oil, and sludge.[56]: 327 In 1978, construction began on the Red HookSewage Treatmentplant inVinegar Hillthat had been planned since the 1950s.[60]
A full study of the canal was published in 1981. It indicated that on an average day, more than 13,000,000 US gallons (49,000,000 L) of raw sewage emptied into it. The report also documented the decreasing use of the canal by industry and shipping. The number of industrial firms using the canal fell from nearly fifty in 1942 to six in 1981. The amount of freight brought through the canal was more than 55% lower, and the number of times the drawbridges on the canal was opened declined by almost 70%. The report put forward a number of recommendations, one of which was fi xing the flushing tunnel to increase the oxygen content of the water.[56]: 327
In 1987, the Red Hook Treatment Plant was opened, diverting more sewage input from the canal.[31]: 4 (PDF p. 7) [60]This $375 million plant[60]collected waste from the existing Bond Street sewer and brought the total ofcombined sewer overflow(CSO) points in the city to 14. With the opening of the new plant, the last dry-weather discharge into a New York City waterway ended, and the CSO points now only function during rain storms.[60][61]The next year a sewage pipe was installed within the flushing tunnel, but according to aNew York City Department of Environmental Protection(NYCDEP) engineer, the pipe was so poorly installed that it failed "almost immediately".[46]The city unsuccessfully attempted to fix the flushing tunnel's sewage pipe in 1998.[46]It was fixed in 1999 after engineers reversed the direction of the tunnel's fan. Previously, water from the canal had gone westward into the Buttermilk Channel, but now water from the channel went into the Gowanus Canal.[1]: 168 [53]
Superfund cleanup
[edit]Planning
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/Gowanus5bbtjeh.jpg/290px-Gowanus5bbtjeh.jpg)
In 2002, theUS Army Corps of Engineersentered into a cost-sharing agreement with the DEP to collaborate on a $5 million Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study of the Gowanus Canal area. It was to examine possible alternatives for ecosystem restoration such as dredging, and wetland andhabitatrestorationand be completed in 2005. Discussions turned to breaking down the hard edges of the canal to restore some of the natural processes to improve the overall environment of the Gowanus wetlands area. The DEP also initiated the Gowanus Canal Use and Standards Attainment project to meet the city's obligations under the Clean Water Act.[62]
In early 2006, the problem of wastewater management arose during a controversy over a plannedarenafor theBrooklyn Netsin nearbydowntown Brooklyn.The project, at that point calledPacific Park,was to include a basketball arena and 17 skyscrapers. The resulting sewage would flow into antiquatedcombined sewersthat can overflow when it rains.[63]The Gowanus Canal has 14 combined sewer overflow points.[64]: 2-16 to 2-17 The fear was the additional wastewater from the arena would lead to more frequent overflows in the canal.[63]
In March 2009, the EPA proposed that the canal be listed as aSuperfundcleanup site.[65][66]TheNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation(NYSDEC) supported this action. It had requested help from the EPA to address the canal's environmental problems. In May 2009, the city stepped forward to oppose the Superfund listing. For the first time it offered to produce a Gowanus cleanup plan that would match the work of a Superfund cleanup, but with a promise to accomplish it faster. The city said it could now achieve a faster cleanup than the EPA. It would fund the cleanup through taxpayer dollars from the state and city levels, while the EPA would seek its funding from the polluters.[67]The nonprofitGowanus Canal Conservancywas also founded in 2009, creating partnerships with the EPA, the NYCDEP, groups such asRiverkeeper,and universities such asCornellandRutgers.[68]On March 4, 2010, the EPA announced that it had placed the Gowanus Canal on its Superfund National Priorities List.[69][70]Following this, theCorp of Engineershalted their study immediately, giving all their research to the EPA.[71]
Initially, local residents resisted the EPA's proposed cleanup methods, as they feared that the toxic waste retrieved from the canal would instead be displaced onto nearby public areas.[28]By 2013, the NYCDEP was planning to reduce the sewage content of the canal by repairing the freshwater tunnel that flushed the Gowanus. The repair was designed to mitigate, but not eliminate, the sewage problem.[72]On September 27, 2013, the EPA approved a cleanup plan for the Gowanus Canal. The plan, which would cost $506 million was intended to be completed by 2022, and divided the canal into three segments split by 3rd Street and the Hamilton Avenue Bridge. The plan entailed three steps: dredging contaminated sediment from the bottom of the canal; capping the dredged areas; and implementing controls on combined sewer overflows to prevent future contamination. It also involved excavating and restoring approximately 475 feet (145 m) of the former 1st Street Basin and 25 feet (7.6 m) of the former 5th Street Basin.[73]The restoration was expected to be paid for by the host of entities deemed "responsible parties" for the pollution by the EPA, including Brooklyn Gas and Electric, now part ofNational Grid[74]and the City of New York.[75]
The EPA suggested seven plans for the cleanup.[76]In 2014, the EPA presented a proposal for containing toxic sludge in the Gowanus Canal.[24]TheVillage Voicereported two scenarios as most viable. These were estimated to take ten years to complete and would cost around $350–$450 million.[77]The first step in the plans was dredging, which was scheduled to begin in 2016. The second step was to lay down one of two different proposed "caps". The first "cap" proposal was for a concrete device, while the second was for a multi-layered device with pollutant-absorbent clay, a sand buffer, and ananchorcomposed of rocks.[77]Ultimately, the multi-layered cap was selected for installation in the canal.[73]However, there were concerns that the cleanup could pose a health risk.[78]
Beginning of cleanup
[edit]In early 2017, EPA administratorScott Pruitt,who had proposed many of the EPA budget changes and program eliminations, approved of the funding, saying that Superfund cleanups should be prioritized.[79][80]
Work on the cleanup process began in October 2017, and at the time, the cleanup was expected to cost $506 million.[81][82]The first phase of apilot studyat the canal's Fourth Street Turning Basin began in December 2016,[83]but was delayed while bulkheads were being installed along the canal's banks.[84]The pilot dredging uncovered several artifacts such as acrash boatfromWorld War II;industrial wooden bobbins for textiles; and 19th-century wagon wheels. These artifacts had to be cleaned of contaminants before archaeologists could study them.[85]In July 2018, during the pilot study, the promenade near Whole Foods was damaged due to contractor error.[86][87]The cleanup itself was expected to start in 2020[88][89]and be completed two years later.[87][84]The EPA issued a formal order on Tuesday, January 28, 2020, which initiated the first phase of the $506 million cleanup on the 1.8 mile long canal. This $125 million first phase would begin in September 2020 and last 30 months, though it wound up lasting 46 months ending in July 2024.[74][90]
On June 27, 2024, the EPA amended the 2020 order with a $369 million contract, beginning the second phase of cleanup, with no end date in sight.[90]
Components
[edit]EPA treatment
[edit]The canal's toxic sediment layer averages 10 feet (3.0 m) thick, and at some spots reaches 20 feet (6.1 m).[91]As part of the Superfund cleanup, the EPA would remove approximately 307,000 cubic yards (235,000 m3) of highly contaminated sediment from the upper and middle segments and 281,000 cubic yards (215,000 m3) of contaminated sediment from the lower segment. The sediment would be treated at an off-site facility.[73]
Then, at the locations where contamination had permeated the underlying sediment, the EPA would cap the dredges with multiple layers of clean material. The multi-layer caps consist of an "active" layer made of a specific type of clay that would remove contamination that could well up from below. Atop the clay layer is an "isolation" layer of sand and gravel that will ensure that the contaminants are not exposed. Next, an "armor" layer of heavier gravel and stone prevents boat traffic and canal currents from eroding the underlying layers. The topmost layer comprises sufficient clean sand atop the "armor" layer, filling the gaps in the layer of stones and establishing sufficient depth to restore the canal bottom as a habitat. In the middle and upper segments of the canal, where liquid coal tar has seeped into the natural sediment, the EPA would stabilize that sediment by mi xing it with concrete or similar materials. The stabilized areas would then be covered with the multiple-layer caps.[73]
As the Superfund model required the EPA to seek restitution from the Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), the estimated cost of the cleanup plan would be divided and distributed among more than 30 companies responsible for polluting the canal, as well as government entities like the New York City government and the United States Navy. Some of these companies, such asBrooklyn Union Gas,either no longer existed, had relocated, or had been renamed. If these defunct companies have been incorporated into another company, the property owners and the parent companies were expected to take responsibility, as are the companies that created or moved the pollutants around.[92]The EPA Superfund Gowanus report identified two major PRPs:National Grid(which later acquired Brooklyn Union Gas' successorKeySpan) and the New York City government.[73]
Reactivation of the flushing tunnel
[edit]According to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, plans to reactivate the flushing tunnel pump were proposed in 1982. Various events caused the project to be delayed until 1994. The tunnel was finally reactivated in 1999. The new design employed a 600horsepower(450 kW) motor, that pumped an average rate of 200,000,000 US gallons (760,000,000 L; 170,000,000 imp gal) a day of aerated water from theButtermilk Channelin theUpper New York Bayinto the head end of the canal. Although water was circulating through the tunnel, tidal forces meant it could only be pumped 11 hours a day. The water quality of samples taken while the flushing pump was operating was reported to have improved.[93]
In 2010, New York City began a four-year project to upgrade and reactivate the flushing tunnel. According toThe New York Times,the proposed plans included steps to "reconstruct the motor pit and replace the propeller with three modern vertical turbines; clean, patch and smooth the interior of the tunnel; replace the broken sewer pipe and encase it in concrete to improve water flow; and reduce the amount of sewer overflow into the canal by increasing capacity at a nearby pumping plant".[46]Increasing oxygen content was a major goal of the project.[46]The original plans were modified in 2012, afterHurricane Sandy,to protect critical equipment from flooding. In 2014, following completion of much of the work, the tunnel was reactivated at a cost of $177 million.[94][95]
Stormwater management
[edit]Throughout its history, the Gowanus Canal's sewage problems have been exacerbated by the effects of stormwater. For years, heavy rains have flooded streets and caused sewage lines to overflow, contributing to the canal's contamination.[96]Much of the Gowanus Canal area is at sea level, in aZone Arisk area for flooding.[24][97]To help prevent flooding, the city is investing in various methods of stormwater management. One related improvement has been the creation of specialized curbside gardens, orbioswales,along sidewalks to absorbstormwaterand reduce sewer overflows into the canal.[98]A community-based non-profit organization, theGowanus Canal Conservancy,is involved in stewardship of the bioswales.[99]In 2015, the city built Sponge Park, along the canal's western bank at Second Street. The park doubles as a stormwater catchment area, absorbing pollutants before they can go into the canal.[8]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Gowanus_Canal_turn_jeh.jpg/290px-Gowanus_Canal_turn_jeh.jpg)
Beginning in 2017, the city's Department of Environmental Protection built several miles of high-level storm sewers (HLSS) to prevent stormwater from flooding the city's sewage system.[81]The new storm sewers carry stormwater collected in new and existing catchment areas, preventing it from entering the sewage system. The first phase, comprising sewer installations south of Douglass Street, was supposed to be completed by summer 2018; a second phase north of Douglass Street would proceed from 2018 to 2020.[100][101]The HLSS, built on a 96-acre (39 ha) area east of the northern end of the canal, are planned to capture half of the stormwater within the Gowanus Canal's watershed.[7]: 29
Also in 2017, the New York City government published plans to construct two combined sewer overflow treatment facilities along the canal to help with stormwater management.[4]: 1 The first facility, the "Head End Site", is to be at the very north end of the canal on the eastern bank.[4]: 14 The facility, located adjacent to an existing manufactured gas plant site,[4]: 13 would handle sewage from the Red Hook Watershed, which comprises the land around the canal's western bank and north of the canal's head.[4]: 2 The second facility, the "Owls Head Site", is to be at Second Avenue and Fifth Street, where the Fourth Street Basin splits off the rest of the canal.[4]: 15 It would clean the water from the Owls Head watershed, which constitutes the land from the eastern bank toProspect Park.[4]: 2 These new facilities are required as part of an agreement between the city and the EPA.[102]
By February 2019, the EPA and the city disagreed on whether untreated sewage should be stored in tanks or flushed out through a tunnel. The EPA wanted to divert the sewage to two newly built tanks along the canal, which would be less costly and be complete by 2027. However, the city has proposed diverting untreated sewage into a new tunnel, which would be more expensive and be finished in 2030.[103]The EPA and the city agreed to the two-tank option, and the city began construction on the larger tank by September 2023 and the smaller tank by March 2024, with completion for both expected by 2029.[104]
Redevelopment
[edit]Redevelopment plans
[edit]As early as 1980, the Gowanus area's low rents and proximity to more expensive cultural centers in New York had attracted artists and musicians. The sparsely occupied industrial area offered spaces for studios, music venues, bars, gyms and other businesses that benefited from low space-to-cost ratios.[24]Nonetheless, the area's population declined to a historic low of 24,000 residents in 1990.[32]: 18 The Carroll Street Bridge, an important Gowanus Canal crossing, closed for renovations in 1985. This caused major inconveniences for the surrounding communities, who had to walk several blocks to get to the other side of the canal. Businesses and schools closed as a result. The bridge reopened in 1989, its 100th anniversary.[105]
In 1999,AssemblywomanJoan Millmanallocated $100,000 to the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation (GCCDC) to produce and distribute a bulkhead study and public access document. The following year, GCCDC received $270,000 from theNew York City Department of Parks and Recreation's Green Street program to construct three street-end publicopen spacesalong the Gowanus Canal. GovernorGeorge E. Patakifunded an additional $270,000 to create a revitalization plan in 2001. $100,000 in capital funds were allocated in 2002 to implement a pilot project on the shoreline. In 2003, CongresswomanNydia Velázquezallocated an additional $225,000 to create a comprehensive community development plan. The organization relies on community volunteers to maintain and clean these Green Street Projects.[17]
TheNew York City government,local citizens' groups, developers, the EPA, and the USACE had a wide variety of concerns and differing visions for redevelopment in the area. The New York City government feared that designating the Gowanus Canal as a Superfund site would result in many potentially costly lawsuits against polluters.[70]Meanwhile, the area directly to the east of the Gowanus neighborhood wasrezonedfor high density residential use with a strong commercial component in 2003.[106]In 2009, plans to rezone Gowanus were also created.[107]Many residents and community groups have expressed concern over the sewage overflow that the rezoning could possibly create.[108]
Redevelopment sites
[edit]TheUnited States Postal Serviceclosed a USPS maintenance garage on the east side of the Ninth Street Bridge in the early 1990s. The 9.4-acre (3.8 ha) site became available for commercial development.[109]In 1998, the site was proposed for the construction of Brooklyn Commons, a $63 million entertainment and retail complex featuring a 22-screenmultiplex cinema,abowling alley,shops, restaurants and a 1,500-space parking lot.[109]The Swedish furniture storeIKEAplanned to open a store on the site, but withdrew its proposal in 2001 after opposition from the community.[110]IKEA was later given permission to build a store in adjacent Red Hook.[111]The 9th Street site remained empty until 2004 when a largeLowe'sstore was built and opened, along with an adjacent publicpromenadeoverlooking the canal.[13][14]
By 1998, the neighborhoods around the canal (Carroll Gardens and Park Slope) were experiencing a resurgence of interest in the residential market.[54]Perceptions of environmental risk related to pollution and possible flooding vied with the appeal of a diverse community accessible to more expensive areas of New York City. The area was given a new zoning designation, the "Gowanus Manufacturing Zone", as various groups try to determine the future of this complex urban space.[24]
Effects of the cleanup on redevelopment
[edit]In February 2009, the City of New York granted a zoning change to the developer,Toll Brothers Inc.This allowed for a 480-unit, twelve-storysuper-blockresidential project, the first one permitted along the waterway.[112]The city also set aside some land for a medium-sized development with 3,200 apartments.[15]Twenty-five city blocks were allocated for 60 sites that were planned to produce a combined $500 million in tax revenues per year.[113]Toll Brothers abandoned their project in 2010 after the Gowanus Canal was declared a Superfund cleanup site.[112]
However, the cleanup itself led to a larger redevelopment movement in Gowanus. The first large-scale luxury development in the Gowanus area, 365 Bond, opened in June 2016 and was completely occupied by the following year.[15]There were more than 56,000 applications for the 86 affordable apartments included in the development.[114]In August 2016, the city restarted the rezoning process for the surrounding neighborhood.[115]In June 2017, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy began the process of designing a redevelopment plan for the area.[116]Officials planned to reveal a more comprehensive plan in 2018, including rezoning a 43-block area and requiring developers to reserve 25% of the new units foraffordable housing.[81]
By late 2017, new development was concentrated around a rezoning area in the northern half of the canal. Although this area had gentrified rapidly, some residents opposed the new developments. The zoning plan for the area was projected to undergo changes through 2019, at which point the Superfund cleanup would be at its peak. Several developers bought, or were planning on buying, abandoned or little-used waterfront sites along the canal.[15]An artist's community at Ninth Street was being turned into a mixed-use office building complex.[117]In addition, the lyric-annotation websiteGeniushad moved into a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) building along the northern portion of the canal.[15]
Current usage
[edit]Organizations dedicated to providing waterfront access and canal education include the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club (founded in 1999),[15]and The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy (founded in 1998).[118]During the 2003 season, more than 1,000 people participated in Dredger Canoe Club programs, logging more than 2,000 trips along the canal.[119]
The city government took a site at Smith and 4th Streets in 1975 and designated it a public place for use as "public recreation space". Despite the legal standing as a Public Place, developers have continually proposed developing the site for other uses. National Grid is accountable for cleanup of the pollution left on the site after years of coal gas manufacture. Upon completion of this cleanup, the site was to be turned over to the New York City Parks Department.[120]
Activism
[edit]In November 2006, HABITATS, a festival dedicated to "local action as global wisdom", celebrated the Gowanus Canal with environmental conferences, collaborative art, educational programs and interactive walks around the area.[121]The canal has also been the home to various arts organizations.Issue Project Roomonce organized art events in a converted silo along the bank of the canal.[122]The Yard, an outdoor concert space, opened in the summer of 2007 near the Carroll Street Bridge, but shut down at the end of summer 2010.[123]
OnEarth Dayin 2015, environmental activistChristopher Swainswam through the Gowanus Canal to promote awareness of the environmental restorative work. He wore protective swimwear however some of his skin was exposed to the biological and industrial waste. He applied preventative countermeasures such as antibacterial lotion and ahydrogen peroxidemouthwash. Swain, who had swum through heavily polluted waterways, described the Gowanus as being the dirtiest body of water that he had swum through, composing of "mud, poo, detergent, oil and gasoline" and "swimming through a dirty diaper".[124][125]
Water quality
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1e/Gowanus_Canal_Conservancy_tour.jpg/240px-Gowanus_Canal_Conservancy_tour.jpg)
Different parts of the Gowanus Canal are effectivelymicroclimates,which may have very different conditions and types of contamination.[33]Overall, the water is considered unsafe to drink or swim in, and contact with the canal's water is discouraged.[33][45]The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club encourages people to canoe on the canal, in part as an incentive to revitalize the area.[126]The Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy allows careful diving using full-encapsulation suits, followed by rigorous decontamination procedures.[33]Fish caught in the canal are generally toxic and unsafe to eat in large quantities.[33][45][127]As of 2018[update]birds have begun returning to the canal, which some hope suggests the water quality is improving enough to support wildlife.[128][129]
Anecdotal descriptions
[edit]Anecdotal reports of the canal's water quality include descriptions of a reddish-purplish color due to coal and slaughterhouse wastes in the 19th century, and a lighter purplish color, leading to its nickname "Lavender Lake" in the 20th century. Twentieth-century authorH. P. Lovecraftdescribed "the lapping oily waves at its grimy piers".[24][130][131]In 1999, the water's usual color was described as "green with a white undertone, akin to the look of cream-infused coffee".[54]A 2013 account describes the canal's "modern" color as being gray-green.[33]In 2017, two long-time residents recalled the canal's black color in the 1950s: "All you could see was a big cesspool, and bubbles coming up."[15]
The surface of the Gowanus Canal's water has frequently been reported to have an iridescent sheen suggestive of oil,polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs), coal tar, and other industrial wastes.[132]As recently as December 2009 a Gowanus Canal Investigation Executive Summary Report noted the presence of "spotty, iridescent, and platy sheens of varying intensity," fecal matter, emulsified oil, andblebsofnon-aqueous phase liquidin various areas of the canal.[133]Photographers have also captured artistic images of the canal.[134]
The opaqueness of the canal's water obstructs sunlight to one-third of the 6-foot (1.8 m) depth needed for the bottom-level growth ofaquatic plants.Rising gas bubbles betray the decomposition ofsewage sludgethat on a warm, sultry day produces the Gowanus Canal's notable ripestench.[33]One reporter in 1999 described the smell as "like sticking your head into a rubber boot filled with used motor oil and rotten eggs,"[135]while another in 1998 said that it was "less a scent than an assault that reaches in to choke the throat. Sometimes it has the biting odor of petroleum, with more than a hint of dead fish."[54]There are reports that the smell has lessened in recent years as oxygen levels in the water have increased.[24][132][135]
The murky depths of the canal conceal the legacy of its industrial past: cement, oil,mercury,lead, multiplevolatile organic compounds,PCBs, coal tar, and other contaminants.[127]A sludgy bottom-layer of "black mayonnaise" was described beginning in the 19th century and is still present—in some places up to 20 feet (6.1 m) deep.[24]
Scientific measurements
[edit]Beginning in the 1970s, a variety of governmental, academic, andcitizens' groups have taken intermittent measurements of the canal's water quality.[127]There has been no coherent, long-term program for tracking water quality because no funds exist for such a program.[33]
The canal hosts high levels ofpathogens,many of which are harmful to humans. The 1974 report by New York City Community College microbiologists found that the water contained typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and tuberculosis.[56]: 325–326 Additionally, a 2003 report of the New York Harbor showed that the Gowanus Canal had the highest level of pathogens of any location in the entire harbor.[119]MicrobiologistNasreen Haqueand her classes from theCity University of New Yorkhave also tested water from the Gowanus. In 2007–2008, Haque's classes reported finding "every kind of imaginable pathogen",[33]including those that causegonorrhea.[136]However, in 2010, students from City Tech found lower levels ofEscherichia colithan they had expected.[137]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/MTA_Smith-Ninth_25.jpg/240px-MTA_Smith-Ninth_25.jpg)
Fecal matter is also prevalent in the canal. In 2009, a local environmental "neighborhood watch" called Riverkeeper tested canal water immediately following heavy rains and sewage flooding. It reportedEnterococcusat levels of 17,329 cells per 100 milliliters, with anything above 104 cells per 100 milliliters being considered unsafe;Enterococcusis considered an indicator of other possible pathogens.[138]As of 2013, fecal matter was still present in Gowanus' water at levels of parts per hundred. A more usual measurement for a waterway would be parts per million.[33]
Low levels of dissolved oxygen in the canal's waters predate World War I.[139]The minimum level of oxygen required to support healthy marine life is estimated at 4 parts per million. As early as 1909, it was reported that the canal had no oxygen at all.[139]: 164 In 1975 a severe lack of oxygen was still observed, indicating the water was incapable of sustaining plant life or fish.[56]: 327 In 1999, just before the flushing tunnel was reactivated,The Environmental Magazinereported that oxygen levels in the Gowanus Canal measured about 1.5 parts per million;[140]this number continued to be quoted fourteen years later.[33]However, by 2008, nine years after the flushing tunnel was reopened to provide oxygenation of the water, biologist Kathleen Nolan and students fromSt. Francis Collegesampled the water and reported that levels of dissolved oxygen had substantially increased.[127]In 2014, a NYSDEC representative stated that dissolved oxygen levels were reported to be in the range of 9 to 12 mg/L (3.3×10−7to 4.3×10−7lb/cu in), or approximately 9–12 parts per million.[141]
With respect to the underlying layers of residue in the canal, the EPA and other organizations have performed detailed analyses of the composition and distribution of black mayonnaise throughout it. The 2012 Superfund Proposed Plan also includes detailed assessments of risk related to the types of pollutants in the layers of sediment, the water, and the surrounding area.[142]
The Gowanus Canal's pollution has also spread to Gowanus Creek, at the mouth of the canal. In 1982, USACE released the results of a report on navigation in the creek. It found that there were nonexistent levels of oxygen; high concentrations offecal coliforms;and significant clusters of oil and grease.[143]
Wildlife
[edit]Originally, the marshland and freshwater springs that drained into the Atlantic Ocean in Upper New York Bay were capable of supporting massive oyster beds.[33]As late as 1911, people reported fishing in the Gowanus Canal and treading for clams.[139]: 164 By 1927, the last of New York's oyster beds had closed as a result of habitat destruction, over-harvesting, and pollution.[144]
Attempts have been made to reintroduce oysters and other shellfish to the canal, because they can filter out toxins and help clean the water. One oyster can process as much as 50 US gallons (190 L) of water a day.[145]TheNY/NJ Baykeeperenvironmental group gives oysters to volunteers who then monitor their health and growth in local waterways.[146]They have helpedKatie Mosher-Smithand The Gowanus Community Oyster Garden's Stewards to partner with teachers, students and the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club to install and monitor oyster cages in the canal.[147][119]In 2012, landscape architectKate Orffproposed a design for a park with a living reef containing oysters, mussels, and eelgrass. As part of apilot program,ropes were hung off of a pier to attractribbed mussels.[145][148]
Restoration of the flushing tunnel, and the resulting increase in oxygen levels in the canal, have supported the return of some aquatic life. Within months of the reopening of the flushing tunnel in 1999,John C. Muirof theBrooklyn Center for the Urban Environmentobserved pink jellyfish,blue crabs,and a variety of fish.[135]By 2009,white perch,herring,striped bass,andanchovieswere living in the waterway.[149]In 2014, theGowanus Canal Conservancyreported thatherons,egrets,bats, andCanada geesewere living nearby.[150]However, individuals and populations of wild animals living in the Gowanus Canal may be at risk for reproductive problems.[151]Creatures living in the canal generally have a below-averagelife expectancycompared to members of the same species living elsewhere in New York Harbor.[1]: 170
Approximately 15 edible species of fish and shellfish can be found in the canal, but they are toxic.[152]The shellfish contain toxins and are unsafe to eat, according to a 2012 report.[142]However, signs posted in 2018 note that men over age 15 and women over age 50 can safely eat up to six blue crabs from the Gowanus Canal each week, although women under 50 and children under 15 should not eat the canal's blue crabs at all.[152]
Aquatic mammals have been observed in the canal only rarely and in cases of severe distress. Aharp sealwas observed in the canal in 2003, its flippers bloodied, but it survived and was relocated to theLong Island Sound.[1]: 169 [153]In 2007, a youngminke whaleended up in the canal as a result of heavy storms.[1]: 169 [33][154]The whale, soon nicknamed "Sludgy", was unable to get out and soon died.[155]Anecropsyof Sludgy, performed by animal anatomistJoy Reidenberg,indicated that the whale had already been sick.[156]On January 26, 2013, a dolphin entered the canal at low tide, was unable to get out, and died.[1]: 169 [157][45]: 186–187 A necropsy showed that it was middle-aged and sickly before becoming trapped. It hadkidney stones,gastric ulcers,andparasites.[158]
New forms of life
[edit]Although the Gowanus Canal is poisonous to humans, it may be breeding previously unidentified types of organisms. In 2008, Nasreen andNilofaur Haquereported the presence of white clouds of "biofilm" floating above the sludge on the bottom of the canal. Examinations suggested that the colloquially named "white stuff" is a co-operative mix of bacteria,protozoa,chemicals, and other substances. The parts of the mixture acted together to find food, and the biological components exchanged genes and excreted material that acts as an antibiotic to protect it from toxins in the water.[45]: 202 The Haques started studying methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureusfrom the canal to learn more about what makes bacteria resistant, so that the research might help to develop new antibiotic drugs.[159][45]: 202
In 2014, volunteers and scientists donnedHazmat suitsto sample the black mayonnaise from the canal, extracting DNA which was sequenced at theWeill-Cornell Medical College.Ellen Jorgensen,executive director of the startupGenspace,reported that the group failed to identify half of the DNA. They found "42 kinds of bacteria, two viruses, and five life forms from the domainArchaea,"many uniquely adapted to the extreme environment of the Gowanus Canal.Methylococcaceae,a family of microbes found in the Fourth Street Basin, consumemethane.[160]Desulfobacteralestake insulfateand releasehydrogen sulfide,contributing to the Gowanus' characteristic rotten egg smell.[160]
Bioengineers and others involved in the 2014 study were also interested in studying the Gowanus Canal's unique microbial communities.[161]These naturally-evolving bioremediating bacteria consume the Gowanus' pollutants.[160]Understanding how they co-exist with and degrade toxic compounds might suggest new methods forbioremediation.[161]
In popular culture
[edit]![The author Jonathan Lethem, sitting on the bank of the canal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Jonathan_Lethem_on_the_banks_of_the_Gowanus_Canal_in_Brooklyn%2C_NY.jpg/150px-Jonathan_Lethem_on_the_banks_of_the_Gowanus_Canal_in_Brooklyn%2C_NY.jpg)
Thomas Wolfedescribed the "huge symphonic stink" of the canal which was "cunningly compacted of unnumbered separate putrefactions" in his 1940 novelYou Can't Go Home Again.[163]The 1985 filmHeaven Help UsusedCarroll Street Bridgeas a filming location.[164]InJonathan Lethem'sMotherless Brooklyn(1999), a character refers to the canal as "the only body of water in the world that is 90 percent guns".[162]InJoseph O'Neill's novelNetherland(2008), the remains of one of the protagonists are found in the Gowanus Canal.[165]In an episode of the TV showBored to Death,called "The Gowanus Canal Has Gonorrhea!", two antagonists threaten the show's hero with a swim in the canal.[166]
In 2014, So What? Press published an issue of its comic seriesTales of the Night Watchman,entitled "It Came from the Gowanus Canal", about a toxic sludge monster who lives in the canal and takes revenge on a gangster who once dumped bodies there. It was written by Dave Kelly and illustrated byMolly Ostertag.[167]The publisher also produced a fake movie poster in conjunction with the Gowanus Souvenir Shop based on the issue in 2015.[168]In 2017, a sequel to the comic was produced with the title "It Came from the Gowanus Canal...Again!" It was written by Dave Kelly, drawn by Brett Hobson, colored by Clare DeZutti, with a cover by Tim Hamilton. In the sequel, the monster returns and takes revenge on criminals who are responsible for the death of a young boy, but the Night Watchman must protect one of the killers to stop the monster.[169]
In November 2015,Gothamistposted a video that featured a fisherman saying that he had just caught a three-eyedcatfishin the canal. Although the story was later posted by a number of news outlets, experts expressed skepticism about the fish story.[170]ANew York Timesarticle indicated that the three-eyed catfish was a hoax perpetrated by the performance artistZardulu.[171]
See also
[edit]- List of Superfund sites in New York
- The Gowanus Memorial Artyard
- Geography of New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
- Bob Zuckerman,activist who has advocated for cleaning the canal
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghijklmKadinsky, Sergey (2016).Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs.New York, NY: Countryman Press.ISBN978-1-58157-566-8.
- ^"CELEBRATE CLEAN-UP OF GOWANUS CANAL; Gaynor at Luncheon Says He Did the Best Possible for the City in Subways".The New York Times.June 22, 1911.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Alexiou, Joseph (February 15, 2016)."In Gowanus, Stalled Canal Clean-Up Leads Community & Developers to Align".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcdefg"1".Gowanus Canal CSO Draft Scope of Work(PDF).New York City Department of Environmental Protection.March 31, 2017. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on July 2, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^abcdefFor maps of the canal and adjacent properties, see:
- "A History of Pollution in the Gowanus Canal".The New York Times.September 26, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- Lieberman, Samuel (February 25, 2016)."The Smell Map of Gowanus Is Here".Daily Intelligencer.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- "Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY"(Map).Google Maps.Google. March 6, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abc"NYC DOT – The Bridges of the Gowanus Canal".nyc.gov.March 4, 1905.Archivedfrom the original on July 1, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcd"Gowanus Canal Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan"(PDF).nyc.gov.New York City Department of Environmental Protection.May 14, 2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 1, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abFoderaro, Lisa W. (December 15, 2015)."A Park to Sop Up Pollutants Before They Flow Into the Gowanus Canal".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^"Subway Dirt Will Start to Fly Here Soon: Board Indicates Private Property to Be Taken in Cranberry Street".Brooklyn Standard Union.Fultonhistory.November 10, 1927. p. 2.RetrievedJune 30,2016.
- ^ab"Review of F Line Operations, Ridership, and Infrastructure"(PDF).mta.info.Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 25, 2015.RetrievedDecember 10,2016.
- ^"Subway Map"(PDF).Metropolitan Transportation Authority.September 2021.RetrievedSeptember 17,2021.
- ^"Former Gowanus Pathmark Bustles With Construction Workers; Local Employees Say New Supermarket Is In The Works".Bklyner.October 10, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 2,2022.
- ^abCardwell, Diane (April 28, 2004)."Suburban Retailing for the New Brooklyn".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^ab"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Opens Lowe's Store in Brooklyn".The official website of the City of New York.April 28, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcdefgNewman, Andy (October 13, 2017)."Can Gowanus Survive Its Renaissance?".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 15, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcdHeld, James E. (May 1, 1999)."Currents of change: Can Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal be Cleaned Up?".E – The Environmental Magazine.Vol. 3, no. 10.RetrievedJanuary 5,2017.
- ^abcdefghij"Gowanus Canal History".The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club.Archived fromthe originalon August 5, 2012.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^abcdeMartin, Douglas (October 11, 1993)."Brooklyn Legends Thrive On Banks of the Gowanus".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Stiles, Henry R.,A History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of WilliamsburghArchivedJuly 31, 2024, at theWayback Machine".Brooklyn, N.Y.: Pub. by subscription, 1867-1870. July 5, 2005.
- ^"Permanent Revolution".New York.September 10, 2012.Archivedfrom the original on April 8, 2014.RetrievedApril 7,2014.
- ^Stiles, Henry Reed (1884).The Civil, Political, Professional and Ecclesiastical History, and Commercial and Industrial Record of the County of Kings and the City of Brooklyn, N. Y. from 1683 to 1884.Munsell. pp.50.
- ^Neidl, Phoebe (April 10, 2012)."A Brief History of the Gowanus Canal".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^Wharton, Rachel (January 23, 2008)."Oyster Town".Edible Brooklyn.No. 8. Archived fromthe originalon January 5, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^abcdefghijklLeon, Juan-Andres (2015)."The Gowanus Canal: The fight for Brooklyn's coolest superfund site".Distillations.1(4): 26–35.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 22,2018.
- ^"Gowanus Canal Watershed/Waterbody Facility Plan".NYC Environmental Protection.Archived fromthe originalon January 5, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^New York City Landmarks Preservation CommissionArchivedMarch 5, 2016, at theWayback Machine,Carroll Gardens Historic District,1973
- ^"Laws of New York – By Authority".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.December 2, 1867. p. 12.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017– vianewspapers.
- ^abBerger, Joseph (May 5, 2013)."E.P.A. Plan to Clean Up Gowanus Canal Meets Local Resistance".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on December 28, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^ab"EPA Superfund Program: GOWANUS CANAL, BROOKLYN, NY".cumulis.epa.gov.United States Environmental Protection Agency.Archivedfrom the original on January 14, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^Wheelwright, Peter (1998)."Project III Program Statement: Gowanus Canal".River Projects Exhibition.Van Alen Institute for Public Architecture.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedApril 20,2005.
- ^abcdefUnites, Dennis F.; Willey, Lynn E.; Jarvis, Jamie (March 14, 2003)."DRAFT Historical Study of the Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York"(PDF).EPA.gov.Keyspan Energy Inc.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^abNyman, Jack S.; Schwartz, Harry; Scanlon, Rosemary (2010).RECONSIDERING GOWANUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE TRANSFORMATION OF AN INDUSTRIAL NEIGHBORHOOD(PDF).Research and Development Department of the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, Baruch College, CUNY. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on June 19, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 5,2017.
- ^abcdefghijklmnNosowitz, Dan (October 10, 2013)."What Would Happen If You Drank Water From The Gowanus Canal?".Popular Science.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abc"South Brooklyn Flooded District".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.January 5, 1888. p. 4.Archivedfrom the original on February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017.
- ^"Complaining of Gowanus Canal".The New York Times.August 1, 1889.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^"To Close Gowanus Canal.; Such Is the Commission's Recommendation – Reform Needed, Anyway".The New York Times.September 17, 1889.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^""A DISGRACE TO BROOKLYN"; HOW A COMMISSION CHARACTERIZED THE GOWANUS CANAL. AND YET ASSEMBLYMAN HENNESSY IS OPPOSED TO FILLING UP A DISEASE- BREEDING AND FOUL-SMELLING OPEN SEWER – A MYSTERIOUS $20,000 FUND ".The New York Times.March 1, 1893.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 23, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^ab"The Big Sewer Tunnel".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.August 9, 1891. p. 3.Archivedfrom the original on February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017– viaBrooklyn Public Library;newspapers.
- ^"The great storm sewer in Brooklyn, New York".Scientific American.January 30, 1892. Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017– via magazineart.org.
- ^ab"The City Sued".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.January 4, 1889. p. 6.Archivedfrom the original on February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017.
- ^"Inspecting the Big Sewer".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.February 29, 1892. p. 6.Archivedfrom the original on February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017– viaBrooklyn Public Library;newspapers.
- ^"BROOKLYN CITIZENS PROTEST; THEIR CELLARS FLOODED BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE SEWERS. Much Damage to Property Because Lat- eral Drains Are Not Connected with the Huge Sewer in the Twenty-third Ward – A Protest Made to Mayor Boody – He Offers Only Temporary Relief to Property Owners – foul Water from Sewers in Many Houses".The New York Times.August 23, 1893.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^"An Engineering Blunder".Brooklyn Public Library.January 29, 1898. p. 14.Archivedfrom the original on August 4, 2020.RetrievedMarch 6,2018– viaBrooklyn Public Library;newspapers.
- ^Red Hook, Gowanus Neighborhood History Guide.Brooklyn Historical Society. 2000.
- ^abcdefgEldredge, Nilesand Horenstein, Sidney (2014).Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future.Berkeley, California:University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-27015-2.
- ^abcdefGoodman, J. David (February 23, 2011)."Under the Gowanus Canal, Flushing Out the Stench".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on February 11, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^Freudenheim, Ellen (January 1, 2010)."Gowanus Canal—Truth or Fiction that" Bodies Were Dumped Here? "".About Travel.Archived fromthe originalon September 6, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 17,2015.
- ^Prete, Allison."LAVENDER LAKE: Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal".Archivedfrom the original on January 4, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^"Late News Items".The Maryville Times.No. 1889/01/02. January 2, 1889. p. 1.ISSN2376-628X.Archivedfrom the original on February 14, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 14,2019– viaChronicling America;Library of Congress.
- ^"Sunk with a Cargo of Coal".The Evening World.No. 1892/05/10. May 10, 1892. p. 1.ISSN1941-0654.Archivedfrom the original on February 15, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 14,2019– viaChronicling America;Library of Congress.
- ^"Dredge Sinks at Night".The Evening World.No. 1903/12/31. December 31, 1903. p. 6.ISSN1941-0654.Archivedfrom the original on February 15, 2019.RetrievedFebruary 14,2019– viaChronicling America;Library of Congress.
- ^"Four Toxic Rivers: A Super Sad True Superfund Story".MetroFocus.November 8, 2011.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^abShelby, Joyce (June 11, 2002)."GOWANUS CANAL TUNNEL IS BACK IN ACTION".NY Daily News.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017.
- ^abcdefLewine, Edward (August 30, 1998)."The Gowanus Canal: An Appreciation".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJanuary 27,2017.
- ^"History of the Clean Water Act".United States Environmental Protection Agency.February 22, 2013.Archivedfrom the original on November 8, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^abcdefgAlexiou, Joseph (2015).Gowanus: Brooklyn's Curious Canal.New York: NYU Press. pp. 311–344.ISBN9781479892945.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^abcRangel, Jesus (June 19, 1986)."After decades, gamy Gowanus gets a cleanup".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^McLaughlin, Mike (January 26, 2008)."Death of an era: Scotto no longer group's 'Buddy'".The Brooklyn Paper.Archivedfrom the original on January 5, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^The Structure, powers and functions of New York City's Board of Estimate.WHK Communications Associates, State Charter Revision Commission for New York City. 1973.
- ^abcdNeuffer, Elizabeth (June 4, 1987)."City Finishes Sewage Network As Brooklyn Plant Starts Up".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^"New York City's Wastewater Treatment System"(PDF).nyc.gov.New York City Department of Environmental Protection.p. 13. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on October 21, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017.
- ^"2005 Gowanus Bay and Canal Feasibility Cleanup Study USACE".issuu.United States Army Corps of Engineers.July 9, 2010.Archivedfrom the original on January 9, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^abCohen, Ariella (March 4, 2006)."Study: Yards feces to canal; Buddy: Developers' poop stinks"(PDF).The Brooklyn Paper.p. 3.Archivedfrom the original on February 24, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 23,2017.
- ^"Combined Sewer Overflow Long Term Control Plan for Gowanus Canal"(PDF).New York City Department of Environmental Protection.June 2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on January 26, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. New York, NY."Gowanus Canal Superfund Site."ArchivedMarch 6, 2010, at theWayback MachineUpdated February 4, 2010.
- ^Navarro, Mireya (April 9, 2009)."Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn May Get Superfund Status".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^Navarro, Mireya (July 2, 2009)."City Proposes New Plan for Gowanus Canal Cleanup".The New York Times.p. A19.Archivedfrom the original on March 30, 2017.RetrievedFebruary 8,2017.
- ^"About: Partners".Gowanus Canal Conservancy website. Archived fromthe originalon May 12, 2014.RetrievedMay 9,2014.
- ^"Gowanus Canal site description"(PDF).EPA. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on June 4, 2011.RetrievedMarch 10,2010.
- ^"Gowanus Canal Brooklyn, New York Former Ecosystem Restoration Study"(PDF).army.mil.United States Army Corps of Engineers.Archived(PDF)from the original on December 24, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^Moskowitz, Peter (June 14, 2013)."For Local Residents, a Mission to Clean Up the Gowanus Canal".The New York Times.Gowanus Canal (NYC).Archivedfrom the original on April 2, 2013.RetrievedJune 18,2013.
- ^abcde"Region 2 Superfund: Gowanus Canal".EPA Superfund.U.S.Environmental Protection Agency. January 29, 2013.RetrievedAugust 26,2014.
- ^abCalder, Rich (January 28, 2020)."Feds to finally start long-due cleanup of Brooklyn's toxic Gowanus Canal".nypost.Archivedfrom the original on January 29, 2020.RetrievedJanuary 28,2020.
- ^Rugh, Peter."NYC's Latest Luxury Scheme Could Leave Gowanus Residents in a Foul Place".The Indypendent.
- ^"EPA Gives Seven Options For Gowanus Canal Cleanup | New York League of Conservation Voters".Nylcv.org. January 5, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon January 6, 2014.RetrievedJune 18,2013.
- ^abBekiempis, Victoria (January 30, 2012)."Gross Gowanus Canal: Cleanup Conversations Continue".Village Voice.RetrievedJune 18,2013.
- ^Durkin, Eric (January 21, 2012)."Gowanus Canal cleanup by National Grid is blasted by Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp. as a possible health risk".New York Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJune 18,2013.
- ^O'Reilly, Andrew (July 26, 2017)."Trump's EPA chief is Superfund focused, climate change… not so much".Fox News.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Albrecht, Leslie (April 3, 2017)."After Alarm, Gowanus Canal Cleanup Funds Safe For Now, Local EPA Reps Say".DNAinfo New York.Archived fromthe originalon March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcNewman, Andy (October 13, 2017)."Can Gowanus Survive Its Renaissance?".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedOctober 26,2017.
- ^Spivack, Caroline (October 25, 2017)."Gowanus Canal Superfund Cleanup Begins: 'You're Gonna Smell Some Smells'".DNAinfo New York.Archived fromthe originalon October 26, 2017.RetrievedOctober 26,2017.
- ^Rosenberg, Zoe (November 1, 2016)."Uncovering the Gowanus Canal's decades of toxic debris".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^ab"No Go-wanus: Pilot canal-dredging program stalled, further postponing cleanup effort • Brooklyn Paper".Brooklyn Paper.February 2, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^Attanasio, Cedar; Jaeger, Max (August 13, 2018)."Gowanus Canal cleanup has unearthed historic treasures — covered in toxic goo".New York Post.Archivedfrom the original on August 14, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^Wong, Pamela (July 23, 2018)."EPA Marks Final Phase Of Gowanus Canal Dredging Pilot".BKLYNER.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^abTaylor, Alex; Jaeger, Max (July 24, 2018)."Contractors damage promenade during Gowanus Canal cleanup".New York Post.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^Enman, Scott (August 15, 2018)."Believe it or not, the Gowanus Canal cleanup won't start until 2020".Brooklyn Daily Eagle.Archivedfrom the original on August 15, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^"New York Today: Testing Dockless Bikes".The New York Times.July 25, 2018.Archivedfrom the original on August 14, 2018.RetrievedAugust 15,2018.
- ^ab"EPA Reaches New Milestone in Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Cleanup".US EPA.July 1, 2024.RetrievedAugust 3,2024.
- ^Record of Decision: Gowanus Canal Superfund Site Brooklyn, Kings County, New York(PDF).September 27, 2013. p. 15. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on December 9, 2016.RetrievedAugust 26,2014.
- ^Gregory, Kia (September 26, 2013)."Industry Still Churns, Even as Cleanup Plan Proceeds for a Canal".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on June 13, 2014.RetrievedAugust 26,2014.
- ^New York City Department of Environmental Protection,City Activates Gowanus Canal Flushing Tunnel,Publication 99-28, New York: April 30, 1999
- ^"Department of Environmental Protection Reactivates Gowanus Canal Flushing Tunnel After Four-Year $177 Million Upgrade".NYC Environmental Protection.May 29, 2014.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^"Gowanus Canal flushing tunnel is fully online after four-year rehab".NY Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on February 2, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 24,2017.
- ^"City to Begin $52 Million Project to Install High Level Storm Sewers in Gowanus Neighborhood".NYC Environmental Protection.February 29, 2016.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 5,2017.
- ^Gould, Kenneth A.; Lewis, Tammy L. (July 20, 2016).Green Gentrification: Urban sustainability and the struggle for environmental justice.Routledge. pp. 100–113.ISBN978-1138920163.
- ^Albrecht, Leslie (April 16, 2015)."City Building 90 'Curbside Gardens' to Help Clean Gowanus Canal".DNAinfo.Archived fromthe originalon January 4, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^Burkman, Kevin (April 11, 2016)."Case Study: How Bioswales Are Helping To Clean Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal".New Jersey Future.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 4,2017.
- ^Albrecht, Leslie (February 29, 2016)."$52 Million Project to Reduce Gowanus Flooding to Begin Soon".DNA Info.Archived fromthe originalon January 6, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 5,2017.
- ^Wong, Pamela (March 2, 2018)."Years Of Construction On 3rd Avenue Impacts Gowanus Small Businesses".BKLYNER.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJuly 1,2018.
- ^Grant, Geoffrey M; Clarke, Kevin; Degueldre, Lindsay; Carrier, Richard; Cohen, Donald (January 1, 2017). "Navigating the Regulatory Challenges of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site".Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation.2017(9). Water Environment Federation: 3213–3232.doi:10.2175/193864717822157784.ISSN1938-6478.
- ^"Gowanus Canal Cleanup: Tanks or tunnel? It's up to the EPA".Brooklyn Eagle.February 28, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on March 1, 2019.RetrievedApril 5,2019.
- ^Environmental Protection Agency (December 2023)."Community Update #5: EPA Completing Another Step in Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal"(PDF).Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group.RetrievedAugust 3,2024.
- ^Pitt, David E. (September 24, 1989)."2 Neighborhoods Celebrate Restoration of Their Bridge".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2019.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^"Park Slope Rezoning Proposal – Approved"(PDF).New York City Department of City Planning.April 30, 2003.Archived(PDF)from the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^"Gowanus Canal Corridor Rezoning Study"(PDF).New York City Department of City Planning.May 2008.Archived(PDF)from the original on January 10, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^Rugh, Peter."NYC's Latest Luxury Scheme Could Leave Gowanus Residents in a Foul Place".The Indypendent.Archivedfrom the original on July 11, 2019.RetrievedJuly 11,2019.
- ^abLueck, Thomas J. (July 17, 1998)."Theater Complex Planned for Brooklyn".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 27,2017.
- ^Waldman, Amy (June 17, 2001)."Ikea Scrapping Plans for Store Amid Resistance by Neighbors".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Cardwell, Diane (October 6, 2004)."Panel Approves Plan by Ikea to Open Store in Red Hook".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abBuiso, Gary (July 9, 2010)."Toll Brothers is officially stigmatized by the Superfund".The Brooklyn Paper.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJune 18,2013.
- ^Rice, Andrew (October 21, 2009)."On the Waterfront".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Albrecht, Leslie (January 11, 2016)."More Than 56K People Applied for 86 Affordable Apartments on Gowanus Canal".DNAinfo New York.Archived fromthe originalon March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Albrecht, Leslie (August 1, 2016)."Gowanus Rezoning on The Table Again as City Launches Planning Study".DNAinfo New York.Archived fromthe originalon January 10, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 9,2017.
- ^Kinney, Jen (June 29, 2017)."Gowanus Canal Could Be New Model for Waterfront Planning".Next City.Archivedfrom the original on August 22, 2017.RetrievedAugust 21,2017.
- ^"Former Gowanus Art Studios to Become Offices and 'Fun' Retail".DNAinfo New York.November 1, 2016. Archived fromthe originalon March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Miller, Jennifer (November 27, 2007)."Divers Who Jump in to Take the Mystery Out of City Waterways".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^abcNY/NJ Baykeeper, The River Project, and NY Harbor School."Increasing Harbor Stewardship through Oyster Restoration in New York City"(PDF).Harbor Estuary Stewardship Project.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on April 4, 2016.RetrievedNovember 16,2007.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^"Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal",Gowanus Superfund website. Accessed: November 14, 2014
- ^Habitats, Celebrating the revitalization of the Historic Gowanus CanalArchivedNovember 8, 2006, at theWayback Machine,accessed November 7, 2006.
- ^Sisario, Ben (July 8, 2009)."Issue Project Room, an Avant-Garde Arts Group, Bites Off a Lot to Chew".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Short, Aaron (June 11, 2010)."The end of the 'Yard'".The Brooklyn Paper.Vol. 33, no. 24. p. 3.RetrievedJuly 1,2018– via Internet Archive.
- ^Janos, Adam (April 24, 2015)."Swimmer Finds It Isn't So Easy to Scrub Off Gowanus Gunk".Wall Street Journal.Archivedfrom the original on May 8, 2018.RetrievedMay 7,2018.
- ^"Swimmer Braves Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, a Superfund Site".The New York Times.April 23, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on May 8, 2018.RetrievedMay 7,2018.
- ^Lynch, Scott (October 13, 2013)."Photos: My Canoe Ride On The Toxic Gowanus Canal".Gothamist.Archived fromthe originalon October 27, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abcdPhillips, Kristin Elise (September 26, 2007)."Tainted Lavender".Archivedfrom the original on May 17, 2014.RetrievedMay 15,2014.
- ^Scherer, Jenna (July 19, 2018)."What it's like to canoe on Brooklyn's most polluted waterway".Curbed NY.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJuly 31,2019.
- ^"Gowanus is For the Birds".Gowanus Dredgers.May 13, 2018. Archived fromthe originalon July 31, 2019.RetrievedJuly 31,2019.
- ^Lovecraft, H. P."The Horror at Red Hook, Chapter II".Weird Tales.1927.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^"H.P Lovecraft's very bizarre hatred of Red Hook and Brooklyn Heights".The Bowery Boys: New York City History.August 20, 2015.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abMatthews, Karen (July 21, 2016)."What pollution? Brooklyn area thrives along Superfund canal".Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^GEI Consultants Incorporated (December 2009).Gowanus Canal Investigation Executive Summary Report AOC Index No. A2-0523-0705(PDF).Glastonbury, CT: NATIONAL GRID (FORMERLY KEYSPAN CORPORATION. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on July 2, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 5,2017.
- ^Greenberg, Michael (November 25, 2014)."A Beautiful Mosaic of Filth".The New York Review of Books.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abcNewman, Andy (July 29, 1999)."Stench Is Out, Fish Are In; Gowanus Canal Comes Back to Life After Rescue".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^McLaughlin, Mike (October 13, 2007)."The Gowanus has the clap".The Brooklyn Paper.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^"City Tech Students' Water Quality Research Yields Surprising Results".The City University of New York.September 28, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^Durkin, Erin (June 11, 2009)."Unsafe sewage levels in canal bacteria count high in Gowanus".Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abcSteinberg, Ted (2014).Gotham unbound: the ecological history of greater New York.Simon & Schuster. pp. 163–166.ISBN9781476741284.
- ^Lee, Summer."The Gowanus Canal: Plans for Restoration".The Scientific Student.Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2017.RetrievedJuly 2,2016.
- ^"All Three Pumps Now Operating At Gowanus Flushing Tunnel On Douglass Street".Pardon Me For Asking.May 12, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abSuperfund Proposed Plan: Gowanus Canal Superfund Site, EPA Region II – December 2012(PDF).EPA Environmental Protection Agency. 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^United States Army Corps of Engineers(1982).Gowanus Creek Channel Navigation Improvement, Brooklyn: Environmental Impact Statement.p. 4.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Hynes, Tom (2016)."Aw Shucks: The Tragic History of New York City Oysters".Untapped Cities.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^abDailey, Jessica (September 4, 2012)."Living Reef Made of Millions of Oysters to Clean the Gowanus".Curbed New York.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Paddock, Barry (May 29, 2010)."Oysters are a shore thing in New York; They can filter 50 gallons of water a day, reducing pollution".Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Belenkaya, Veronika (December 18, 2007)."Bivalves bloom in Gowanus Canal".Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Cohen, Michelle (January 28, 2015)."Living Breakwaters: An Award-Winning Project Brings 'Oyster-tecture' to the Shores of Staten Island".6sqft.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Bonanos, Christopher (July 12, 2009)."A Brief History of Slime".New York News & Politics.Archivedfrom the original on August 8, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Nuwer, Rachel(March 18, 2014)."In Gowanus, Beautification and Restoration Through Composting".Edible Brooklyn.Archivedfrom the original on January 8, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
- ^Draft Gowanus Canal Remedial Investigation Report Volume 1 Prepared for: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Contract No. EP-W-09-009 Work Assignment No. 013-RICO-02ZP Prepared by: GRB Environmental Services, Inc. (2011)."Gowanus Canal Remedial Investigation Report Volume 1".Gowanus Superfund.Archived fromthe originalon August 28, 2016.RetrievedJanuary 7,2017.
{{cite web}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^abCuba, Julianne (April 5, 2018)."Crab with a side of chemicals: Signs will warn Gowanus anglers about health hazards of eating seafood from canal".Brooklyn Paper.Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2018.RetrievedApril 5,2018.
- ^Healy, Patrick (July 2, 2003)."A Brooklyn Seal's Trick: Surviving the Gowanus".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on March 7, 2018.RetrievedMarch 6,2018.
- ^Vielkind, Jimmy; Goldiner, Dave (April 18, 2007)."A whale swims in Brooklyn".Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on February 17, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^Chung, Jen (April 19, 2007)."Brooklyn's Sludgie the Whale Dies".Gothamist.Archived fromthe originalon December 23, 2015.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^Musumeci, Natalie (January 8, 2014)."Sludgie the Whale's skull to be displayed at Gowanus's first-ever TEDx conference".New York Daily News.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^Long, Colleen (January 26, 2013)."Dolphin Dies Amid NY Canal's Industrial Pollution".ABC News.Archivedfrom the original on January 27, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 27,2013.
- ^"Necropsy Reveals Dolphin That Died In Gowanus Canal Had String Of Health Problems".CBS News New York.Archivedfrom the original on January 31, 2013.RetrievedJanuary 28,2013.
- ^Forsten, Michele; Tarnowieski, Dale (July 29, 2008)."Two City Tech Professors Study Whether Gowanus Canal Holds Clues to Development of New Antibiotics".City University of New York.Archived fromthe originalon January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abcKelley, Tyler J. (March 22, 2016)."In the" Black Mayonnaise "of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, Alien Life Is Being Born".Nautilus.Archivedfrom the original on January 7, 2017.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abMartin, Glen (November 30, 2016)."The BK BioReactor takes on the Gowanus Canal The project was spurred by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plan to dredge and cap the waterway over the coming decade".O'Reilly Media.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedJanuary 6,2017.
- ^abMahler, Jonathan (June 8, 2001)."Once a Mess, Canal Aspires to Beauty Now".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 10, 2018.RetrievedJanuary 10,2018.
- ^Wolfe, Thomas (July 7, 1952). "You Can't Go Home Again".LIFE.Time Inc. p. 71.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedOctober 14,2020.
- ^"A Brief History Of The Bridges Over The Gowanus Canal".BKLYNER.July 31, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on August 1, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 5,2019.
- ^Joseph O'Neill(2009).Netherland.Harper Perennial. p.4.ISBN978-0-00-727570-0.
{{cite book}}
:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^"Bored to Death - The Gowanus Canal Has Gonorrhea!".HBO. March 1, 2019.Archivedfrom the original on September 5, 2019.RetrievedSeptember 5,2019.
- ^Dillon, Bryant (August 7, 2014)."'Tales of The Night Watchman Presents: It Came from the Gowanus Canal' – Comic Book Review (Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Slimy) ".Fanbase Press.RetrievedJuly 22,2016.
- ^Davis, Nicole (December 9, 2015)."Your Ideal Week: Dec. 10 – Dec. 16".Brooklyn Based.Archivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.RetrievedJuly 22,2016.
- ^Widen, Alex (November 3, 2017)."Tales of the Night Watchman #7 review: Return of the Gowanus Golem".Bam Smack Pow.RetrievedJanuary 8,2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^Newman, Andy (November 10, 2015)."Tale of Gowanus Canal's Three-Eyed Fish May Be Too Good to Be True".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on July 31, 2024.RetrievedDecember 13,2017.
- ^Newman, Andy (March 28, 2016)."The Artist Behind the Three-Eyed Fish and Selfie Rat, and Other Hoaxes".The New York Times.RetrievedNovember 13,2017.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1869 establishments in New York (state)
- Boerum Hill
- Canals in New York (state)
- Canals opened in 1869
- Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
- Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
- Gowanus, Brooklyn
- Park Slope
- Port of New York and New Jersey
- Rivers of Brooklyn
- Superfund sites in New York (state)
- Transportation buildings and structures in Brooklyn
- Water transportation in New York City