Gowanus Clean-Up Latest To Be Discussed At Meeting

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — A meeting this week will give residents the latest update on an ongoing federal clean-up of the Gowanus Canal and let attendees ask questions about the project.

The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group will host the Town Hall meeting at a Park Slope school starting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. It will be run by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez and officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the agency in charge of cleaning the toxic waterway.

The EPA began the long process of cleaning up the 1.8-mile canal, which it has designated as a hazardous Superfund site, about two years ago with a pilot project at the Fourth Street Basin that scooped 17,000 cubic yards of toxic muck from the waterway.

Dredging the remainder of the canal isn't expected to start until 2020, with the entire clean-up scheduled to wrap up around 2027.

EPA officials will give an update about this timeline at Wednesday's meeting and what residents can expect as the work progresses, organizers said. Velazquez will give keynote remarks about the project.

The meeting comes at at time when the Superfund clean-up has been a fraught topic of discussion in the neighborhood, which has been slated for a rezoning by the city.

Activists just last week called for city officials planning the Gowanus Rezoning to hold off until the canal clean-up has finished. The advocates have said they worry that new development along the waterway promised in the rezoning plan could make it so the sewage overflow in the canal will never be completely eliminated.

The clean-up project so far only takes into account the neighborhood's current conditions, not any new water pollution that the development boom may bring, they said.

Wednesday's meeting will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at William A. Butler School at 610 Baltic Street on the corner of Fourth Avenue.

Residents attending will have time to ask questions about the project after the officials give their updates, organizers said. More information about the meeting and the advisory group can be found here.