Initial Phase Of Clean-Up Wraps Up At Gowanus Canal: Conservancy

BROOKLYN, NY — Federal officials reached a milestone this week in their clean-up of the polluted Gowanus Canal, wrapping up the first phase of scooping toxic muck from the waterway.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had finished its dredging 35,000 cubic yards of sediment known as "black mayonnaise" from a northern section of the canal as of Wednesday, marking the end of an initial phase of the clean-up that began last year, according to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy.

The milestone comes nearly a year after the EPA began its long-awaited work on the canal, which has been designated as a hazardous Superfund site for a decade.

Before the official start last November, a pilot project scooped 17,000 cubic yards of toxic muck from the Fourth Street Basin.

The EPA will now move to a stabilizing process, set to begin in mid-October, according to the conservancy. The process includes injecting chemical compounds into toxic sediment that couldn't be taken out of the canal so that they are unable to spread any further in the 1.8-mile waterway.

Federal officials expect the stabilization will be completed in late 2022 and what is known as "capping" of the sediment will wrap up in late 2023, according to the agency.

"Bridge and street closures will be required as bridges are studied and repaired to ensure full structural support during the ongoing dredging process," according to the conservancy.

The federal clean-up includes new 8 million-gallon and 4 million-gallon tanks the city is charged with building on either end of the canal to catch and extract sewage that has long seeped into the water during rainy days.

The EPA set a legally-binding timeline for the city to hold up its end of the clean-up process earlier this year after officials sought to delay building the tanks.