Urban Waste to be Removed from the Gowanus Canal, by Nicole Rothwell

Debris removal from the Gowanus Canal will begin at the end of October the EPA announced at the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group meeting this past Tuesday.

Initially, the removal of urban waste items – such as tires, shopping carts and potentially a few mystery items – was expected to begin this past August. However, at Tuesday’s meeting, Natalie Loney, the EPA’s Community Involvement Coordinator for the Gowanus Canal Superfund site, announced that this clean-up process will begin next month at the 4 Street turning basin. The delay is a result of contracting issues with the City of New York and National Grid.

Several members of the Community Advisory Board Group (CAG) expressed concern that the timeline may be pushed back once again and that the imminent winter weather may impact the removal.

“There have been delays every step of the way,” said Marlene Donnelly of Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus.

In response, the EPA reconfirmed their commitment to expedite the Gowanus Canal’s clean up. Moreover,
the EPA is not concerned over the weather. “This is not dependent on weather. So we are not waiting until next year to begin,” said Loney.

Although the EPA expects the detritus removal process to be of minimal disturbance to the community, Loney told the Red Hook Star Revue over email that, “there may be odors associated with the debris removal, however EPA will be monitoring air quality to ensure the safety of the workers and the larger Gowanus community.” Loney said they do not expect there to be hazardous odors.

This pre-removal of urban debris is required before the dredging of the turning basin can begin. The dredging process will remove up to 10 feet off the top of the canal. Dredging is anticipated to start in June 2017.