What Happened To DEP's Contractor? Black Piping In The Gowanus Still Not Sunk

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First, crews from Northeast Remsco, a contractor for the NYC Department Of Environmental Protection, showed up on the Gowanus Canal a few weeks ahead of schedule to lay the huge black pipes that will pump oxygenated water into the canal while the flushing tunnel undergoes repair, and now they have disappeared.

The crews arrived ahead of schedule in early February, shortly before the Environmental Protection Agency made its announcement that it would add the polluted waterway onto its list of Superfund sites.

The earlier date for the pipe installation was a concern for EPA Region 2, because their own crews were performing scientific field work on the canal at the time and the pipes could have interfered with the collection of data.

On the day of the EPA announcement, I encountered the Northeast Remsco crew on the Carroll Street bridge and chatted with them. They told me that they were starting to sink the pipes on that day. That was on March 3rd.

And then, the crew disappeared. As of today, the pipes are still floating above water, which is more than strange.

The floating pipes have also brought to the surface the very nasty problem of the 300 million gallons of sewage overflow the city is still re-directing into the Gowanus Canal ever year.
(300 million gallons is a very low estimate based on 38" of yearly rainfall. We have been averaging significantly more.)

The black pipes have been trapping this raw sewage on the side of the canal and human excrement, together with condoms and toilet paper is plainly visible on the surface of the water. See photos below.

Human excrement floating on the Gowanus Canal

Not the most pleasant subject I know, but a reality that this community has been living with every day for decades. How Third World conditions are allowed to exist in 2010 New York City is beyond me, frankly.  The sad truth is that the Gowanus Canal will never truly be clean until the city stops diverting raw sewage into its water.

As for DEP, Northeast Remsco and the aeration pipes, just this morning, an update on DEP's the aeration pipes from Paul Nelson, Assemblywoman Millman's Chief Of Staff was issued. ( see below)

From Assemblywoman Millman's office:
Assemblywoman Millman met with the NYC DEP last week (3/31) to discuss what's going on in the Gowanus Canal.

Here's a short version of what they told us. DEP said they will send us a briefing that we can distribute.

The black tube on the top of the surface is to help aerate the canal while the flushing tunnel is shut down for two years. It is going to be lowered into the canal to a depth of 2 feet below Mean Low Water. There will be real-time monitoring so that if there are any problems the system can be shut down immediately. DEP does not anticipate any problems because they have done this before in English Kills in Newtown

Creek with no problems. It will be discharging oxygenated water into the canal, not forcing air into the water to oxygenate it, which causes a greater disturbance to the dangerous muck at the bottom of the canal.
The aeration is scheduled to begin in August.
DEP will be making a public presentation soon. She also encouraged them to reach out to the local papers and keep the elected officials updated so we can assist in keeping the community informed.  

Paul Nelson, Chief of Staff
Office of Assemblywoman Joan L. Millman
341 Smith Street
Brooklyn, NY 11231
O:718-246-4889