The Gowanus Canal's 4th Street Basin near Whole Foods earlier this year
Coal Tar sheen clearly visible on the surface of the water at Gowanus' 4th Street Basin
Looking Towards Whole Food's parking lot
CSO and Coal tar visible from Third Avenue, looking at the 4th Street Basin
From Whole Food's Esplanade.
The Environmental Protection Agency was immediately notified of today's condition.
The sight is heartbreaking. Why? Because the 4th Street Turning Basin was the first portion of the canal to be cleaned and capped as part of the EPA's Superfund remediation of the polluted canal. The basin had been chosen for a Dredging and Capping Pilot Study, the results of which informed and helped EPA fine-tune different techniques that will be applied to the entire canal.
E.P.A.'s plans to begin the dredging of the main canal sometime in late 2020.
The pilot study was completed in late 2018 and represented a huge milestone. The work consisted of dredging the contaminated sediment at the bottom of the basin and capping it to prevent recontamination. It was the first time in over 100 years that a section of the Gowanus was clean of debris and toxic 'black mayonnaise', the thick coal tar sediment at the bottom of the canal, which is a result of heavy industrial use in and around the Gowanus over centuries.
This is why the sight of new coal tar and CSO floating on this remediated section this morning is so upsetting. The pollution was flowing into the Basin from the main canal. Perhaps Wednesday's heavy rains are to blame for the current conditions?
This illustrates the complexity of remediating such a polluted body of water . It also demonstrates the fragility of the environment after decades of abuse.
Surely, the sight of little ducklings swimming around on the polluted water in Vogel's video above is just so sad.
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