Many associate New York City with the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Times Square. Recognizing the city as a landscape of skyscrapers and tourist attractions is not uncommon, but peer around a corner and another aspect of the city may be revealed. The dirty, the abandoned, and the forgotten. The Gowanus Canal is just around one of these many corners. It sometimes goes unrecognized that New York City expands beyond the island of Manhattan. Off the island, the terrain begins to change. Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, was once a roaring site of industry. Long before it was industrialized, it was a marshland. Settlers took over the land and filled in the marsh to create sites for mills and warehouses. In the mid 1800s, at the rise of industry, the Gowanus Canal was dug, cutting through the mid section of Brooklyn as an artery to transport goods by barge from the bay area of the East River.

For decades the Gowanus Canal was fed with the harmful runoffs of industry. Most of the initial pollution came from these industrial sites, but garbage, as well as raw sewage and storm runoff, continued to be channeled into the canal for decades after. This contaminated the canal with toxins, carcinogens, mercury, and harmful bacteria. Even today an issue remains with wastes in the canal, from household garbage to toxic chemicals. Many years passed without any regulations surrounding the use of the canal. Beginning in 1911, a propeller flushed fresh water into the canal until the propeller broke in 1961. The propeller was then not repaired until 1999. The issues of the canal began to be recognized first from the smell and the color. Locals dubbed the canal ‘lavender lake’ due to its occasional purple tint. The canal was last dredged in 1975, and in the mid eighties, a tunnel was installed to direct sewage to a separate location rather than the canal. Though these were both improvements, the canal is still in need of serious cleanup.

In 2010, the Gowanus Canal was designated as a federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund Site. This means that the canal has been recognized as a toxic site in need of remediation. Interestingly, the neighborhoods of Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, and Park Slope are becoming increasingly popular areas to live in, and in turn, increasingly gentrified. Hipster families seem to be flocking in, pushing strollers at full force. The appeal to the area may have something to do with the construction of a large Whole Foods in Park Slope right along a bank of the canal. The irony of the Whole Foods situated on the bank of the canal can be sited in the small placards along the fence line asking people not to smoke because Whole Foods claims to be the ‘greenest’ supermarket in New York. However, issues with the canal remain in the public eye. In 2013, a dolphin mistakenly made its way into the canal, eventually drowning in the murky water. Just this past July, heavy rains caused the canal to overflow and flood the surrounding neighborhood, spreading toxins and bacteria.

Several years ago it was announced that another dredging for the canal would begin in 2016, and unsurprisingly, the EPA has pushed back that date. Complications continue to arise that lead to the cleanup date being pushed back, and it seems the EPA will use any issue at all to push back the cleaning of the canal. Debates over the location of a sewage retention tank for the dredges of the canal have carried on for years. Recently, the decision was made for a more expensive sewage retention tank, for the sake of saving a playground and pool in the neighborhood. The EPA is claiming that this decision will further draw out the clean up process. Soon residents will vote on whether or not to construct a new bridge over one section of the canal. Implementing a fixed bridge, as opposed to the current draw bridge, would inhibit barges passing through the canal and would prevent dredging by boat in a section of the canal. The cleaning of the canal has been at a slow pace and it's not looking too bright at the current moment. At this point, it is a question of whether or not the EPA will hold to its promises at all.

What is the future of the canal? Currently, it seems that this will depend on the EPA’s ability to fulfill their goals. As the federal government, in the form of the EPA, has taken up the responsibility of the canal, it is important that they follow through with their promises and clean up the canal not only for the sake of the neighborhood and the environment, but also for the integrity of the EPA itself. Even with its toxic status, the canal is already becoming a place of increased activity. Kayaking and paddling on the canal have been encouraged, and before the development of an apartment complex on the 2nd street access to the canal, there was a boat dock for such purposes. There is such potential for such a recreational place to exist in the city, however, given its Superfund status, it seems too risky to ignore that change needs to happen before the Gowanus Canal will be a celebrated place.

For more information, check out the documentary film Lavender Lake on Vimeo directed by Allison Prete.

To learn about recent happenings along the canal, check out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/23/nyregion/wanting...

http://abc7ny.com/news/exclusive-cleanup-date-for-...

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/4/27/re...