Gowanus Canal Cleanup Will Cost $506 Million, Take 10 Years

For nearly a year, we've known that the Superfund (a.k.a. super dirty, toxic, polluted, you name it) site of the Gowanus Canal is getting a cleanup, but that promised makoever has been a long time coming. But now it's official: today, right on schedule, by the banks (ew) of the canal, the EPA announced the finalized plan to shove the 1.8-mile-long waterway's maligned, malodorous past in the history books. Via Pardon Me For Asking, who was on the scene, "[t]he clean-up will cost $506 million, last 8 to 10 years and will include dredging of the toxic material, caping, controls to reduce sources of contamination from uplands, as well as removal of contamination from the 1st Street Basin." Most important, some of the contaminated sewage currently channeled into the canal will be captured by "retention basins," which will reduce the amount of that grody stuff in the water by 58 to 74 percent.
· A Monumental Day For Gowanus: EPA Releases Its Finalized Plan To Clean Up the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site [PMFA]
· All Gowanus Canal coverage [Curbed]