They love doing the dirty work.
The city started its long-awaited $1.6 billion project to build sewage containers beneath Brooklyn’s toxic Gowanus Canal aimed at preventing further pollution of New York’s waterways, Mayor Eric Adams and the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
Two tanks big enough to hold a combined 12 million gallons of filthy waste water are slated to be completed by 2030, according to Hizzoner and EPA Administrator Lisa Garcia.
“Sewage overflow has long been a problem in the Gowanus area, and especially during heavy rainfalls. These tanks and the improved drainage and pumping infrastructure around it will keep the Gowanus Canal cleaner and provide more space for recreation and community activities,” said Adams.
The plan also includes beautifying the space on top of the cesspools with 3.6 miles of waterfront parkland.
The project follows a years-long struggle to clean up the channel after the US EPA declared it a “Superfund site” in 2010 following years of contamination.
In 2014, the EPA agreed to a settlement with National Grid to dredge the canal after it pegged the company – as well as the city of New York – as being “potentially responsible” for tainting the waterway.
The cleanup is estimated to end by June 2023, according to the city.
