18 Facts About Gowanus Canal

Gowanus Canal arose in the mid-19th century from local tidal wetlands and freshwater streams.

Gowanus Canal begins at Butler Street in the neighborhood of Boerum Hill, in the northwestern part of Brooklyn.

Gowanus Canal's mouth is at the Gowanus Bay, a portion of Upper New York Bay bordering western Brooklyn.

Mills on the Gowanus Canal were home to public landing sites, connecting the water route to the old Gowanus Canal Road.

Around this time, sewage going to the Gowanus Canal was redirected into sewage treatment plants near the Buttermilk Channel.

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The nonprofit Gowanus Canal Conservancy was founded in 2009, creating partnerships with the EPA, the NYCDEP, groups such as Riverkeeper, and universities such as Cornell and Rutgers.

The EPA Superfund Gowanus Canal report identified two major PRPs: National Grid and the New York City government.

Much of the Gowanus Canal area is at sea level, in a Zone A risk area for flooding.

Meanwhile, the area directly to the east of the Gowanus Canal neighborhood was rezoned for high density residential use with a strong commercial component in 2003.

In June 2017, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy began the process of designing a redevelopment plan for the area.

On Earth Day in 2015, environmental activist Christopher Swain swam through the Gowanus Canal to promote awareness of the environmental restorative work.

Gowanus Canal wore protective swimwear however some of his skin was exposed to the biological and industrial waste.

Gowanus Canal applied preventative countermeasures such as antibacterial lotion and a hydrogen peroxide mouthwash.

Swain, who had swum through heavily polluted waterways, described the Gowanus Canal as being the dirtiest body of water that he had swum through, composing of "mud, poo, detergent, oil and gasoline" and "swimming through a dirty diaper".

Surface of the Gowanus Canal's water has frequently been reported to have an iridescent sheen suggestive of oil, polychlorinated biphenyls, coal tar, and other industrial wastes.

Additionally, a 2003 report of the New York Harbor showed that the Gowanus Canal had the highest level of pathogens of any location in the entire harbor.

Gowanus Canal's pollution has spread to Gowanus Creek, at the mouth of the canal.

In 2014, the Gowanus Canal Conservancy reported that herons, egrets, bats, and Canada geese were living nearby.