The Gowanus Canal, one of the most polluted waterways in the country, now has a cleanup plan in place to the tune of more than $ 500 million.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday how it will clean up the Superfund site.
Plans include removing contaminated sediment, capping dredged areas, properly disposing the contaminants out of New York and setting up retention tanks to reduce sewage overflow from seeping into the canal.
“This cleanup plan the EPA is announcing today requires that discharges from two of the major sewage overflow points in the upper canal be outfitted with retention tanks, so that when it rains heavily, the tanks will hold the water, so we don’t have this rush of raw sewage and toxins going into the canal whenever it rains,” said Judith Enck, a Region 2 administrator with the EPA.
“Removing this will take years, but it will be cleaner and safer,” said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, whose district covers parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.
The Gowanus Canal was declared a federal Superfund site in 2010 against the wishes of the Bloomberg administration, which wanted the city to do the cleanup.
The polluters, including the city, the Navy and gas companies, will foot the bill.
The cleanup process is expected to take eight to 10 years.
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via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
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