A Pollution History of the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

From a beautiful marsh .. to this ?

What happened ?

“Sludgie” Superfund mascot: Anna Martin 2009

Aerial: 14 March 2012, Doc Searles, via Public Laboratory

The Gowanus Canal Superfund Site

Gino Muskratelli, Superfund Mascot interview candidate, drawn by Vince Mussachia, 2011

A Quick Overview of it’s Pollution History

Manhattan

THE GOWANUS CANAL

1640

IT’S IN A VALLEY WITH A HISTORICAL SPONGY MARSH THAT GOT LANDFILLED AND HARDENED

Gowanus Watershed

Historic Landfilled Tidal Marsh (sponge)

The Canal

Massive Landscape Transformation

From Ecological Food Basket to Post Industrial Wasteland

THE CLEANUP PLAN:

2012

“Sludgie” Superfund mascot: Anna Martin 2009

1766 Historical Watershed Modeling by Lucas Kronawitter, 2011

1850’s to 1900’s Extensive Landfilling on top of Tidal Marsh: 19 Feet on Average, with a New Canal straightening historical meandering Creek 1950’s Side Canal Basins were filled in with ash, dirt and toxic waste ...

Gowanus Coal Tar floating on Canal, Robert de Rosa, 2011

How did it get this way ?

What polluted it ?

Humans Discover the Miracle of Chemical Change

Gowanus Smokestack by Triensee, 2010

Tribal Fire in “Tor” by Joe Kubert, 1953

5 major Human Energy Use Phases Define Gowanus landscapes

Pre 1600 :

Agricultural

BIOLOGICAL CARBON RESOURCES, INCLUDING LUMBER

1650 - 1800: Tidal MECHANICAL TIDAL DAMS CAPTURE WATER ENERGY TO GRIND GRAIN

1800 - 1950: Fossil - Coal ERIE CANAL & STEAM BOAT – THE NEED FOR WATERFRONT LOTS

1950 - 2000: Fossil - Oil NEW MOTORS: FROM WATER TO THE ROADS AND AIR

1950 – 2000: Digital Data HIGH SPEED DATA MAKES WATERFRONT WAREHOUSES OBSOLETE REPLACED BY CONTAINERIZATION, AND “JUST IN TIME” SHIPPING – GOWANUS NOW FACES NEW LAND USES AS NATURAL WATERFRONT IS REDISCOVERED

www.welikia.org

GOWANUS

Landscape also changes back: Gowanus Whole Foods site during remediation:

2007 Bob Gusskind

Clearing of forests as first humans burn trees to improve hunting and plant fields

Humans have a capacity for complete ecological transformation

1766 Ratzer Map, New York Public Library

Gowanus Creek was a Rich Tidal Estuary

1635

Dutch Settlers start appropriating the rich Indian agricultural lands

A main industry is growing grain for local tidal mills and distilleries

"I was going by the house of Lubbertse, and saw many little hills in the way from the house to (Brower's) Mill along the neck and (when I) inquired what the hills were ... was answered that it was the Indian corn lands.�

Maritie Bevors, 84 years old, 1741 New Amsterdam Court Trial Proceedings, as quoted in "Indian Paths in the Great Metropolis", Reginald Bolton, 1922 Cristina Kelly “Maize Field� Bergen Street

27 August 1776 – Battle of Brooklyn Growing colonial wealth leads to resource conflicts America’s First Battle for Independence took place here “Provincials Drowned Here..”

1777 London’s Gentleman’s Map

1776 - Ongoing Resource Conflicts‌ The Battle of Brooklyn

1776, 27 August - Delaware Regiment_fighting in Battle of Brooklyn_painting: Domenick D'Andrea

1836

BROOKLYN EXPANDS SOUTH

EUROPEAN GRID PLAN REPLACES TOPOGRAPHIC INDIAN TRAIL SYSTEM

1837

LANDFILLING OF MARSHES STARTS AS GARBAGE DUMPED INTO “WASTE LANDS”

1844

BERGEN, COBBLE, BOERUM HILL & MILL PONDS START DISSAPEARING

HILLS BECOME LANDFILL MATERIAL FOR MARSHES

THE BIG CHANGE: The Industrial Revolution and Coal

Student Internship - circa 1906, Pennsylvania

IMPACT OF COAL ENERGY ON URBAN GROWTH OF NYC AND GOWANUS

1807 – Fulton’s Steam Engine : Makes possible long distance movement of coal and inland goods.

1800’s Onward :

Regional Plan Association, Waste Management Plan, 1967

1815 Steam Boat 1825 Erie Canal

City allows Speculators to claim wetlands and underwater lots if they fill them in, typically with garbage, soils from hills and excavations & industrial wastes: The Era of Waterfront Industry begins

1825

ERIE CANAL

The “Wedding of the Waters” linking inland lakes to coastal cities means a “divorce” for the City’s natural systems

1848

MAJOR DOUGLASS CANAL PLAN LEADS TO DREDGING AND HARDENING OF GOWANUS CREEK

DEVELOPMENT! 1840s – 1860s the creek is converted into a 1.8 mile long canal

1849!

2004, USACE Cultaral Resources Assessment for the Gowanus Canal, Hunter Research, Raber Associates, Northe Eastern Ecological Associates

1879 – GOWANUS MARSHES FILLED IN

1879, Currier & Ives

1922 – Coal Barges at entrance of Gowanus Canal

CHEMICALS..

WHAT WAS USED ?

OLD MAPS TELL US WHAT WAS MADE WHERE .. AND POLLUTION IMPLICATIONS EXAMPLE – MUNITIONS FACTORY ON TOP OF OLD GOWANUS STREAM BED

The Gowanus Canal Marshes now saturated with large pools of coal tar..

HOW DID IT GET THERE ?

June 2010 – Superfund Project Manager Christos Tsiamis with the Star of the Gowanus Sludge Sample Photo by Katia Kelly, Pardon Me For Asking

1920’s Metropolitan Gas Works Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Site, Gowanus Canal Picture courtesy of National Grid

1924 Public Place Citizens Gas Works Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Site

These huge steam punk steel lungs “breathed” up and down as gas was used during day

This also helped push coal tar residues deep underground…

Picture courtesy of National Grid

Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club – SUPERFUND TOURISM MAP = Really Icky Stuff ( Underground Coal Tar Plumes ) Come check em’ out by canoe !

6 & 24 MARCH 2011

Heating Oils pouring down Second Street at Gowanus Canal

Street Rain Runoff a major water pollution source Many Bus and Oil Depots around Canal

Picture courtesy of Christos Tsiamis, USEPA, circa 2008 (?)

Coal Tar Sheens (different from street runoff) as they come from underground plumes left by old Manufacturing Gas Plant process

Picture courtesy of Pericles

The Coal Tar bubbles up to Gowanus Canal water surface via soil gases

Picture courtesy of Sean Hanley

Surprisingly stuff survives – above native Gowanus Yellow Aster / Goldenrod – but most plants are “synanthropic” – meaning they have adapted to human disturbance and are mostly from Europe and Asia so can survive higher heat and new Gowanus Canal concrete jungle ecology

1922 Public Place / Citizens Gas Works MGP Site

Gas Manufacturing Process used massive amounts of water for gas cleaning, releasing it back into Canal with pollutants

1922, National Grid Archives

1906_Charles F Breitzke & Gerhard, The Investigation of Sanitary Conditions of the Gowanus Canal, MIT

1906 Water Sample Chart showing Gowanus Canal water was 90 degrees in FEBRUARY – the coldest month of the year

THERMAL POLLUTION

Led to massive transformation of water ecology.

This has changed dramatically in a century

The Gowanus Canal still gets over a million gallons a day of sewage.

The Superfund Plan will require sewage overflows to be dramatically reduced.

WHAT ARE COMBINED SEWER OVERFLOWS ?

13 Combined Sewer Overflows pour 330 million gallons a year of diluted sewage into the Canal - Up to 200 other outfalls, which Superfund is in the process of identifying - Proposed 170 Million Flushing Tunnel & Sewer Repairs will reduce Overflows by 34% - National Grid’s agreement to rebuild bottlenecked Bond Lorraine Sewer Line back to 72” diameter capacity (was 56”) may reduce CSO’s by another 20 to 30% - New Storm Drains on Carroll Street & 3rd Ave may help further

CURRENT CLEANUP PROPOSALS STILL LEAVE 132 MILLION GALLONS OF SEWAGE TO ELIMINATE .. SEA LEVELS ARE RISING

THEY KEEP SEWAGE FROM FLOODING YOUR BASEMENT & ALLOW TOILETS TO WORK DURING HEAVY STORMS

CLIMATE CHANGE IS HAPPENING ‌ Population: 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000

Temperature Difference: 4 degrees celsius 6 degrees celsius 8 degrees celsius 10 degrees celsius

(Oke, 1973)

Cities are 6 degrees warmer than forests THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

Pollution continues: Moves from Water to Air

2011, 2nd Street & Gowanus Canal Truck Yard

2009 Air Pollution

the brown stuff makes you cough

2009 New York City Community Air Survey

2011 Environmental Protection Agency “Superfund” Investigation Comparison of Different Sediment Layers at bottom of Gowanus Canal Sediment Layer

BTEX (mg/ kg)

PAHs (mg/kg) PCBs (mg/kg) Lead (mg/kg)

Surface soft

0.36

527

0.43

533

1950 - now

Deeper soft

188

3,490

3.5

770

1850-1950 (worst time)

Native

233

2,920

0.026

14

Pre 1850

Tables courtesy of Christos Tsiamis, USEPA, 2011

Meaning the mud smells like oil when I try to make tunnels in it..

BTEX = benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes PAH = polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PCB = polychlorinated biphenyl (because I can never remember what the acronyms mean besides that they cause brain damage..)

Gogo the Gowanus Muskrat, picture by Adam Katzman June 2011

Surface Water Sampling Results Constituents Exceeding Screening Values Dry Weather

Wet Weather

Type

Ecological

Human Health

Ecological

Human Health

VOCs

None

Benzene

None

Ethylbenzene PCE

SVOCs

None

Benzo(a)anthracene Benzo(a)pyrene Benzo(b)fluoranthene Benzo(k)fluoranthene Chrysene Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

None

Benzo(a)anthracene Benzo(a)pyrene Benzo(b)fluoranthene Benzo(k)fluoranthene Chrysene Dibenz(,h)anthracene The Canal gets Indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene Naphthalene CRAP load of

chemicals !

Metals

Cobalt Copper Nickel

Arsenic Chromium Cobalt Copper Mercury Thallium

Cobalt Iron Lead Nickel

Arsenic Chromium Cobalt Lead Mercury

Tables courtesy of Christos Tsiamis, USEPA, 2011

Don’t forget the Estrogen and Methadone ( from pain killers and birth control pills flushed down the toilet )

Gino Muskratelli, by Vince Mussachia, Six Packed Panels, Red Hook Star Revue, 2011

a

www.epa.gov/region2/superfund/npl/gowanus/

How the pollutants move around in the Canal

Columbia University 2007 “Eco Gowanus� Sanborn Mapping Study systematically analyzed industrial uses by chemicals used and studied pollution dispersal patterns 2007 edited by Patricia Cullinan & Richard Plunz & prepared by students from the Columbia University Urban Design Program

circuit boards

But there is hope‌

The Superfund Relight

LAND (non naturale)!

TOXIC AREA: +/- 178 Acres

“Superfund site” is Canal only: 1.8 miles x 100 ft wide; Rest is State Brownfields Cleanup Program

“2020 Vision”

A clear cleanup time table = proposals for new housing

1776!

2009, Eymund Diegel, Potential Extent of Superfund Area, based on Culligan Columbia Sanborn Study

Superfund Salad:

Gowanus Metallophyte Plants

have adapted to heavy metals in human environments ALL EDIBLE

(IF YOU LIKE HEAVY METALS)

FOR RECIPES: http://urbanomnibus.net/2010/11/from-brownfieldsto-greenfields-a-field-guide-to-phytoremediation/

COMMUNITY / COMMUNITIES DEFINED BY LAND USE CHANGES

OLDTIMERS VS NEW COMERS

OWNERS VS RENTERS

WHERE WILL BE COMMON GROUNDS ?

Will Eisner – On The Waterfront

GOWANUS CANAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

SOUTH BROOKLYN INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

GOWANUS ALLIANCE

GOWANUS DREDGERS

LIVING CITY BLOCK

ENVIRONMENT

HOOKERS

PLANNERS MAYOR

GOWANUS BY DESIGN

FISH & BIRDS & INSECTS

FILM & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

TRANSPORT INDUSTRY RENTERS

OWNERS OLD

SOCIETY

AMERICAN CAN FACTORY HOMELESS RESIDENTS

PRESERVATIONISTS

ENVIRONMENTALISTS

STATE (NYSDEC)

OPEN SPACE ADVOCATES

YOUNG NIMBYS

COMMUNITY BOARDS

REMEDIATION PROFESSIONALS

POT SMOKERS POOR

5TH AVENUE COMMITTEE

ANNUAL GOWANUS ARTISTS STUDIO TOUR

CEMENT INDUSTRY

ELECTED OFFICIALS

FRIENDS OF THOMAS GREEN PARK

ECONOMY

FACTORY OWNERS

RICH

FRIENDS & RESIDENTS OF GREATER GOWANUS

PROTEUS GOWANUS

CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGY

DEVELOPERS (HUDSON, AFRICA ISRAEL) GOWANUS & WYCKOFF HOUSES

GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY

BIG BOX STORES (FAIRWAYS, STORAGE)

BUSINESS PEOPLE

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (USEPA)

RECYCLING INDUSTRY

CITY (NYCDEP)

BROOKLYN LYCEUM CARROLL GARDENS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

GOWANUS STAKEHOLDERS

WHO ARE THEY ?

WHAT WILL BE THE COMMON GROUND ?

How is the COMMUNITY CHANGING ?

NEW YORK CITY SEX HEAT MAP

“THE DEEPER INTO BROOKLYN YOU GO, THE KINKIER PEOPLE GET” THE GOWANUS CANAL

The darker the color, the more likely a neighborhood’s residents are to respond to contact on OkCupid NY Magazine, June 2011

2011 ARIANA & JOEL WEDDING

Lily Frances – Carroll Gardens Patch

LIZ & NED ENGAGEMENT

Is it something in the Water ?

NO.

Just boring demographics.

People are having babies, Suburbs Suck and the abandoned inner city is repopulating

Gowanus Ecology is improving and we expect a massive increase in fish populations and health with opening of Flushing Tunnel in Spring 2013

Type Small prey fish

Species Atlantic Tomcod Hake Mummichog

2010, 29 June _Local Gowanus kids with captured Jellyfish photo: Ava Chin, NY Times

Blue Crab Larger Fish

Blue Crab American Eel Striped Bass White Perch

1900’S

FLUSHING TUNNEL DESIGNED TO CLEAN STAGNANT & POLLUTED GOWANUS Brooklyn Public Library, via Kevin Clarke, NYCDEP

As stream diverted to sewers, no longer enough water to flush Gowanus Creek by tides alone.

Engineering Measures needed to Solve Problem Tunnel motor broke in 1960 - to be fixed by 2013

2012, 8 February _ Cormoran at OH 007 Combined Sewer Overflow next to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy Rain Gardens

– photo: Patrick Verek

Heartbeats in the Muck

2010, 30 August – Night Herons at !st Street Floating Gardens Photo: Adam Katzman

Photo courtesy of Christos Tsiamis, USEPA, 2011

You can’t stop happiness …

June 2010 – Smoking Gowanus Canal Fisherman with striped bass

BETTER BANK FINANCING & SUPERFUND POSITIVE IMPACT : TOLL BROTHERS HOUSING NOW LIGHTSTONE APARTMENTS

NEW CONCEPTS BEING EXPLORED FOR CANAL WATERFONT

Denton’s Mill Site

Getting information out there so that developers view historical sites as an asset not a liability Ate Atema Architects Conceptual First Street Basin redevelopment proposal

POWERHOUSE ENVIRONMENTAL ARTS CENTER DEVELOPMENT (NEW)

“GOWANUS GREEN” PROPOSAL FOR FORMER PUBLIC PLACE / CITIZENS MANUFACTURING GAS PLANT BROWNFIELD SITE

BUT FIRST …

PROPOSED GOWANUS CANAL CONTAMINATION CONTAINMENT DOME As adapted from “Simpsons, the Movie” , 2007

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (pronounced Eeeepah)

General Plans for Remediation

WHAT’S THAT ABOUT ?

A CENTURY OF DUMPING …

REVERSE THE PROCESS

In a nutshell …

The Gowanus Canal gets about 5 truckloads of crap a year from sewers & pollutants

The Superfund Plan will dig out +/- 30,000 truck loads of this muck from bottom of Canal, put it on barges and haul it away

Line the sides with steel, cap the bottom with a liner, and MAKE IT ALL PRETTY AND GREEN (if community gets it’s way)

+ they are putting corks in all sewer pipes (maybe)

Gowanus Canal Superfund Cleanup General Concepts discussed at Community Advisory Group meetings

REMOVAL STRATEGY: TOXIC SLUDGE (est. 30,000 barge loads) from bottom of Canal taken to Red Hook where it will be first cleaned to make landfill park (may also go elsewhere)

Flushing Tunnel

From East River

BRINGS IN 220,000 GALLONS OF CLEANER WATER A DAY FROM EAST RIVER SIDES OF CANAL TO BE LINED WITH STEEL TO KEEP POLLUTION FROM SHORE TO FLOW BACK INTO CANAL

PUBLIC PLACE BROWNFIELD SITE

SEWAGE FROM EAST OF CANAL (REMAINS)

SEWAGE OUTFLOW FROM WEST OF CANAL (ELIMINATED)

THOMAS GREENE PARK BROWNFIELD SITE

X

SEWAGE OUTFLOW FROM SOUTH (REMAINS)

WHOLE FOODS FORMER BROWNFIELD SITE (now under construction)

CONTAINMENT STRATEGY:

LOWES BROWNFIELD SITE

AFTER DIGGING OUT UP TO 30 FEET, BOTTOM OF CANAL WILL BE LINED WITH CLAY AND POLLUTION BARRIER TO PREVENT DEEPER (130 FEET DOWN) COAL TAR OILS FROM BUBBLING UP

COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP WANT SEWER OVERFLOWS BROUGHT TO ZERO, EITHER BY NEW STORM DRAINS OR SEWER HOLDING TANKS

Sites in BROWN are major cleanup sites being dealt with by NY STATE, Site in BLUE being cleaned by EPA. Private Polluters pay for the cleanup

MILLION GALLONS A DAY OF SEWAGE REDUCED BY 34%

Landscaping Sponge Park Concept by dlandstudio / Gowanus Canal Conservancy

1999

2000 2007

2009 2011

2012 2013 2014 2022

Flushing Tunnel reactivated Gowanus Dredgers founded Vacant Lots attract Developers Gowanus Community Plan Gowanus Canal Conservancy founded NYC Gowanus Rezoning Plan initiated Flushing Tunnel shut down for more repairs $ 500 million Superfund Cleanup program begins $ 175 million Flushing Tunnel Reactivated Bond Lorraine Sewer Rebuilt Gowanus Green Housing Built ?

Superfund Cleanup completed

DECAY

2011 Eymund Diegel

REBIRTH

2011 Scale Free Network

PROBLEMS ‌ A failure to make long lasting life style changes

June 2011 Canoer picking up flowers thrown into Gowanus Canal water during Flushing Tunnel Centennial Celebrations

FLUSHING TUNNEL CENTENNIAL 2011

A failure to get our city to work more efficiently $ 2400

2011 DontFlush.Me, Leif Percifield

A failure to design sustainable cities

Flooded Conservancy tool box – Clean up within 48 hours with no City or Federal help

But there is hope..

OPPORTUNITIES… COMMUNITY GROUPS ARE BECOMING SELF SUFFICIENT

The City’s grassroots movement is growing back..

GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY SANDY FLOOD CLEANUP – 31 OCTOBER 2012

2011 Citizen Kite Photo Program

Goal: make the Gowanus Canal swimmable What ?! Are you Crazy ?

Not Really. By improving Canal we improve water quality for ALL our beaches.

What Kind of Water Quality Do You Think We’ll Need ?

HISTORIC GOWANUS STREAMS Brouwer’s Brook Sassian Stream Bergen Creek Coles Pond

Brouwer’s Spring Denton’s Spring Denton’s Pond Vechte’s Spring

HISTORIC GOWANUS TIDAL MARSH

RECONSTRUCTING THE PATH OF THE GOWANUS WATERSHED’S HISTORIC STREAM…

How can we get rainwater out of the sewers and back into the historical stream system ?

We need more research…

POTENTIAL STREAM OUTFLOW SITE ArcHydro Gowanus Watershed Flow Map by Eymund Diegel, 2010, based on a 2004 Digital Elevation Model.

The blue lines represent the way rainwater would flow if their were no buildings or street drains.

Though hypothetical, the flow directions gives clues to the path of historic stream beds, major street regradings, and potential underground aquifer flows.

The blue blobs represent “sinks” or pools in the contours where rainwater would tend to pond. These all represent “opportunity sites” for Green Infrastructure to improve the Canal’s water quality.

I have found this model accurately depicts why my neighbor’s basement floods on Sackett Street (the old Bergen Creek watercourse)

ECOLOGICAL (HISTORICAL) WATER CYCLE

URBAN WATER CYCLE

EVAPORATION IT RAINS

IT RAINS CONDENSATION

SOME WATER GOES INTO PIPE

WATER GOES INTO PIPE

WHAT WE WANT 2011, Lukas Kronawitter, Terreform One, Water Sensitive Urban Design for the Gowanus Canal

INFILTRATION & HISTORIC STREAM RESTORATION

Volunteer Groups are Improving the Canal ‌

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ARE NOW PART OF PLANNING CONVERSATION

FORMERLY OPPOSED COMMUNITY GROUPS ARE FINDING COMMON GROUNDS

Lisanne, Found in Brooklyn November 2010

COMMUNITY PLANNERS

2007: COMMUNITY PRIORITIES & OPPORTUNITIES OUTLINED

How can we help see “decay” as a better way to design cities ?

Gowanus Canal Dredgers Canoe Club Sunset – photo by Torsten Kjellstrand for the Oregonian, 2012, 8 June

What do YOU think will be the way forward ?…