Gowanus Canal Will Need Second Dredging According to Watchdog

YS Gold 

The Gowanus Canal, which snakes its way around the outskirts of Boro Park, has been undergoing dredging in order to clean the water from the immense amount of toxins with which it has been plagued. This effort was initiated New York City which foresees a future where the area will see abundant beauty and natural life. 

However, according to a watchdog group, the $1.5 billion process is going so slowly, that a second dredging will be necessary. The EPA’s watchdog group says that the process is six years behind schedule, and its budget has ballooned to more than 13 times the original projection. 

The EPA’s Inspector General also cited the presence of sewage that makes its way into the canal during heavy rains. Underwater storage tanks are being constructed by the city in order to prevent this leakage, but the completion is now projected to take until 2029.  

“New York City will incur additional expenses if already dredged portions of the canal need to be re-dredged to remove sediments deposited by [combined sewer overflows] that would have been contained in the CSO tanks, had they had been constructed on time,” EPA Inspector General Sean O’Donnell wrote in his audit.

The Gowanus Canal is on the list of the nation’s most contaminated bodies of water, and has served as a dumping ground for factories and refineries since the middle of the 19th century