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 ?…