2) The construction of the Canal began in during the year of 1849 and was accomplished by deepening and widening the Gowanus Creek and creating bulkheads along the waterfront. The Canal was fully built by 1869. Even before the canal was completed, it was was enticing foundries, shipyards, gas manufacturing plants, and factories to the waterfront and nearby lots. By 1870, the area, with its natural wetlands and freshwater streams, had been transformed to a fully urbanized and industrialized area. There was very little environmental regulation at the time and, as a result during the late 19th century and early 20th century, waste from these industries was discharged directly to nearby water bodies without any treatment. As a direct result, the Canal became contaminated with a crowd of industrial pollutants, for example coal tar and heavy metals were two of the pollutants now in the water. As a result of years of industrial dumping’s, storm water runoff, sewer outflows and industrial pollutants, the Gowanus Canal is one of the U.S. Most contaminated water bodies. Those contaminants include PCBs, coal tar wastes, heavy metals and volatile organics (EPA.Gov). The contamination posed a direct threat to the nearby residents who use the canal for fishing and recreation. …show more content…
Since the Canal did not have natural flushing, City engineers agreed that the Canal needed a tunnel to flush the Canal by getting water from the head of the Canal, then conveying it through a 1.15-mile tunnel, and discharging it into the Buttermilk Channel. The Flushing Tunnel was completed in 1911 (NYC.gov). Contamination also flows into the canal from overflows from the sewer system that carries sanitary waste from homes and industrial pollutants mixed in storm water