On Saturday, our social justice group ventured to the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn to meet with the program manager of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy named Nastasia Sidarta. As we made our way from the subway station to the meeting place where a cleanup was happening, we viewed many of the disgusting results of centuries of industrial pollution. The air smelled rancid, like sewage and smoke. The canal appeared to be an open sewer. Abandoned factories and plants were abundnant in the area, giving an image of a past industrial bubble. When we arrived at the cleanup site, volunteers were busy composting, gardening, and beekeeping in order to preserve the Gowanus Canal watershed and absorb some of the pollutants that flow through the river.

     Nastasia told us about the two primary pollutants of the canal and its surroundings. The first is historical pollution, which includes gas, coal plants, and soap and paint factories from up to 200 years ago. This accumulated to create a riverbed of ancient toxic and cancerous sediment. The other major factor in the pollution of the canal is current pollution, mainly sewage. We were shocked to learn that 400 million gallons of sewage enter the canal every year, making it highly toxic.

We learned that the conservation of the Gowanus Canal is a superfund project, meaning that government money is alloted for the the conservancy and the work that it does. The EPA, or the Environmental Protection Agency, is in charge of the project. The government has big plans for the canal. In fact, by the year 2022, the canal will be as good as clear of the cancerous sediment and seaage that currenfly makes it a toxic body of water. In 2016, the EPA will dredge the canal removing the historical pollution secured at the bottom of the water. They will also implement sewage holding tanks so that the excess waste does not mix with the water.

Nastasia was hugely helpful and even offered to assist us in organizing a private school cleanup and volunteer opportunity at the canal!