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The Environmental Protection Agency overseeing the cleanup of the Gowanus Canal Superfund site said Wednesday they will proceed with plans to build a holding tank for sewage runoff under a popular public pool in Gowanus unless the city can offer a viable alternative site, The Brooklyn Paper reported. The cleanup would mean closing the Double D pool at the Thomas Greene Playground for years, and a group of Gowanus residents who rely on the pool in the summer vehemently oppose the plan.

The EPA needs an alternative site within nine months so they can start the design, said Superfund Project Manager Christos Tsiamis at a community meeting. But even if another site for the storage tank is found, the pool may have to temporarily close anyway. It sits on top of contaminated soil where a gas plant operated from 1879 to 1929. The state may require National Grid to dig up and remove the contaminated ground.

Feds Plan Big Sewage Tank Underneath Gowanus Park [Brooklyn Paper]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. And just what would become of the filled in area when it rains? Just where would that extra sewage go?

    Seems you would need to fill it in entirely from the high point in the park all the way to Court Street so the runoff could make it way to the East River.

  2. The pool is currently sitting on top of a mother-load of toxic chemicals.

    And the holding tank needs to be near the top of the canal where most of the sewage is being dumped into the canal to work. There are limits to the possible locations for an effective holding facility.

    Putting the tank there solves both the need to remove all those toxins currently under and around the pool, and the need for a holding tank in the area.

    The city currently has a park with a huge holding tank and ball fields above, should anyone want to see what it might be like.

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