Hazard NYC Podcast - Coal Tar, ‘Poonamis’ and Thousands of New Apartments at the ‘Toxic Wonderland’ of the Gowanus Canal - Season 2: Episode 4

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The Gowanus Canal is a “toxic Wonderland” in the midst of a neighborhood undergoing a complicated transformation. Hear from locals, government officials and developers about the future of the area — and what challenges stand in the way of a cleaner, more resilient community.

Samantha Maldonado, senior reporter at THE CITY,  and independent journalist Jordan Gass-Pooré dig in on the final episode of Hazard NYC, a four-part FAQ NYC Presents limited series exploring the city’s Superfund sites.

See and read more about the Gowanus Canal here.

If you like what you’re hearing, please spread the word, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever podcasts are found.

THE CITY is a nonprofit newsroom that serves the people of New York. Sign up for our SCOOP newsletter and get exclusive stories, helpful tips, a guide to low-cost events, and everything you need to know to be a well-informed New Yorker.

Read the episode transcript below:

**HS VO [PRE-ROLL] **

It’s FAQ NYC PRESENTS, where the only podcast in the only city in the world brings in other voices to dig into what it’s all about.

I’m Harry Siegel, FAQ NYC’s co-host and executive producer, and right now you’re going to hear part 1 of Hazard NYC, a four-part limited series looking at New York’s four federal superfund sites hosted by Samantha Maldonado of The City and independent journalist Jordan Gass-Poore.

Hazard NYC was made possible by support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism. The project was produced in partnership with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and is part of the Pulitzer Center's Connected Coastlines initiative. For more information, go to pulitzer center dot org… forward slash… connected hyphen coastlines.

Hazard NYC is supported in part by Newlab – a platform helping deep-tech startups succeed to address the climate crisis. Learn more at newlab.com.

Let’s jump right in.

[SFX]

**Nicole Vergalla: **What we recommend, because it's very windy as water, like, just, we recommend paddling around this area first, making sure that you have a good feel for your canoe and you know how to control it.

SM VO

THAT’S NICOLE VERGALLA. SHE’S LIVED IN GOWANUS FOR ABOUT A DECADE AND VOLUNTEERS WITH THE GOWANUS DREDGERS CANOE CLUB.

**Nicole Vergalla: **So, once you go through there, you're gonna be here to the Ninth Street Bridge. If you heard me saying that there's peregrine falcon, this is where it nests. You may see a kingfisher over here that I got to see earlier today, it's dodging all around, if you see a bird going kind of like this. And it's, like, a little stripy looking. It's a belted kingfisher.

SM VO

THE DREDGERS HOST PADDLE-IN MOVIE NIGHTS, TRACK WATER QUALITY AND LET ANYONE TAKE A BOAT OUT ON THE WATER… ON A CHILLY WEEKEND LAST FALL THAT’S JUST WHAT I DID.

[BOAT/WATER SFX]

SM VO

NICOLE HANDED ME A LIFE VEST AND HELPED ME GET INTO A CANOE TO PADDLE DOWN THE CANAL.

[BOAT/WATER SFX]

**Sam Maldonado: **You can see some warehouses and the Port of New York Authority Grain Terminal that looks all decrepit in the back.

SM VO

I KEPT PADDLING… UP TO A SIGN THAT SAID THE CANAL WAS A FEDERAL SUPERFUND SITE… WITH THE CLEANUP UNDERWAY.

[MUX IN: “Hazard NYC Theme”]

SM VO

THIS IS HAZARD N-Y-C… A MINI SERIES FROM F-A-Q N-Y-C.

I’M SAMANTHA MALDONADO… A REPORTER WITH THE CITY.

JGP VO

AND I’M JORDAN GASS POORE… AN INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST AND PODCAST PRODUCER.

ON THIS EPISODE… WE HEAD TO GOWANUS…

[MUX OUT: “Hazard NYC Theme”]

JGP VO

GOWANUS IS A MOSTLY INDUSTRIAL BROOKLYN NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE MIDST OF A RAPID TRANSFORMATION.

SM VO

AND THAT WAS NEVER MORE OBVIOUS TO ME THAN WHEN I PADDLED THROUGH THE OILY WATERS OF THE CANAL. IT SOMETIMES SMELLED LIKE GASOLINE… BUT I COULD SEE THE SHELLS OF BRAND NEW APARTMENT BUILDINGS LOOMING IN THE DISTANCE.

**Nicole Vergalla: **When people haven't been on the water before and they get on the water, they see the city differently, and they see the environment differently. ** **

SM VO

NICOLE… THE VOLUNTEER WITH THE DREDGERS CANOE CLUB… SAYS THE DREDGERS HOPE PEOPLE WILL APPRECIATE THE POTENTIAL FOR GOWANUS TO BE A HEALTHIER WATERWAY.

**Nicole Vergalla: **You know, we are called the Gowanus Dredgers, not because we do the dredging, but because we've been advocates for it.

**[DREDGING SFX] **

JGP VO

THAT DREDGING IS HAPPENING… RIGHT NOW… AS PART OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S CLEAN UP OF THE POLLUTED NEARLY TWO MILE CANAL THAT RUNS THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

BUT CLIMATE CHANGE MEANS MORE RAIN… AND WORSE FLOODING.

THIS THREATENS TO COMPLICATE CLEAN UP EFFORTS… SPREAD CONTAMINATION… AND SEND MORE WAVES OF HUMAN WASTE DOWN THE CANAL.

SM VO

SO… IF YOU’VE LISTENED TO OUR OTHER EPISODES OF HAZARD N-Y-C… THIS QUESTION OF HOW CLIMATE CHANGE WILL AFFECT SUPERFUND CLEAN UPS MIGHT SOUND FAMILIAR.

BUT GOWANUS RAISES SOME OTHER QUESTIONS… SO THIS EPISODE WILL BE A BIT DIFFERENT.

[GOWANUS CONSTRUCTION AMBI]

GOWANUS IS A BOOM TOWN FOR HOUSING. REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS ARE CONSTRUCTING THOUSANDS OF NEW APARTMENTS.

THEY SEE IT AS A WAY TO BUILD UP A LOW LYING… NEGLECTED AREA THAT HAPPENS TO BE SQUISHED BETWEEN SOME OF BROOKLYN’S FANCIEST NEIGHBORHOODS.

JGP VO

THAT MEANS GOWANUS LOCALS WHO HAVE LONG LIVED WITH THE CONTAMINATION… AND LOTS OF FLOODING… WILL BE JOINED BY THOUSANDS OF NEW NEIGHBORS.

SM VO

BUT BEFORE WE GET TO THAT… LET’S TAKE A STEP BACK… INTO THE PAST.

[MUX: “Down the Gowanus”]

JGP VO

JOSEPH ALEXIOU IS AN AUTHOR WHO LITERALLY WROTE THE BOOK ON THE HISTORY OF THE GOWANUS CANAL.

**Joseph Alexiou: **It’s called a tidal estuary, and it’s basically an arm of the sea or an inlet that reached up about a mile into the land that we now know is Brooklyn, and we're surrounded by about a square mile of salt marshes.

JGP VO

DEVELOPMENT IN THE MID EIGHTEEN HUNDREDS TURNED THE MARSHLAND INTO A MAJOR TRANSPORTATION ROUTE FOR A NEWLY INDUSTRIALIZED BROOKLYN.

**Joseph Alexiou: **All of this was kind of the dream of every industrialist trying to modernize cities.

JGP VO

NOW THAT BARGES AND BOATS COULD TRANSPORT GOODS ON THE CANAL… GOWANUS BECAME A THRIVING HOTBED OF INDUSTRY.

**Joseph Alexiou: **Moving things along the water was the cheapest and most efficient way to do it. You would have industries pop up along either side of the canal, and then they would both produce jobs – and a lot of waste, which got dumped back into the canal.

JGP VO

LUMBER YARDS… CHEMICAL AND CONCRETE PLANTS… PAPER MILLS… FACTORIES… INCINERATORS… AND SHIPBUILDERS USED TO LINE THE CANAL’S BANKS.

**Joseph Alexiou: **They built, over time, three manufactured gas plants along its banks. These plants, which use coal, produced heat and power for all the City of Brooklyn, and also huge amounts of waste, which they often dumped into the canal.

[MUX IN: “Interstitial - Fast,Sad,Weird TRACK”]

SM VO

COAL TAR… THE OILY BYPRODUCT OF THOSE GAS PLANTS… SEEPED INTO THE GROUND.

AND OTHER BUSINESSES DUMPED A CHEMICAL SLUSH INTO THE CANAL TOO.

THE CANAL CONTAINS OVER A DOZEN CONTAMINANTS… INCLUDING POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS… POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS [by-FEN-als]… AND HEAVY METALS LIKE LEAD… MERCURY… AND COPPER.

THESE CAN HARM THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE AREA’S ECOSYSTEM… AS WELL AS HUMAN HEALTH. EXPOSURE EITHER FROM DIRECT CONTACT OR EATING THE CANAL’S FISH CAN LEAD TO EYE AND SKIN IRRITATION… ORGAN DAMAGE… OR EVEN CANCER.

[MUX OUT: “Interstitial - Fast,Sad,Weird TRACK”]

**Joseph Alexiou: **It was only after World War Two that Gowanus really declined, and that's because of things like containerized shipping, and then moving of factories outside of the city.

JGP VO

JOSEPH SAYS BY THE NINETEEN SIXTIES GOWANUS LOST ITS MAJOR INDUSTRIES.

**Joseph Alexiou: **The fact that it had all these problems: pollution and stink and flooding did not make it a place that people wanted to try to fix.

JGP VO

BUT THE AREA’S GRITTINESS EVENTUALLY ATTRACTED PEOPLE.

**Joseph Alexiou: **I mean, people started moving to Gowanus in the late ‘80s from SoHo, and when I say people, I mean artists and weirdos that were looking for what were considered neglected neighborhoods with lots of space and factory lofts.

SM VO

AND THIS LAID THE GROUNDWORK FOR FURTHER INTEREST IN GOWANUS…

JANELL BAPTISTA IS A RESIDENT WHOSE TIME IN GOWANUS HAS SPANNED WHAT THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS… IS… AND PROBABLY WILL BE.

**Janell Bapista: **It's kind of overwhelming in a lot of ways, and how much it has changed in the past four years since I’ve lived here.

SM VO

TO BE CLEAR… HE’S BEEN IN HIS CURRENT APARTMENT FOR ABOUT FOUR YEARS.

BUT HE’S LIVED IN GOWANUS FOR TWO DECADES… SINCE HIS EARLY TWENTIES. HE SAYS BACK THEN THERE WERE…

**Janell Bapista: No trees on the street. None of the buildings on Fourth Avenue. Third Avenue. Whole Foods wasn't there, it was just like a historic place that we all loved. That kind of just got ruined by this beautiful building that I live in. _[Laughs] **_

JGP VO

JANELL LIVES IN ONE OF THE VERY FIRST SHINY NEW APARTMENT BUILDINGS THAT WAS CONSTRUCTED RIGHT ON THE BANKS OF THE CANAL.

HE USED TO PARTY ON SUNDAYS ON A FORMER EMPTY LOT NEAR THE CANAL… THE SAME LOT WHERE HIS APARTMENT BUILDING NOW STANDS.

SM VO

IN SPITE OF ALL THE SHIFTS IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD… THE CANAL HAS REMAINED A CONSTANT.

**Janell Bapista: You know, every day I walk my dog along the canal, but I also like to look in the water. I see fish, I take videos of fish. I've seen crabs, eels, raccoons. I mean, this whole little area has a cute little, like, nature thing going on. **

SM VO

NOT THAT HE’S EVER BEEN IN A BOAT ON THE WATER.

**Janell Bapista: **No, no, no, that's not, not where my journey goes._ [Laughs] _

SM VO

BUT HE SEES HIS JOURNEY CONTINUING IN GOWANUS.

**Janell Bapista: **Just like a really sweet neighborhood. It has its own little vibe, but like the canal itself and what I've learned through, like, the dredgers and just people around in the Superfund, and the fact that, you know, there's all these buildings going up. I plan on being here as long as possible.

JGP VO

THE VISION OF NEW DEVELOPMENT HELPED SHAPE HOW THE E-P-A DECIDED TO CLEAN UP THE CANAL… AFTER IT DECLARED THE CANAL A SUPERFUND SITE IN TWO THOUSAND TEN.

**Walter Mugdan: **You gotta be much cleaner if it's going to be a residential use, than if it's going to be industrial.

JGP VO

THAT’S WALTER MUGDAN… A FORMER DEPUTY REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE E-P-A.

SM VO

MORE THAN THIRTY PARTIES ARE ON THE HOOK FOR THE CANAL”S CLEAN UP… INCLUDING CON ED… EXXON MOBIL… NATIONAL GRID… AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

THE CLEAN UP PLAN INVOLVES DREDGING. THAT’S SCOOPING OUT THE CONTAMINATED SOIL FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE CANAL.

**Walter Mugdan: **Get all the way down, get all that soft, gooey stuff out.

SM VO

THAT GOOEY STUFF IS KNOWN AS “BLACK MAYONNAISE”... BECAUSE THAT’S KIND OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.

**[MUX: “Black Mayo of The Gowanus”] **

JGP VO

ONCE MOST OF THAT GOOEY STUFF IS OUT… THEN THE E-P-A WILL PLACE A CAP ON TOP TO PREVENT THE CONTAMINATION FROM BEING EXPOSED.

THE CAP IS MEANT TO RESIST EROSION FROM CURRENTS AND BOAT TRAFFIC.

IN SOME AREAS… SEDIMENT WOULD BE MIXED WITH CONCRETE BENEATH THE CAP.

THIS WOULD LOCK THE CONTAMINANTS IN PLACE AND CREATE A THICK SOLID LAYER TO PREVENT WHAT’S BELOW FROM MOVING UP INTO THE CANAL.

SM VO

THE CLEAN UP STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO BE VERY RESILIENT… SAYS JOHN PRINCE. HE’S THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE E-P-A SUPERFUND PROGRAM FOR THE NEW YORK REGION.

**John Prince: **It needed to be able to withstand, for instance, unanticipated changes in climate and changes in tide levels and inundations. It's a very, very durable remedy that is able to resist those changes.

**HS VO [MID-ROLL] **

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**JGP VO [MID-ROLL] **

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[MUX IN: “Math Homework”]

SM VO

RIGHT NOW… THE E-P-A IS DONE DREDGING IN ABOUT A THIRD OF THE CANAL… FROM THE HEAD… DOWN TO THE THIRD STREET BRIDGE.

AND THE AGENCY IS FINISHING UP THE CAP THAT GOES ON TOP. ALL THE WORK FOR THAT SECTION IS EXPECTED TO BE DONE THIS SPRING.

THEN THE WORK WILL START ON THE OTHER REMAINING TWO THIRDS OF THE CANAL.

JGP VO

JUST TO BE CLEAR… THE SUPERFUND SITE IS ONLY THE CANAL. BUT TO MAKE SURE THE CANAL IS ACTUALLY CLEAN… THE FEDS NEEDED TO LOOK BEYOND THE WATER… AT THE LAND.

BULKHEADS AROUND THE CANAL ARE BEING REBUILT FOR BETTER STRUCTURAL SUPPORT OF THE CANAL… AND TO PREVENT CONTAMINATION ON THE LAND FROM LEAKING INTO THE WATER.

IF THAT HAPPENS… IT COULD SET BACK THE CLEAN UP EFFORTS.

SM VO

MUCH OF THE LAND IN THE AREA IS CONTAMINATED… IN MANY PLACES WITH COAL TAR.

JGP VO

COAL TAR… AS WE MENTIONED EARLIER… IS A BYPRODUCT FROM GAS PRODUCTION.

IT CONTAINS TOXINS THAT CAN LEAD TO NAUSEA… VOMITING… AND DIARRHEA IF IT’S BREATHED IN. SOME OTHER CHEMICALS IN COAL TAR HAVE BEEN LINKED TO CANCER.

SM VO

DEVELOPERS HAVE PLANS TO BUILD ON THIS CONTAMINATED LAND.

SO… THE COAL TAR AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS MUST BE CLEANED UP IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE FUTURE RESIDENTS FROM HARM.

JGP VO

AND… OF COURSE… TO PREVENT THE WATER OF THE CANAL FROM GETTING DIRTIER.

[MUX OUT: “Math Homework”]

SM VO

HERE’S JOHN AGAIN.

**John Prince: **All of those cleanups are now needed; they all need to happen now because they need to happen before the development.

JGP VO

CLEANING UP THOSE LANDS IS A PROCESS OVERSEEN BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION.

BUT AS PART OF THE SUPERFUND PROCESS… THE E-P-A IS BASICALLY LOOKING OVER THE STATE’S SHOULDER TO MAKE SURE THE CLEAN UP IS UP TO SNUFF.

**John Prince: **To protect the canal, we'll step in.

[MUX IN: “Your Own Devices”]

JGP VO

ON MANY PARCELS OF LAND… THE DEVELOPERS WHO WANT TO BUILD THERE HAVE TO REMEDIATE THE SITES THEMSELVES.

GENERALLY… THEY’LL DO THAT BY REMOVING THE CONTAMINATED SOIL.

SM VO

THAT STRATEGY WILL PREVENT THE CONTAMINATION FROM MOVING INTO THE CANAL… THE E-P-A SAYS.

JGP VO

THE E-P-A’S INVOLVEMENT IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT… BECAUSE MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO’S ADMINISTRATION REZONED THE GOWANUS AREA IN 20-21.

THAT MEANS DEVELOPMENT RULES CHANGED TO ALLOW FOR MORE HOUSING TO BE BUILT IN A SECTION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD THAT TOOK UP ABOUT EIGHTY BLOCKS.

[MUX OUT: “Your Own Devices”]

SM VO

DEVELOPERS ARE SLATED TO BUILD OVER EIGHT THOUSAND APARTMENTS… INCLUDING ON THE BANKS OF THE GOWANUS CANAL AND NEARBY AREAS THAT ARE CONTAMINATED.

ONE OF THOSE DEVELOPERS IS NICK SILVERS. HE’S A FOUNDING PARTNER AT THE DEVELOPMENT FIRM TAVROS. HE WANTED…

**Nick Silvers: **To be able to be in the center of the donut with Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, beautiful tree-lined brownstone streets, as spectacular as Brooklyn can offer.

JGP VO

THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS NICK MENTIONED SURROUND GOWANUS. THEY ARE DENSER AND MORE RESIDENTIAL THAN GOWANUS ITSELF… THEY’RE KNOWN FOR HISTORIC TOWNHOUSES THAT SELL FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

SM VO

IN GOWANUS… BECAUSE OF THE HISTORIC POLLUTION AND INDUSTRIAL CHARACTER… THE NEIGHBORHOOD… _FEELS _DIFFERENT AND HASN’T BEEN AS DEVELOPED.

TAVROS… ALONG WITH ANOTHER REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER CALLED CHARNEY COMPANIES… IS BUILDING THREE NEW RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS IN GOWANUS WITH OVER A THOUSAND APARTMENTS IN ALL.

THERE WILL BE SHOPS AND ARTIST STUDIOS… ALONG WITH THE APARTMENTS. ONE OF THE THREE PROJECTS THE FIRMS ARE DEVELOPING WILL SIT RIGHT ON THE BANK OF THE CANAL… ON A PIECE OF LAND THAT WAS ONCE A LUMBER YARD.

JGP VO

NICK SAYS WHAT MADE THE AREA ATTRACTIVE TO HIM AS A DEVELOPER WAS…

**Nick Silvers: **The idea that there was this completely untapped neighborhood waiting to emerge that had created its own culture over time, was a hub for artists and artists, studios, and creativity, and then the idea that the city was going through a very long thoughtful process to try to nurture and celebrate and, you know, bring that neighborhood forward.

JGP VO

THE DEVELOPERS HAVE TO REMEDIATE THE CONTAMINATED SOIL ON THEIR LOT… TO STRINGENT SPECIFICATIONS… OR ELSE THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO GET A BUILDING PERMIT FROM THE CITY.

**Nick Silvers: **I can tell you that we are being extraordinarily, strictly reviewed at every single turn.

[MUX IN: “1st go Interstitial 4 - Hopeful”]

SM VO

A SIDE NOTE… EXISTING PROPERTIES AROUND THE CANAL… THOSE NOT BEING REDEVELOPED… THEY MAY BE SITTING ON TOP OF LAND LACED WITH COAL TAR AND OTHER CONTAMINANTS TOO.

THE STATE IS OFFERING VAPOR INTRUSION TESTING TO PROPERTY OWNERS TO DETERMINE IF THAT CONTAMINATION BENEATH THEIR HOMES AND BUSINESSES IS GETTING INDOORS.

IF ANYTHING OF CONCERN IS FOUND… THE STATE CAN INSTALL A SYSTEM TO VENT OUT ANY HARMFUL FUMES TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM INHALING THEM.

JGP VO

THIS IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT THE E-P-A IS DOING FOR PROPERTIES AT THE MEEKER AVENUE PLUME SUPERFUND SITE IN NORTH BROOKLYN.

BUT THE RESIDENTS WHO MOVE INTO DEVELOPMENTS WON’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT VAPOR INTRUSION… BREATHING TOXIC FUMES… AS LONG AS THE LAND IS CLEANED UP THOROUGHLY.

[MUX Out: “1st go Interstitial 4 - Hopeful”]

SM VO

GOWANUS ISN’T JUST CONTAMINATED. IT’S A FLOOD ZONE. NEW DEVELOPMENT IS DESIGNED TO BE RESILIENT TO FLOODS.

THAT MEANS RESIDENTS WHO OCCUPY THE NEW BUILDINGS WILL BENEFIT FROM BETTER PROTECTION.

TAVROS AND CHARNEY’S THREE NEW DEVELOPMENTS WILL BE ELEVATED BETWEEN TEN AND FOURTEEN FEET ABOVE THE FLOODPLAIN.

THERE WILL ALSO BE FLOOD BARRIERS SET UP TO ENCIRCLE THE BUILDINGS IN CASE OF A STORM.

JGP VO

GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THE DEVELOPERS SAY THE NEW BUILDINGS WILL ACTUALLY PRESENT MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO CAPTURE STORMWATER IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD TOO.

THAT’S BECAUSE THE BUILDINGS ARE DESIGNED TO RETAIN WATER UNDER A NEW CITY RULE.

EACH OF THE PROJECTS TAVROS AND CHARNEY ARE WORKING ON HAVE THEIR OWN TANKS ON SITE THAT CAPTURE THE WATER.

SM VO

HERE’S JUSTIN PELSINGER… A PARTNER AND C-O-O AT CHARNEY COMPANIES.

**Justin Pelsinger: **They're typically housed in like the basement or the lowest floor of the building, it's essentially like this massive concrete room.

SM VO

HE SAYS THE ROOMS ARE WATERPROOF AND HAVE A SUBMARINE STYLE WINDOW ON THEM.

**Justin Pelsinger: **It sort of captures all of the water, it sits there, and then it very, very slowly moves it out to the city system as to not, like, overflow the system.

SM VO

THE BUILDINGS WILL ALSO FEATURE GREENERY… WHICH HELPS TO ABSORB RAINWATER.

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR STORMWATER AND WASTEWATER TO BE MANAGED… AND PREVENT IT FROM HITTING THE SEWER SYSTEM.

JGP VO

THAT’S BECAUSE RAINFALL IS PROJECTED TO BECOME MORE FREQUENT AND MORE SEVERE AS A RESULT OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

WHEN IT RAINS HEAVY… CERTAIN AREAS IN GOWANUS FLOOD.

SM VO

AND THE CANAL BECOMES ITS STINKIEST SELF.

JANELL… WHO WE MET EARLIER… CAN EXPLAIN…

**Janell Bapista: **There are times where there's just poop coming from the drain. I'll say it: poop.

SM VO

THE SMELL COMES FROM THE RAW SEWAGE THAT GETS DUMPED INTO THE WATER.

MOST OF THE CITY’S SEWER SYSTEM HANDLES BOTH STORMWATER AND WASTEWATER. SO… IF IT RAINS A LOT… THE SYSTEM GETS OVERWHELMED WITH STORMWATER.

JGP VO

AND THAT MEANS THE WASTEWATER… YOU KNOW… THE WATER THAT COMES FROM TOILETS… SHOWERS… AND DISHWASHERS… CAN’T MAKE IT TO THE TREATMENT PLANT.

SM VO

INSTEAD… IT FLOWS… RIGHT INTO THE CANAL. IN GOWANUS… THIS IS KNOWN AS A POONAMI.

[WATER SFX]

JGP VO

ANOTHER PLACE THIS HAPPENS… AS YOU MIGHT REMEMBER FROM OUR FIRST EPISODE… IS NEWTOWN CREEK.

SM VO

TO ADDRESS THE POONAMI PROBLEM… THE CITY IS BUILDING TWO RETENTION TANKS.

TOGETHER THEY WILL CAPTURE TWELVE MILLION GALLONS OF THE SEWAGE AND STORMWATER THAT WOULD OTHERWISE SPILL RIGHT INTO THE CANAL.

JGP VO

THE E-P-A AND THE CITY SAY THE TANKS WILL SIGNIFICANTLY CUT DOWN ON POOP GETTING INTO THE CANAL. THAT’S EVEN WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD _AND _FUTURE INCREASED RAINFALL…

BUT HERE’S THE RUB… THE TANKS WON’T BE READY BEFORE THE E-P-A INSTALLS THE CAP IN THE CANAL.

**John Prince: Be nice if the tanks were done first, not going to happen. **

SM VO

THAT’S JOHN PRINCE AGAIN… WITH THE E-P-A. THE CITY SAYS IT’S AIMING TO COMPLETE THE TANKS IN 20-30.

THAT MEANS UNTIL THEN… THE POONAMIS WILL KEEP HAPPENING ... AND THE SOLIDS IN THOSE WILL SINK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CANAL… AND LAND ON TOP OF THE NEW CAP.

**John Prince: **So, how much recontamination is going to happen over that period of time? We don't know. But if there is recontamination, we're going to have to do something about that, to sort of bring us back to a clean surface once the tank is built.

JGP VO

BETWEEN THOSE TANKS… NEW SEWER PROJECTS… AND THE FEATURES OF THE NEW BUILDINGS… E-P-A AND CITY OFFICIALS SAY FLOODING WON’T GET WORSE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

BUT SOME LOCALS WHO HAVE LONG DEALT WITH FLOODING ARE SKEPTICAL… AND SCARED. THEY DON’T WANT TO BE LEFT BEHIND AS THE AREA EVOLVES FROM CLIMATE CHANGE… AND ALL THAT NEW DEVELOPMENT.

Georgia Parks: They're compromising what ineffective infrastructure there is already.

SM VO

THAT’S GEORGIA PARKS. OVER 40 YEARS AGO… SHE MOVED INTO HER ROW HOME ON THE BORDER OF CARROLL GARDENS AND GOWANUS… JUST A BLOCK WEST OF THE CANAL.

Georgia Parks: But I knew the canal was filthy. I mean, it was, people talked about the canal, we talked about it all the time. You could smell it all the time. You know, you could see the slick on it. You could see – and it's not an exaggeration – you know, rats floating, dead big… they looked like inflated Michelin men.

JGP VO

THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS CHANGED A LOT SINCE THEN. AND SO HAS GEORGIA’S APPROACH TO FLOODING.

SHE SAYS SHE NOW KEEPS TOWELS ON HAND SOLELY TO CLEAN UP AFTER THE STORMS. AND SHE PUT THE LEGS OF HER FURNITURE IN PLASTIC DELI CONTAINERS TO PROTECT THEM.

THE STORM SURGE FROM HURRICANE SANDY SENT THE CANAL OVERFLOWING INTO HER HOME. BUT THAT WAS ONCE. MORE FREQUENTLY SHE’S DEALT WITH FLOODING OF A DIFFERENT KIND.

Georgia Parks: In a rain at high tide, hello, everything was coming in up through my toilet. And I had floor drains. And this went on repeatedly.

SM VO

SHE SAYS SHE ADDED A CHECK VALVE AND INSTALLED A RETENTION TANK DUG INTO HER BACKYARD TO CAPTURE STORMWATER.

BUT DURING RECENT HEAVY RAINS… SHE FOUND WATER IN HER BASEMENT WHEN THE STREETS FLOODED AND THE FLOODS CAME UP OVER THE SIDEWALK.

**Georgia Parks: **The contractor is going to come in and build me a step wall in the basement, so that if the basement floods, it doesn't run into the rest of the basement.

JGP VO

GEORGIA ISN’T THE ONLY ONE TO TRY TO STEM FLOODING IN HER HOME. THE CITY HAS MADE SOME MOVES TOO.

IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS… THE CITY HAS INSTALLED NEW CATCH BASINS AND STORM SEWERS TO IMPROVE DRAINAGE IN VARIOUS SPOTS AROUND THE CANAL. AND IT’S WORKING ON DOING MORE.

NINTH STREET IN GOWANUS… JUST DOWN THE BLOCK FROM THE CANAL… WAS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT GOT A DRAINAGE UPGRADE. IT WAS FINISHED IN 20-20.

BUT LOCALS SAY THE STREET HAS STILL FLOODED DURING SOME HEAVY RAINS.

SM VO

SHARON GOLDBERG OWNS A POLE DANCE STUDIO ON THE STREET. SHE SAID IT WAS NOT SPARED DURING THE INTENSE RAINSTORM LAST SEPTEMBER.

**Sharon Goldberg: **We have three steps up and three steps down. They built that for water prevention, which is great. It's a mini levee system.

SM VO

BUT THAT DAY THE WATER OVERFLOWED THE STEPS. SHARON SAYS SHE AND SOME FRIENDS WORKED HARD TO GET THE WATER OUT.

**Sharon Goldberg: **It took a lot out of us. We were on top of this for two weeks, like nonstop. Just, you know, our fuses kept blowing from all the fans and dehumidifiers. It was like a giant white noise machine in here. People were tripping over wires. It's just a lot to deal with.

JGP VO

THE WALLS GOT SO WET THAT THE GLUE HOLDING UP THE MIRRORS ON THE STUDIO WALLS DISSOLVED AND THE MIRRORS FELL OFF.

AND IT KEPT RAINING.

SO… SHARON SAYS SHE ROLLED UP SOME RUGS AND SHOVED THEM AGAINST THE DOOR TO CREATE A BARRIER.

IT WASN’T THE FIRST TIME SHARON HAD BEEN FLOODED… AND SHE DOESN’T THINK IT’LL BE THE LAST.

**Sharon Goldberg: **We're trying to figure out what to do.

SM VO

ANDREA PARKER IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE GOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY. SHE SAYS HOMEOWNERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS SHOULD NOT BE ON THEIR OWN TO DEAL WITH THE FLOODING.

**Andrea Parker: There needs to be more support for property owners and tenants to manage emergencies like this. But then it’s retrofits as well. Can you raise the electrical? Can you flood proof your basement? **

SM VO

SHE LOOKS BEYOND THE PART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD GETTING NEW DEVELOPMENT… AND WORRIES ABOUT THE FUTURE.

Andrea Parker: As we get down the canal towards the bay, towards Red Hook, that we have the much larger areas that would need substantial vertical protection around them, which would not reduce the groundwater. And that's, I think, where the conversations really need to happen and the larger planning really needs to happen.

JGP VO

EVERYTHING HAPPENING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD… THE CONSTRUCTION OF TANKS AND NEW BUILDINGS… THE DREDGING OF THE CANAL AND INSTALLATION OF THE NEW CAP… DEALING WITH THE CONTAMINATION ON LAND… ANDREA SAYS IT’S ALL CHANGING THE CHARACTER OF GOWANUS.

Andrea Parker: What Gowanus was was an incredible slice of toxic wonderland. We're never going to be there again. But I don't know that we want to be there again. Where we will be is a future that's going to be a lot cleaner, and have really productive and awesome public space for the larger community.** **

JGP VO

AND THAT LARGER COMMUNITY IS A REASON ANDREA IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE.

**Andrea Parker: **I'm hopeful that we're going to continue to get more people who are obsessed and who can continue the lore and the mythology of the place, even if the canal is not toxic anymore, how can we continue remembering that legacy of crazy feral wildness, as well as the incredible productive nature of this place from industry to salt marsh to tide mills.

[THEME MUX IN]

JGP VO [CREDITS]

THIS HAS BEEN EPISODE FOUR OF HAZARD N-Y-C… A SPECIAL FOUR PART LIMITED SERIES FROM F-A-Q N-Y-C.

THE SHOW IS WRITTEN AND HOSTED BY SAMANTHA MALDONADO…

AND ME… JORDAN GASS-POORE… THE CREATOR AND EDITOR OF THE SHOW.

OUR ENGINEERS ARE ADAM CHIMERA AND MARK BUSH… WHO ALSO DID OUR SOUND DESIGN.

MUSIC FOR THE SHOW WAS COMPOSED BY NICK PENNINGTON.

ARTWORK BY MATTHEW FLEMING.

A SPECIAL THANKS TO GIGGLE THE OZONE FOR LETTING US USE THEIR SONG… BLACK MAYO OF THE GOWANUS.

AND STEVE SUFFET… WHOSE WORDS AND MUSIC WERE HEARD IN THE SONG… DOWN THE GOWANUS.

THANKS FOR LISTENING.

[THEME MUX OUT]

**HS VO [POST-ROLL] **

FAQ NYC is part of The City, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York. Our work is freely available to everyone, and is supported by listeners and readers like you — go to the city dot nyc slash give if you’d like to pitch in. Harry Siegel is FAQ NYC’s executive producer. The pod also receives support from P&T Knitwear, an independent bookstore, cafe, and event space on Manhattan's Lower East Side with a podcast studio that can be freely reserved for community use. The pod is a proud member of the Brickhouse cooperative of independent journalists, critics and artists, and is affiliated with the Colin Powell School at CUNY’s City College where co-host Christina Greer is one of the Moynihan Public Scholars inaugural fellows.