Gowanus Canal

The Gowanuskanal - to English. Gowanus Canal Gowanus called or Creek Canal - is a canal in the district ( borough ) of Brooklyn City of New York City in the United States.

Geography

The channel is located in the extreme west of Long Iceland and is connected by the Gowanus Bay with Upper New York Bay. The surrounding neighborhood of Brooklyn in the west and north of Red Hook and South Brooklyn to the west, the East Park Slope. The canal is crossed by five bridges road from east to west, just cross the motorway Gowanus Expressway ( Interstate 278 ) and the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway with the highest station above ground the channel.

The surroundings of the actual channel was originally part of which are inspired by up to two meters high tide estuary ( Priels ) Gowanus creek with adjacent marshes and salt meadows, which was known for its diversity of fish and mammals.

History

The first extant contract between the Government of the Dutch colony of New Netherland and living in Long Iceland Canarsee Indians for the purchase of farmland for a tobacco plantation, the plant is from 1639. The Sachem of the people, the Lenape Indians belonging was Gouwane. From this name the name of the Meeeresarms Gowanus Creek and the present name Gowanus Bay was derived.

1645 was Adam Brouwer, a former soldier of the Dutch West India Company, the patent for the establishment of the first tide mill of the village of Breukelen in the production of flour and meal at the Gowanus Creek. A second tide mill could go through the slaves of the operator as a tide mill in operation until after the dredging of a lead channel.

After the transition of New Netherland to the United Kingdom the farmer Nicholas Vechte built his Old Stone House made ​​of bricks and rubble, which (2011) is still seen as a copy of 1930 at the old place today. This building later played in the American War of Independence in 1776, a role during the Battle of Long Iceland, as American soldiers British troops were able to hold back until George Washington could retreat to Staten Iceland.

In the 18th century, the Dutch -born farmers involved in the march of the Gowanus Bay with the catch of oysters, which developed well in the brackish water. The shellfish were exported to Europe. The still in the urban area harvested oysters are probably due to negative selection, significantly less than 300 years ago.

Industrial Development

Developed over time quays, where people and goods landed for the developing Gowanusstraße or coming from Long Iceland went on ships on the grain mills on the Gowanus. In the 19th century, proposals were made to create a channel to drain the land on both sides and to win as land for another, even industrial, development. However, the laws of the State of New York took nearly 20 years to 1867 could be started with the planning by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The canal was completed in 1869. Its funding was about levies, which had to pay the residents and resources of the State of New York.

The economic impact for the South Brooklyn were enormous. The connection to the water and now possible landing of raw materials through the channel provided for the construction of warehouses, factories, tanneries, coal storage facilities and gas plants. The channel was also important for the discharge of the sandstone ( brownstone ), which was broken in New Jersey and the State of New York and became a typical part of the architecture in the districts Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill and Park Slope. The evolving industry, belonged to the now paint, ink and soap factories and enterprises of the chemical industry, was the cause of the increasing air and water pollution.

The ever -increasing population in the south of Brooklyn provided a further source of pollution, as all waste water and surface water were discharged untreated into the Gowanuskanal after rain or snowfall. Towards the end of the 19th century, the stinking water running was nicknamed " Lavendelsee ". After the First World War, the canal was 6 million tons per year the main channel of the USA and most polluted. Due to the entry of sediments by means of the non-separated sewers he silted very quickly and had to be frequently dredged. In 1955, the Corps of Engineers presented the dredging work, since, among other things, the types of use of the channel had changed: coal and coke were replaced by oil and natural gas.

Pollution

When planning the channel various lock systems were considered that had permits continuous cleaning by flooding the channel. However, this was rejected as too expensive, so we relied on the self-cleaning of about 3 km long canal by the tide, but did not work. In studies, it was observed an oxygen content of only 1.5 ppm. However, a life in the water is only possible from 4 ppm. The smell of the channel is also unpleasant because of the high entry of nitrates and other pollutants, and thus allowed better development of odor-producing organisms.

Already in 1890 the first large sewers were built with outlets on the canal passing directly into the sea. However, these measures did not prove to be sufficient. Another great sewer of the district Prospect Heights should even protect the frequently flooded during rains district and secondly contribute through the introduction of these waters at the headwaters of Gowanuskanals to clean the channel. Then a large tunnel from Buttermilk Channel, the river water from the East River to the headwaters of the channel in 1911 was built to Gowanuskanal should bring. This Flushing Tunnel was but 40 years unused under the ground and was taken into operation after installation of strong pumps on 3 May 1999. The technical problems of this measure and the improvements are still not completely solved after 100 years. The investment can only be used for 11 hours in the time of the flood. The water quality of the channel, however, has improved during the times of the additional water supply.

However, a built in Red Hook in 1987 wastewater treatment plant serves only been partially treating waste water from the old canal systems, but rather from new industrial and residential districts. The water surplus of older channel systems continues to flow even in 2011 to 14 built overflow points from the combined rain and waste water system in the Gowanuskanal.

Recent Developments

The Gowanuskanal is performed in a doped with special funds fund since 2010 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Authority will prevail in the coming years in collaboration with planners and local associations to improve the environmental conditions. The Authority warns currently still about to come with the water of the canal in contact because the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are carcinogenic in part, are too high.

Archaeological investigations of the Authority in the channel remains were discovered four ships through sonar technology, of the one could date back to the 17th century.

In 2013, there were several plans to obtain the pollution of Gowanuskanals under control. The first provided for a dredging of the channel and its banks. In the second plan, the environmental risk should be hidden by a cover of the channel and of lying in waste. For both measures a Ausführungszit planned by s several years.