Gowanus Canal Could Get Smellier Before It Gets Cleaner

As part of a $300-million cleanup, for the next two years the city will shut down the flushing tunnel that pumps water from the Buttermilk Channel through a sewage-filled sluice into the Gowanus canal. The tunnel has to be deactivated so the underwater propeller, located at the head of the canal, can be replaced by three smaller pumps. Now there's concern the next couple years will be very noxious for Gowanus residents, as untreated waste that floods the canal during heavy storms lingers undiluted. The Brooklyn Paper, evoking that Reagen-era Massengill disposable douche commercial, worries "the dirty duct" won't have "that just flushed feeling." So in the meantime, locals may want to stick to mouth-breathing and focus on 2013, when the DEP promises a Gowanus utopia of kayaking, condos, and 34 percent less raw effluence poured into canal per year!