Bad news for anyone in Gowanus whose basement was flooded last week: that's all Canal water, and it's filled with sewage.
The Gowanus Canal is notoriously toxic, and when it overflowed in the midst of Sandy's high-tide rage, there was concern about the unwelcome waste it would dump onto the land, not to mention the horrific stench it brought with it. Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA went to check out the designated Superfund site, and while they say saltwater did dilute some of the water's ultra grossness, it's still contaminated with metal, oil and, our personal favorite, raw sewage.
Gowanus residents are unsurprisingly concerned about the brown sludge that's seeped into their homes. The EPA sent out advisories about the Canal's toxicity prior to the storm, warning residents to wash themselves thoroughly if they came into contact with floodwater, and contaminated furniture and other personal belongings will be difficult if not impossible to salvage. On top of that, the neighborhood has a sizable population of artists, and local galleries may be left with a lot of ruined work.
And let's not forget the gentrifiers! Gowanus' popularity has been picking up steam as of late, and a new 700-unit rental building was set to start development right at the water early next year. Lightstone Group, the company behind the project, says they still plan to go ahead with it, and blueprints had already taken Canal flooding into account. We certainly hope so, because it would be pretty unsightly to find this in your backyard. And on top of all that, the forthcoming Whole Foods site was also flooded, just when it was finally made non-toxic.
