Here’s a good explainer from CityLab on Combined Sewer Overflows: how combined sewer systems work, why overflows are so problematic, and simple steps you can take to help reduce CSOs.
Does the Gowanus Canal make an appearance? You bet.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection submitted the Draft CSO Facility Site Recommendation Reports to the EPA last week, for the RH-034 (head-end of the Gowanus Canal) and OH-007 (mid-Canal) sewer outfall retention tanks. The reports explain the DEP’s site recommendations in detail.
You can view PDF copies of the reports by clicking the links below:
From the July 3, 2015 edition of The New York Times:
The photos here are part of an exhibition called “Gowanus Wild,” which will be at the Brooklyn Public Library until Sept. 25. Already they are documents of a vanishing world. Since Mr. Draskoczy started shooting in 2012, most of the sites he photographed have been torn down or swept away for new development, he said. Once-empty streets now bustle with baby strollers and bar patrons. But the other night he ventured down to the end of Huntington Street, where he had photographed the egret. The tree was still there, and in it, on the same branch, was an egret.
Photo: Miska Draskoczy
New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd and NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver revealed the proposed sites for two large retention tanks intended to reduce combined sewer overflows into the Gowanus Canal at the June meeting of the Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group this past Tuesday evening.
The tanks, a remedy ordered by the EPA to aid the long-term health of the canal, would be located at a site along the eastern shore of the head end of the Gowanus, and mid-canal at the site of the Gowanus Salt Lot, if the locations are accepted by the EPA. DEP estimates that construction of the tanks would cost approximately $490 million and $311 million, respectively, with work commencing around 2018 and lasting several years.
To view NYC DEP’s presentation, click here.
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group holds its monthly meeting tonight, June 30th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Mark Star of the Sea Senior Apartments at 41 1st Street in Carroll Gardens.
The agenda is as follows:
6:30 – 6:45 PM: Introductions and Updates
- Introductions
- Project Updates (EPA)
6:45 – 8:00 PM: Conversation with NYCDEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd
8:00 PM: CAG Committee Updates
- Administration Committee
- Outreach Committee
- Archaeology Committee
- Water Quality and Technical Committee
8:30 PM: Adjourn
All Gowanus Canal CAG meetings are open to the public.
The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory Group holds its May General Meeting this Tuesday, May 26th, at 6:30 p.m., at the Mary Star of The Sea Senior Apartments, 41 1st Street, in Carroll Gardens. The meeting’s draft agenda is as follows:
6:30 – 7:30 PM: Introductions and Updates
- Introductions
- Project Updates (EPA)
7:30 PM: CAG Committee Updates
- Administration Committee
- Outreach Committee
- Archaeology Committee
- Water Quality and Technical Committee
8:30 PM: New Member Interview
9:00 PM: Adjourn
This meeting, as are all Gowanus Canal CAG meetings, is open to the public. Please join us!
On May 14th, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection held a second public meeting on the Gowanus Canal Combined Sewer Overflow Long-Term Control Plan, at P.S. 32 in Carroll Gardens.
You can download a copy of NYC DEP’s presentation here.
The presentation included updates on completed and planned city investments in water-quality improvements, a review of the Canal’s water quality and Long-Term Control Plan alternatives, and a discussion of alternatives NYC DEP is pursuing for CSO storage tanks.
NYC DEP is accepting public comments on the Long-Term Control Plan via email at ltcp@dep.nyc.gov. You can learn more about the Long-Term Control Plan at www.nyc.gov/dep/ltcp.
Ever wonder what the inside of the century-old Gowanus Flushing Tunnel looks like on the inside?
Gothamist takes us on a photographic tour.
