Gowanus Canal

The Gowanus Canal (originally known as the Gowanus Creek) is a 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) canal in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, on the westernmost portion of Long Island. Once a vital cargo transportation hub, the canal has seen decreasing use since the mid-20th century, parallel with the decline of domestic waterborne shipping. It continues to be used for occasional movement of goods and daily navigation of small boats, tugs and barges.

Connected to Gowanus Bay in Upper New York Bay, the Gowanus Canal borders the neighborhoods of Red Hook, Carroll Gardens, and Gowanus, all within South Brooklyn, to the west; Park Slope to the east; Boerum Hill and Cobble Hill to the north; and Sunset Park to the south. Seven bridges cross the canal, carrying, from north to south, Union Street, Carroll Street, Third Street, the New York City Subway's Culver Viaduct, Ninth Street, Hamilton Avenue, and the Gowanus Expressway.

The canal arose in the mid-19th century from local tidal wetlands and freshwater streams. By the end of the 19th century, heavy industrial use had caused large amounts of pollutants to drain into the Gowanus Canal. Various attempts to remove the pollution or dilute the canal's water have failed. Even though most industrial tenants stopped using the Gowanus Canal in the middle of the 20th century, the pollution was never remedied. By the 1990s, it was recognized as one of the most polluted bodies of water in the United States. Owing to pollution with high ratios of fecal coliforms, deadly proportions of pathogens, and a low concentration of oxygen, it is generally seen as incompatible with macroscopic marine life, although a variety of extremophiles have been observed in the canal.

Despite the canal's heavy pollution, its proximity to Manhattan and upper-class Brooklyn neighborhoods is attracting concerted waterfront redevelopment. This has restarted calls for environmental cleanup, and prompted concerns that adjacent waterfront economic development would be incompatible with environmental restoration and environmental risks. It was designated a Superfund site in 2009, and work to clean up the canal began in 2013.