NY Proposes Continuing Cleanup Along Gowanus Canal

ALBANY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York conservation officials are inviting public comments on proposed plans to continue cleaning up contamination along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.

State officials say the former Fulton Municipal Works manufactured gas plant is a principal source of contaminants to sediments in the upper canal, and that the coal tar from it has spread in soils below the surface, including under a portion of Thomas Greene Park.

But state Department on Conservation spokesman Peter Constantakes said it has been completely covered over.

Listen to NY Proposes Continuing Cleanup Along Gowanus Canal

"People can still go about their normal business on those properties with no worries about exposure," he told WCBS 880's Jim Smith.

State officials say National Grid, former site owner, will pay for the cleanup that includes building a sealed wall along the western shoreline of the Gowanus Canal and removing coal tar that accumulates.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has upgraded the Gowanus sewage pumping station which is expected to cut sewer overflow discharges into the canal by 44 percent.

The cleanup could take five or more years.

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