Coal Tar In The Gowanus Canal

Black Mayonnaise In The Canal

     Coal tar is gas leftovers, That was used to light the city a long time ago.  The nickname of Coal tar is “Black Mayonnaise”. This has been a huge problem in the canal, Because “The Gowanus Canal Is now a Superfund site.That means it is a place that is so dangerously polluted that the federal government has stepped in to help clean it up.”, According to Scientific American. This shows that the Gowanus is being affected by coal tar because it  has many chemicals and could be creating “Black Mayonnaise”

  Coal tar is still found in the canal today. According to Timeout.com, “The canal is 1.8 miles long, and 100 feet wide. Throughout its entire length, a layer of coal tar and other industrial toxins that have mixed with sewage lines the bottom. The substance has been dubbed Black Mayonnaise due to its color and texture (delicious) and, on average, there’s a ten-foot layer of it along the whole canal.The canal is 1.8 miles long, and 100 feet wide. Throughout its entire length, a layer of coal tar and other industrial toxins that have mixed with sewage lines the bottom. The substance has been dubbed Black Mayonnaise due to its color and texture (delicious) and, on average, there’s a ten-foot layer of it along the whole canal.” This piece of evidence clearly shows that the canal is full of coal tar and that it’s being affected because the gas is bringing chemicals inside the water,Which means the water is going to to be full of diseases. “Coal tar continues to seep into the canal from deposits as far as deep as 150 feet under the bed”. The canal is full of other garbage but it’s problem right now is Coal tar, The government's problem right now is how to get rid of the coal tar inside the canal and what to do with it because nowadays no one uses coal tar to cook or light something up. `

Plans For The Future

    Coal Tar is now being removed from the canal. There are plans for the future. For example there’s a group called “The Gowanus Canal Community Advisory group” This group is creating and planning actions to clean the Gowanus. This is one of the plans to get rid of Coal tar.   According to Cross, the best way to clean up coal tar is to excavate - dig out the land and take it to a hazardous waste dumping site. However, along the Gowanus, where the land is at water level and is wet and sandy, excavating only works so well. Coal tar is mobile, and sinks in water, said Cross.” The Canal is now in better conditions then it was before. The water is still dirty and has coal tar still. You can still see bubbles popping up from the water.