Brianna lewis

“News Story”: Coal Tar

   

 

                                                           Introduction

              The only thing you could see was shiny, wavy, crackly , nasty oil in the canal. The Bcs students were so shocked to see all that oil. The smell wasn't too good either. I pity the person who would dare jump in that water. The Bcs students went to the Gowanus canal on October 8 ,2015 to get of view of what we are going to be writing about. The walk was not worth it. Also the oil that is always getting spilled in the canal is shocking. The people in Brooklyn need to keep these waters clean.                                                                                                                                

                           Background  info

  

  Coal tar, coal tar is a nasty chemical substance.People also call it “black mayonnaise”.Coal tar is a manufactured  gas plants that operated from the 1800’s up to the 1950’s.Coal tar is a compound of killing bacteria.The chemical inside of it can give you from the canal water is typhus, cholera, typhoid also cancer which can kill you ! These are just a couple of all the nasty things this can give you.

                         Social Significance

Coal tar is a big problem because, it is polluting the canal and making the canal kind of toxic with all the chemicals.For example some 99 million gallons of coal tar sealant used by Americans.(Chicago tribune).Another reason coal tar is bad cause,in Austin,Texas,in 2006,was the first city to ban coal tar based asphalt sealants for contaminating the environment.(News-leader)This affects our community because if it is banned for contaminating a city thousands of miles away why not here where it’s closer,also it can effect us faster.

                         Call To Action

People are coming up with different ways to try and get the coal tar and muck out of the canal.One way is to dredged the muck and coal tar,this will help because it will clean the canal by scoop up all the muck and coal (A Brief history of slime). Also another way to help clean the canal is, a grassy area at the water’s edge that would function like a wetland.This will help because it will only let water go into the canal not sewage.