Gowanus canal pollution

  Tomas Santiago

When 8th graders from BCS went to visit the Gowanus Canal, they saw polluted water that smelled disgusting and looked dirty.           like picture below   If you ever visit the Gowanus Canal first thing you notice is that it smells really bad the water is very polluted from all the combined sewage. The problem is that sewer pipes and factories dumped poisonous waste in the canal. This is a problem because animal life and human life can get sick or die.

There is a history of pollution in the Gowanus Canal. For example, “In 1910 a local business was already describing the canals water as solid with sewage. The pipe broke in 1961 and was not fixed until 1999”. The Gowanus Canal has many different kinds of pollution such as coal tar and different kinds of diseases that are caused by pollution. It is important to note that wildlife  and people who swim in the Gowanus Canal may get a disease and die.

People should be concerned about the water pollution in the Gowanus Canal because if you want to swim in the canal you need to put a swimsuit to protect yourself from sickness. Also, wildlife will die especially sea creatures. It’s not even safe to swim. For example, Christopher Swain needed to put on a special gel to protect himself.

According to “Who Wants to Swim in Stinky Dirty Water?” by Scientific American, swain needed to put on goggles, earplugs, thick gloves and a special suit to keep water out. He needed a special gel on his face and neck to block water out. This shows that the water is really dirty and polluted.

Some people and groups that are trying to clean up the Gowanus Canal. For example, the agency is going to get the mud from the bottom and burn it. Another good idea to clean up the canal would be to close the canal and start to clean it. This would be a good plan because after it’s all done people can swim in there.

If we fixed the problem our future would be a really clean place.People would be able to swim in the canal and have barbecues and parties there.