Dredging the Gowanus Canal 2020

For the second time in 25 years, dredging is underway on Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal. Maybe this time it will work. Last time it wasn’t the EPA doing it under a Superfund mandate. On Wednesday, November 18, 2020, Aan excavator mounted on a platform barge removes contaminated sediment from the bottom of the canal by the Carroll Street Bridge. In the background is the former Central Power Station of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company building, commonly known as the Batcave. A brownfield site, it was a heavy polluter of the waterway. It has been cleaned and will soon be home to Powerhouse Workshop, housing space and equipment for woodworking, metalworking, ceramics, printmaking, and fiber arts, as well as exhibition space.