Newtown Creek: Dirty Water

Brooklyn, NY - CartLegger - Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 : goo

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NYC encompasses many superlatives. It’s a sad addition to the list to add it's being possibly the "dirtiest water in North America".

The Newtown creek was until the early 19th century more an agricultural highway, bringing fresh produce in from Bushwick's pastures and fields.

Since industries first came to its shores in the early 19th century, two centuries of runoff, effluent, and spills have blended together to create a complex chemical cocktail--ncluding sulfiric acid, mercury, lead, and pcb's--with a very long history.

Perhaps the worst of these contaminations was the estimated 30 million gallons of oil that leaked out of Exxon Mobil’s holding tanks between 1948-52.

This is the flimsy rubber containment system put in place by Exxon Mobil. It is intended to keep the oil and water from mixing. The cleanup has dragged along for years. So far they've extracted an estimated 9 million gallons form the great subterranean blob. Its interesting to note that Exxon Mobil resells the oil they extract from the spill to sell at a profit. If you consider the change in the price of oil, it seems a good investment for the company! But that does nothing for the neighbors living over the blob, who report higher cancer rates and other health problems.

Nowadays, the worst polluter on the creek is ourselves, and our sewers. Due to the city’s outdated combined sewage overflow system, the creek receives an injection of raw untreated sewage after every significant rainfall.

That makes increasing sewage treatment capacity all the more important. This newly updated Greenpoint plant is now the second largest in the US. Many neighbors accuse it of contributing to the area’s ills

The Newtown Creek Nature Walk makes up somewhat for added this environmental burden. Opened by the Department of Environment protection, it lays behind the sewage plant. Beyond this concrete path, there is a rare contact with the shoreline.

Nowhere you would want to swim. But it’s a great place for a view—not just to the city’s skyline, but to cleaner future. Maybe in that future, the creek will be thought of more for its nature than its chemistry and history.

Thanks for Ryan Kuonen for giving such an engaging bike tour of the creek for BCUE and the Urban Assembly School for the Urban Environment.

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