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COURIER L M BR B G IFE, MARCH 8–14, 2019 25
NOT SAFE: Firefi ghters pulled a man from the toxic Gowanus
Canal on March 1 after he jumped into the fetid waterway.
File photo by Elizabeth Graham
FDNY pulls
man from
fetid canal
BY COLIN MIXSON
Firefi ghters pulled a man out of the Gowanus Canal
after he jumped into the notoriously polluted waterway
on March 1.
The man leapt the short distance from the Third
Street Bridge near Bond Street to the toxic bath
below around 3:15 pm, before New York’s Bravest
quickly plucked him from the fetid Superfund site
and rushed him to Methodist Hospital for treatment,
according to a Fire Department spokesman.
And although the Feds in charge of scrubbing the
noxious canal recently declared part of it cleaner
than it has been in 150 years , much of the channel’s
fl oor is still covered by a thick layer of toxic sludge
known as “black mayonnaise,” and its water is far
from fully purged of such fi lth as feces and trace
amounts of gonorrhoea .
A local daredevil — who over the years has
slipped into a full-body wet suit to take laps through
Brooklyn’s Nautical Purgatory to raise awareness of
its tainted state — said anyone who takes an unprotected
plunge into the canal could risk exposure to a
plethora of chemicals and pollutants, not to mention
hypothermia.
“He’s going to make contact with sewage, coaltar
residue, and whatever is melting in there from
the streets — so dog s---, gas, oil, copper, and asbestos
dust from everybody’s break pads,” said Christopher
Swain. “I hope he’s okay.”
Indeed, not all creatures that found their way
into the canal survived the experience — both a
dolphin , and the beloved young Minke whale “ Sludgie
,” met their early ends after getting trapped in
the channel.