Manmade Garden Blooms In Toxic Gowanus Canal
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's the last thing you'd expect to see at a notorious superfund site, but something beautiful is in bloom in the Gowanus Canal, and it could help clean up the environment there.
As CBS2's Scott Rapoport reported, amidst the toxic sludge and ooze of the Gowanus Canal, arguably the most polluted waterway in America, a garden grows.
"It's wonderful, I'd like to see more of it," Asaf Segal said.
Call it an unlikely oasis of life, in a waterway ravaged by fuel slicks, industrial waste, and viruses, an actual floating garden replete with greenery, and plant life is alive.
"The point was precisely to test the limits, to be able to grow things," said Diana Balmori, Founding Principal of Balmori Associates.
The garden is the brainchild and creation of Diana Balmori and Jessica Roberts.
It's an experimental one-and-a-half ton floating infrastructure that uses 19 different kids of plants, some of which act as sponges of sorts, to help absorb, purify, and detoxify the chemicals poisoning the canal.
The process is called phytoremediation, it uses plants to clean soil and water.
"Some plants actually accumulate heavy metals. Other plants break down organic materials and PCBs," Roberts said.
The project was launched on September 18, the landscape was brought out and anchored in the canal via paddlers in canoes.
The plants are housed in metal piping called test tubes, which are similar to actual sewage pipes from which dangerous waste flows into the canal.
Environmentally friendly materials like coconut fibers and bamboo, as well as recyclable barrels and bottles keep the island afloat.
The project is being done in conjunction with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy with the approval of the EPA.
Folks nearby the canal who've seen the project called it impressive.
"Who knew, it's beautiful," Kathryn Drummer said.
The hope is that someday the landscapes will be financially sustainable and perhaps even grow herbs and certain crops.
Balmori said her company took on the project after receiving a $20,000 grant from an independent foundation.