City Launches Gowanus Cleanup
New York, NY —
The city is launching a $150 million project to clean up Brooklyn's foul-smelling Gowanus Canal, hoping to head off a move by the federal government to add the waterway to its Superfund list.
REPORTER: Mayor Bloomberg says that would only delay a clean-up the city can do more cheaply and efficiently. He says he's optimistic he can convince EPA administrator Lisa Jackson not to give the canal the designation.
BLOOMBERG: If we can convince her that we are real, then my hope is that she will listen to our arguments and rule the way we'd like her to do. I can tell you she has been very receptive and open and I've had lots of conversations with her.
REPORTER: Last summer, the EPA expressed concern about the city's cleanup plans, saying they were inadequate. Yesterday, a spokeswoman says the EPA "fully supports" the proposal.
