By Raanan Geberer
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — The pumping mechanism for the Gowanus Canal’s Flushing Tunnel, which brings fresh water from the Buttermilk Channel off Red Hook into the canal, is soon scheduled to be upgraded with a more modern, effective design.

The Flushing Tunnel and pump originally opened in 1911, an official response to the heavy pollution and bad odors in what was once one of the Northeast’s most active industrial waterways.

Unfortunately, it broke down in the 1960s, and was dormant until it was rebuilt and finally reopened in 1999. The tunnel runs under DeGraw Street for most of its route, although it turns under Douglass Street for the two blocks nearest the canal.

Although no one would mistake the canal for a pristine mountain spring, few would deny that its condition has improved since then. Eels, sea robins, crabs, flounder and other aquatic life have been sighted there, as well as ducks and other birds. The Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club sponsors paddling on the waterway and regular cleanups on its banks.

Another group, the Gowanus Oyster Stewards, has planted oysters in the canal — not to supply the Grand Central Oyster Bar, but to study them as a way of monitoring the level of pollutants in the canal.

The pump, however, has been subject to frequent breakdowns, and debris has sometimes gotten caught in its blades. At times, it has only been working at 40 percent or so; at other times, it has been shut down for repairs.

According to Craig Hammerman, district manager of Community Board 6, the pump that was opened in 1999 was built to the original 1911 specifications. Soon afterward, it was recognized that it would have to be upgraded.

Redundancy Needed

One problem is that there is no redundancy — there is only one pump, or impeller. The new design will have three removable pumps, making maintenance less cumbersome and expensive.

Also, according to a plan put forward by the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in 2004, the tunnel itself will be re-done to permit a greater flow of water. In addition, a “wastewater force main� to take wastewater away from the canal will also be reactivated.

During the reconstruction period, the flushing tunnel would only have to be shut down for nine months, says DEP. Surface impact would be minimal, although lanes would have to be shut down temporarily in some places.

“We’re going to start by the end of the year, and the work will take about five years,� said Mercedes Padilla, a spokeswoman for the DEP, which will be carrying out the project.

Buddy Scotto, longtime Carroll Gardens community activist, said that the cleanup of the canal should not be credited to the Flushing Tunnel alone. Three things, he said, have led to the revitalization of the canal: the opening of the Red Hook Sewage Treatment Plant in the 1980s; the dredging of the canal in 1975, after its industrial heyday was over; and, of course, the Flushing Tunnel and pump.

Although it took years to get the tunnel and pump reactivated, Scotto says that “we [community activists] got the money for the Flushing Tunnel in 1980, from then-Congressman Fred Richmond.�

Nowadays, he added, “The stench from the canal is gone — and we had a mighty stench. We used to laugh about it and call the canal Lavender Lake. If we couldn’t laugh, we’d have to cry.�

One of the early indicators that things were getting better along the canal’s banks, Scotto remembers, was the building of a senior citizens’ housing complex. “Originally,� he recalled, “HUD [the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the complex’s sponsor] was very reluctant to give its approval for the project.

“When we explained at that time what we had done, they OK’d it, realizing that this was a rare opportunity. There’s still a great opportunity to do economic development here.�

About the reconstruction of the tunnel and pump, Scotto said, “It’s definitely OK. We should be upgrading our facilities all the time. That is a good thing.�

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