Gowanus Pumping Station & Flushing Tunnel

Category: Government Sites/Structures

Opened: June 21, 1911

Description: At the head of Gowanus Canal, a 12-foot wide tunnel dug about a mile underground opens at Buttermilk Channel. A steampowered propeller circulating the polluted water in the canal with water in the channel helped to reduce some of the areas odor stemming from industrial waste and raw sewage in the waterway. This propeller broke in the 1960s and was not repaired until 1999. Each day the tunnel sucks 300 million gallons of water from Buttermilk Channel through the canal pushing polluted water into Gowanus Bay.

Source: Red Hook Gowanus Neighborhood History Guide, BHS; NYC DEP