During the week of April 26 the Gowanus Remediation Team continued preparations for pile driving operations. Crews continued to assemble and test equipment on the work barges located between 3rd Street and Carroll Street.

On the morning of Tuesday April 27, the Gowanus Remediation Team was made aware of an overnight release of hydraulic oil originating from one of the team’s vessels into the Gowanus Canal. The hydraulic oil was contained and the incident has been resolved.

The release was of Clarity Oil and is not classified as hazardous by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). Clarity Oil is a mixture of highly refined mineral oils designed to meet hydraulic system performance requirements in environmentally sensitive areas.

All other work was halted to focus on containing the hydraulic oil. The hydraulic oil was contained by employing additional turbidity curtains, absorbent booms, and absorbent pads. An environmental response contractor was mobilized to the site to remove hydraulic oil from the water. EPA and US Coast Guard were notified immediately and worked in coordination with GRT contractors.

The Carroll Street Bridge and the Union Street Bridge will have pipe pile walls installed as bulkheads to support the bridge abutments during future phases of dredging.

Welders completed wale installation at the southeast corner of the Carroll Street bridge. A wale is a steel template built onto the recently installed pin piles (similar to steel beams). The wales will help guide the pipe piles into position as they are driven into the canal bed. Assembly has begun for the wale on the north east corner of the Carroll Street Bridge.

The Carroll Street Bridge will remain in the open position while the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) performs maintenance on the bridge. Carroll Street will be closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic until further notice.

Photos of construction activities are provided below.