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Page Ten, PHOENIXFew ships now use the Gowanus Canal, but photographs from 1910%u20141920 show that this was not always the case. Recently the Army Corps of Engineers announced that because the canal is infrequently used, the Army Engineers could not justify dredging it. (Long Island Historical Society Photo).%u2605 %u2605 Public Officials Speak Out %u2605%u2605Pesce M ade IssueOf Canal in RaceState Assemblyman Mike Pescemade the Gowanus situation anissue in his campaign last year.Believing the question of thepolluted canal one of the mostimportant in the 52nd A.D., h%u00a9issued special literature on thesubject. However, he says, anelected official can only go so far.The community must make thedecisions, organize and work for asolution.Pesce remembers the formationof the Ad Hoc Committee to Cleanthe Gowanus on a warm Sundayafternoon last October at EileenDugan%u2019s apartment. That committee, headed by Dugan hasbecome strong and capable, hefeels.The cleaning of the GowanusCanal is the key to ending thedeterioration of the residentialarea surrounding the water, theassemblyman feels. This changewould provide the impetus for newhousing, rehabilitation of presenthousing, and generalstrengthening of an area which hasSen. Bellam y S a y sShe is EncouragedEDITOR%u2019S NOTE: Similarstatements about the Gowanuswere solicited from City Councilman Tom Cuite and BoroughPresident Sebastian Leone. Theirreplies were not received in timefor this issue, but will be run in afuture issue.been decaying for the past 20years.Pesce notes that he, along withpeople like Buddy Scotto andEileen Dugan, have been workingfor years on getting %u201cthe damnthing done.%u201d Now he feels, the stateand %u201cto some extent%u201d the city havebeen moved positively. %u201c Considering the immobility ofbureaucracies, I feel that so far theendless phone calls and letters I%u2019vewritten and the fantastic work bythe committee is bearing fruit.%u201dPesce has appointed a law interne to work in Albany on theGowanus issue full time. As far asGowanus legislation is concerned,Pesce feels that the introduction ofsuch is unrealistic, given the termsof the %u201cAlbany power game.%u201d Hecites the introduction of a bill byWilliam Giordano, during each ofhis years in Albany as senator andassemblyman, creating a specialcommission to study and work onthe canal. The bill never came outof committee. However, Pesceplans to spend time pushing theGowanus as an administrativerather than a legislative question.State Senator Carol Bellamy isencouraged by the state%u2019s awarding of first priority to the buildingof the Red Hook Sewage Plant.However she is concerned aboutreceipt of federal funds. Althoughthe plant%u2019s top of the list positionand recommending statements bycity officials will ge the urgency ofthe situation on record, shebelieves that an intensive amountof effort is still necessary to pushthe federal government. The statewon%u2019t put up money any longerwithout a firm federal commitment, since it was neverreimbursed by Washington for itsoutlays under the previous bondissue, she says.Bellamy sees the need to gobeyond the Carroll Gardenscommunity and involve otherneighborhoods in the Gowanusclean up effort. The raw sewage,she says is a problem throughoutthe adjacent areas, and she hopesto see more people from BrooklynHeights, Cobble Hill, Park Slope,and Boerum Hill involved in theeffort.Since the question of ultimatelycovering the canal is still wideopen, the commitment to dredgingand the working out of a broadbased urban plan for thesurrounding area would requireintensive community participation, Bellamy feels. %u201cThoughclean up is important to beginwith, we ought to start working onthe overall development on thatimportant piece of land.%u201d she says.Her own commitment as anelected official is to continue topush for the cleaning of the canal.Sustained effort is necessary forpublic representatives as well asfrom the community,%u201d she asserts.The office of state senator canapply pressure to the state, canclarify the state and city%u2019s commitments, and can bring experts into the situation.Although she views the cleaningof the canal as the immediatenecessity, the senator envisions theultimate Gowanus development asa central force in pulling togetherthe various South Brooklyncommunities; Park Slope,Gowanus, Boerum Hill, CarrollGardens, and Cobble Hill. The areais now so under utilized, she says,that schools, parks, theaters, andindustry can be brought into theplan.Has High Hopes for MeetingContinued from Page 7this time, Dugan feels that there isan advantage in that refusal. Sincethe Corps has been operating underan Act of Congress which allowssuch cleanup only for commercialreasons, they could not have, inany case, dredged beyond SackettSt., olic says. However, it tnequestion becomes placed beforethe environmental agencies, andthey are allowed to work under theenvironmental concept, the entirecanal can be cleaned. %u201cThe wholething must be dredged anvwav %u201dshe believes.Dugan hopes that a largeproportion of the community willturn out for tonight%u2019s meetingwhich will be attended byrepresentatives from federal, stateand city environmental protectionagencies. The representatives willbe questioned about their standregarding the sewage plant andeventual canal cleanup after theshowing of a 10-minute film aboutthe Gowanus. which i