Completed snow operations facility  

“Today is a powerful example of what it looks like when a community fights for climate infrastructure and wins,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif. “The return of composting at the Salt Lot builds on years of organizing and ensures that food waste is turned into a resource that stays right here in our neighborhood. And beneath our feet, critical investments like the CSO tank will help keep sewage out of the Gowanus Canal and make our infrastructure more resilient. This is exactly the kind of environmental and community-centered investment we pushed for during the Gowanus rezoning, and we will keep working to make sure every promise is delivered.”

“I’m thrilled to celebrate the completion of the new sanitation and composting facilities, which also allows us to install the second CSO tank. This is a win-win, as the new facilities and tank will not only improve the water quality in the Gowanus Canal, but also strengthen our city’s ability to manage snow operations and expand composting. I am grateful to the Mayor’s Office, DEP and DSNY for their work and partnership in bringing this project to completion,” said Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon.

“Big Reuse is excited to reopen our community composting site in Gowanus! Big Reuse has worked over the last decade in partnership with DSNY to develop and operate innovative composting programs and systems to support parks, communities, and green infrastructure. We are thrilled by the remarkable efforts of the entire team at DEP, who collaborated with the community to rebuild and enhance the site so we can continue this vital work,” said Justin Greene, Executive Director of Big Reuse. “Additionally, we are grateful for NYC Council’s ongoing support that makes community composting possible across the city. We look forward to continuing our relationship with community partner Gowanus Canal Conservancy to bring their essential programming to the new location.”

“The Salt Lot has long been the eco-infrastructural heart of Gowanus — a site that was full of volunteers, students, community members, environmentalists, horticulturalists, composters, artists and boaters. With the re-opening of the Salt Lot compost facility this spring, we move a step forward in its future — where public space, education and ecological diversity will be knit together with critical resiliency infrastructure like the sewage tank and a salt marsh restoration,” said Andrea Parker, Executive Director of Gowanus Canal Conservancy. “Gowanus Canal Conservancy is excited to also be returning to the Salt Lot as well, re-activating it as a hub for environmental stewardship, processing neighborhood garden waste locally and using compost created there to enrich our street trees and nursery soils. DEP, who supported a robust community design process, has seen the importance and potential of this site, which is reflected in the habitat restoration, water access, educational spaces and community respite all included as part of the long-term site plan. Today the Gowanus community regains access to the Salt Lot, and we all move forward towards a greener Gowanus.”

“This is the kind of progress Gowanus was promised and deserves. The completion of the composting facility and of the salt shed, and great progress on the CSO facility represent real advances in infrastructure that will serve Brooklyn for years to come,” said Michael Racioppo, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 6. “DEP’s willingness to work alongside the community made a difference. Equally important, this progress has been shaped through meaningful public engagement, ensuring these facilities reflect Gowanus itself: its history, industrial character and the surrounding community.”

The project clears the way for the Owls Head Combined Sewage Overflow (CSO) Facility, part of the Superfund cleanup of the Gowanus Canal. The facility includes a 4‑million‑gallon underground tank and support systems to capture and manage storm-related overflows. DEP recently completed deep underground perimeter walls for the tank, with excavation set to begin this spring.

Future phases will restore Gowanus Canal Conservancy’s public education outpost and construct two acres of waterfront open space, including restored tidal wetlands and a kayak launch, designed by SCAPE Landscape Architects.

A second project, the Red Hook CSO Facility, will add another 8 million gallons of storage capacity. Together, the two systems will capture up to 12 million gallons of combined sewage overflow during storms — a major step toward reducing pollution in the Gowanus Canal and strengthening neighborhood resilience.

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