6. Even Today, the Creek is Used to Dump Raw Sewage

Ever since 1866, New York City has dumped raw sewage into the Canal. Currently, there are dozens of sites along the creek where sewage is dumped whenever the wastewater treatment plant becomes overwhelmed. Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant underwent a multi-billion dollar renovation in 2010 which increased its capacity and efficacy in handling sewage. However, despite being the largest wastewater treatment plant in New York City, the plant is overwhelmed frequently by rainfall.

According to Newtown Creek Alliance, at the head of East Branch tributary of the creek near Metropolitan and Onderdonk avenues, 980,000 gallons of raw sewage are released on roughly 69 occasions throughout the year. Newtown Creek Alliance recently published a few videos on their Facebook page of sewage being dumped into the canal.