Overview

• The state Department of Environmental Conservation is seeking to shift the canal from Class SD to Class SC as part of a broader plan affecting roughly 30 waterways.
• The proposal, reported by Crain’s and detailed by local outlets, could be finalized as early as this year.
• EPA-led Superfund work continues, including two large underground tanks designed to capture sewage overflows entering the canal during storms.
• Excavation for an eight-million-gallon facility and a smaller companion tank has been completed, with overall tank projects slated for completion in 2030.
• Riverkeeper calls the change an improvement but warns that regular swimming remains years away, as water quality will need time to recover even after infrastructure is finished.