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Canal species not endangered

By Ariella Cohen
The Brooklyn Paper
The Brooklyn Paper / Julie Rosenberg
A condom in the Gowanus.

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A perfect storm of circumstances, including the less-than-perfect Nor’Easter last week, has sent a record number of condoms into the Gowanus Canal, according to volunteers at this week’s Earth Day cleanup of the canal zone.

The explosion in the population of “Coney Island whitefish” is not only due to a city giveaway of condoms in bodegas, coffee bars and bars all over Brooklyn. Environmentalists say torrential rains from the Nor’Easter sent far more untreated sewage into the canal than the typical April shower.

Thanks to New York’s antiquated sewage system, when it’s raining that hard, “whatever was in your toilet lands in our natural resources,” said Ludger Balan of Urban Divers Estuary Conservancy.

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper

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