The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal was added to its Superfund National Priorities List, which is the federal government's program to clean up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

The Gowanus CanalSampling shows that the formerly industrial canal's sediments are contaminated with pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), metals and volatile organic contaminants.

The EPA first proposed the designation in April 2009, when it deemed New York's City's cleanup plan insufficient. The city's plan incorporated its desire to rezone the area around the canal from industrial to mixed use commercial and residential.

Developer Toll Brothers, which had plans to purchase property at three sites near the canal, was a key member of the business group Clean Gowanus Now Coalition. The group lobbied the state to withdraw its Superfund request to the EPA. Toll Brothers said it would not go forward with its purchases, if Superfund status were granted.

Opposition to Superfund status revolved around the timeline of cleanup, the halting of real estate development and perceived impacts on property values. Bloomberg spokesman, Marc LaVorgna said "The project will now move on a Superfund time line, but we are going to work closely with the EPA because we share the same goal - a clean canal."

The EPA estimated that the federal cleanup would last 10 to 12 years and cost $300 million to $500 million. For more on the Gowanus Superfund process, check out this New York Times story.