Sludge Boat Will Be Docked Near Williamsburg for a Few Months

By Y.M. Lowy

People walking by Newtown Barge Playground near Williamsburg will soon see a sludge boat tied up at the dock. The boat is part of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s work to keep the waterways clean.

Every day, the city cleans about 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater. A lot of Brooklyn’s water goes through the Newtown Creek treatment plant. Some leftover material, called sludge, has to be carried away by boat.

One of the regular sludge boats is being fixed, so the city is using the playground’s dock for now. The other boats can’t get to the usual dock because the turns are too sharp.

The sludge boat will be parked for a few hours each day over the next couple of months. DEP asks people walking nearby to stay away from the area while the boat is there.