Spirits ran high at a beer tasting fundraiser sponsored by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy the day after the victories of City Council members-elect Brad Lander and Stephen Levin. Patrons, including the two new council members, enjoyed four different beers from Sixpoint Craft Ales and specialty hot dogs from Bark, even as the battle between the city and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over who would clean up the Gowanus Canal continued to rage.

Gowanus Canal is up for Superfund status, which means placement on the National Priorities List, which means the EPA would take charge of the Gowanus Canal cleanup.

“Right now there’s pretty much this interesting dynamic of this fight between the federal government and the city about who gets to clean up the Gowanus Canal,” said Lauren Collins, executive director of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy. “Hopefully, whoever ends up doing it will resolve some of the issues.”

She said the conservancy is refraining from siding with either side because it sees problems with both, such as questions regarding funding, how comprehensive the plans are as a whole, and about whether the plans deal with the upland areas as opposed to just the water.

Lander and Levin expressed support for Superfund status, but vowed to work with whichever party receives the reins for the cleanup project.

“I support Superfund designation,” said Lander. “I hope that when EPA makes its designation over the next couple of months, that we will be able to come back together and cross this divide and just work energetically under whichever approach the EPA takes.”

“Generally speaking, I’m for Superfund,” said Levin. “That being said, if there’s an alternative that uses city/state/federal resources that is able to do the same amount of cleanup in less amount of time, that’s something I could support.”

Despite the uncertainty of the canal’s fate, there was still cause to toast: just weeks ago, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez secured an additional $300,000 in funds for the construction of Sponge Park, a 40-foot-wide piece of parkland at DeGraw Street that would permit access, but also remediate some of the Canal’s water problems.

Collins explained that Sponge Park, which would include retention basins and a swale (planted area that gathers water and filters it using different plants), is designed to capture the water coming off the street and keep it from ever affecting the sewer system.

The grant comes in addition to $638,000 that was awarded to the Parks Department for Sponge Park under former 33rd District Councilman David Yassky.

Collins said the existing funds will be enough to begin construction, not to finish it.

“We don’t know which way it’s going to end up,” said Collins of the EPA’s pending decision, “but we’re in a pretty good position because it looks like either way it’s going to be cleaned up.”