Imagine a waterway 1750 meters long. This is the Moorfleeter Kanal in Hamburg Germany. It’s mostly in the Billbrook district. Only a small part at its beginning belongs to Moorfleet. Most of the canal is 70 meters wide. There is a 200-meter section that narrows to 45 meters. The Moorfleeter Kanal opens up the southernmost part of the Billbrook/Rothenburgsort industrial area.
It branches off from the Billwerder Bucht near the Tiefstack power plant. It runs east-southeast. After 270 meters it passes under the Andreas-Meyer Bridge. This is part of Ring 2 a major road. Another 130 meters and the Tidekanal branches off to the northeast. Then the Moorfleeter Kanal continues for 1350 meters. It runs between Andreas-Meyer Strasse and Halskestrasse. It curves slightly ultimately heading southeast.
The Moorfleeter Kanal is a state waterway. It’s part of the Hamburg harbor’s usage area. It’s also part of the tidal harbor. It largely dries up during low tide. A significant piece of its history is tied to pollution.
From 1924 a Boehringer Ingelheim herbicide and pesticide plant stood on the canal’s bank. This plant polluted the soil and groundwater for years. Dioxins chlorobenzenes and phenols were released. The Moorfleeter Kanal sediment was also affected.
The plant closed in 1984. Cleanup began but initially failed due to the aggressiveness of the substances. From 1995 to 1998 they installed 50-meter-deep barriers. This sealed off the contaminated earth. A filter station now cleans the groundwater before releasing it back into the canal. Less contaminated sediments were deposited in the former turning basin at the canal’s end. This basin was eventually filled. This shortened the Moorfleeter Kanal by 360 meters. The Moorfleeter Kanal today stands as a testament to industrial past and environmental remediation a story etched into the very sediments beneath its waters.