article: A clean-water advocate took an Earth Day swim in New York City's polluted Gowanus Canal, a site designated by the federal government as especially polluted, but quit less than halfway through. Christopher Swain wore a protective yellow suit as he went over a railing and into the water around 2pm Wednesday in Brooklyn but completed only two-thirds of a mile of the 1.8-mile waterway. He swam about an hour into the canal in  a stunt to urge environmental clean up that ultimately succumbed to the water's pollution because the experience was like 'swimming 'in a dirty diaper'. Christopher Swain, a clean-water activist, embarked on a 1.8-mile swim in the toxic Gowanus Canal, which has been designated as especially polluted by the Environmental Protection Agency, to urge its cleanup . The swimmer, who quit two-thirds of a mile into the swim, gargled hydrogen peroxide periodically to prevent contaminated water from getting down his throat . Swain, who has previously swam the Hudson and Columbia Rivers, said that cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, which was labelled as a Superfund site by the EPA, should be accelerated . 'It's probably the safest move at this point,' he said, according to Reuters, but pledged to swim the whole canal one day. 'I want to make it clear, no one is telling me to stop,' Swain continued, and said that impending bad weather played a role in his decision. The activist said 'It's not safe to swim in there,' according to Gothamist. He said that the water tasted 'Like mud, poop, ground-up grass, detergent and gasoline'. The 19th-century canal was once a major transportation route, but it's now so polluted with industrial and sewer discharges that it must, by law, be cleaned up. The federal Environmental Protection Agency says contaminates include PCBs, which were banned in the US in 1979. It warned Swain against taking the swim, posting a message on its Twitter account saying that it 'strongly advises AGAINST swimming' in the strip of water. The agency issued guidelines in 2011 saying that people should 'never swim in the canal', which runs over 1½ miles through a narrow industrial zone near increasingly wealthy neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It urged anyone who came in contact with the water to seek medical attention immediately if they felt sick. Crowds gathered on bridges along the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn as Swain was accompanied by a woman in a red kayak . The activist has previously swam the Hudson River in New York and the Columbia River in Washington to bring attention to water issues . Swain waves to the crowds who came to see him swim but were disappointed when he only made it two-thirds of a mile. A baby whale once got lost in the canal in 2007 and died within two days . After heavy rainstorms excess water from the sewer system flows in the canal, where  raw sewage and human excrement that mixes into its normal mix of petroleum products and other chemicals. An estimated 377million gallons of diluted raw sewage pour into the canal each year. 'There's a lot of poop in there,' Swain said after his swim, according to the New York Post. Dissolved arsenic in the water is thought to be at a level 60 times higher than that harmful to human health. A baby whale became lost in the canal in 2007 and was nicknamed Sludgie by locals. It died in two days. After rainstorms it can often be found with raw sewage that mixes into its normal mix of petroleum products and other chemicals. However Swain, who has previously done long swims along the Hudson River in New York and the Columbia in Washington, wanted to call attention to the slow clean up of the canal and urge for it to be accelerated. An estimated 377million gallons of sewage is poured into the Gowanus Canal every year. Above, trash pollutes the Brooklyn inlet in 2013 . The pollution in the Gowanus Canal combines decades of industrial dumping and general trash. It is particularly filthy after rainstorms . He gargled hydrogen peroxide to fight against any bacteria entering his body and had charcoal tablet to take that will help if he did, according to CityLab. Swain told reporters after he got out that he did not swallow any water. He was accompanied by a woman in a kayak, paddling a few feet away from him before he called it quits. Swain posted on Twitter that swimming in the canal is his 'federal right' under the Clean Water Act of 1972. Gowanus was labeled a Superfund site in 2010, with the EPA later saying that cleaning it up would take up to ten years and $506million, according to DNA Info. Costs will mostly fall on the city and companies that used to be along the canal such as National Grid. The agency plans on beginning dredging in the canal in 2017, which involves cleaning out 600,000 cubic yards of contaminated mud. Before Wednesday's failed effort, Swain also planned on swimming other polluted waters, such as the Bronx River and Newtown Creek, which runs between the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. He said he has hope that New York's polluted waterways will one day be clean enough for swimmers without protective suits. The water advocate claims that it is his 'federal right' to swim in the canal under the Clean Water Act of 1972 . Cleanup of the Gowanus Canal, where dredging of mud is scheduled to begin in 2017, is thought to cost $506million .
highlights: Christopher Swain donned protective suit to swim through Gowanus Canal .
  Brooklyn waterway is famous dumping site for toxic industrial waste .
  Roughly 377million gallons of diluted raw sewage poured in each year .
  Swain quit two-thirds of a mile into 1.8-mile journey and said it was like 'swimming into a dirty diaper'
  Swimmer gargled peroxide and had special tablet on hand to fight against contaminated water entering his body and making him sick .
  He urged faster cleanup of the canal, which is slated for dredging in 2017 .
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