College Point sewer dirt finally removed

  

Queens Chronicle

 Just two months ago, a pile of potentially contaminated, excavated dirt stood at least three stories high at 119th Street and 20th Avenue, towering over Flushing Bay.

Now, it seems, the pile, is gone — but only after the state Department of Conservation issued nine different violations to city Department of Design and Construction-hired contractor EIC Associates for its failure to adhere to environmental protection guidelines.

Community Board 7’s environmental chair, visiting scientist and faculty member at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution James Cervino, who not only filed complaints with the state but also with the Environmental Protection Agency, is thrilled.

“They got the pile down to a manageable minimum,” Cervino said. “[That’s what happens] when the DEC comes in.”

The pile’s disappearance comes after the Chronicle reported extensively on the environmental concerns at the site in question. Cervino credited the change in large part to the Chronicle’s work.

The site is part of the College Point sewer update, a project that has been ongoing for more than five years now, and had effectively functioned as a transfer station for demolition dirt from the entire 20-block project.

That excavated material was found to have contained creosote timbers, which can be harmful when in contact with soil and water, which, considering its proximity to Flushing Bay, raised some red flags.

When the Chronicle previously asked Joseph A. Branco, a founding partner of EIC, whether the site was a transfer station, he said, “What we have is the materials that are disposed of [for the whole project], every two or three days, we have materials going out. I mean, these are the excavated material[s] going out, but it’s not a transfer station, per se.”

EIC could not be reached for comment for this story.

Since the Chronicle last reported on the issue in mid-February, a DEC spokesperson has said that the site is not a transfer station, as the permits issued for the project do not allow for one.

However, the Chronicle also obtained documentation of the alleged DDC and EIC violations at the 119th Street location. Among the nine different violations are a “substantially inadequate” Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan. More specifically, that violation notes that the “construction staging/stockpiling area” is not in the SWPPP.

AOC does some good

 

Queens Post

The lawmaker secured nearly $7 million in funding for 10 projects — eight of which are in Queens — as part of an omnibus bill the House passed late Wednesday night. The massive bill was passed to keep the federal government funded and open.

The funding secured by Ocasio-Cortez will support renovations at Elmhurst Hospital, multiple educational and vocational training programs, the repair of two public piers in Flushing Bay and the placement of family support counselors in two Queens high schools, among other initiatives.

“From reducing maternal mortality and youth violence, to training a new generation of green labor, I know these projects will be deeply impactful to our families throughout Queens and The Bronx,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. ”

She secured $3 million for Elmhurst Hospital. The hospital will use the money to renovate its obstetrical inpatient facilities so that expectant mothers can deliver and bond with their new babies in private rooms, which Elmhurst Hospital doesn’t have.

She secured another $2 million for Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a Jackson Heights-based organization that provides housing assistance to residents primarily from the South Asian community. The money will help the nonprofit procure a bigger building for its headquarters and create a community space that will allow it to serve 3,000 more clients per year.

The congresswoman also earmarked $225,000 for Queens Community House, an organization that provides many services including offering alternative high schools for students who have either dropped out of school or fallen substantially behind in credits. The funds would be used by QCH to hire additional family support counselors to support students in two schools it operates in Corona and Elmhurst. Currently, QCH has just one counselor who supports students across five schools.

Ocasio-Cortez allocated funding for a second health care facility, in addition to Elmhurst Hospital. A local health center in Corona, Plaza Del Sol Family Health Center, will receive $96,150 to expand and upgrade its telehealth technology to serve more patients.

The lawmaker got approval on two funding requests for Sunnyside Community Services as well.

Overhaul for World's Fair Marina

From the Queens Chronicle:

Plans are in place for the World’s Fair Marina to receive a $32 million makeover, including a complete reconstruction of one of its piers.

The improvements to the marina, located on Flushing Bay in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, will focus on the deteriorating Pier 1. The pier, which is closed to the public, will be demolished and completely rebuilt under the plan.

Officials from the Parks Department told Community Board 3 at its Nov. 15 meeting the pier is “in pretty bad shape” and “in need of reconstruction.”

The Parks Department was in front of the community board looking to secure a letter of support before it puts its plan in front of the city’s Public Design Commission. Due to the snow that fell that day, the board did not have the required number of members present at the meeting to vote.

The construction budget of $32 million includes funding from City Hall as well as federal dollars designated for Hurricane Sandy repairs. The World’s Fair Marina was battered during the 2012 hurricane and suffered considerable damage.

Flushing Bay dredging to commence

From Curbed:

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced the projected $34 million cleanup which is to be completed in phases that will likely carry on for decades. In fact, could take as long as until 2042 to complete if things go according to the DEP’s plan.

The first phase will focus on decommissioning the ten sewage outflows that spill into the bay. Next, the DEP plans to create a three acre marsh and mudflat area to help filter the water. Ultimately, the goal is to build a 2.5 mile tunnel and “dewatering” station that would divert sewage away from the bay and into a pumping system for processing but that could cost as much as $5.7 billion and has not received approval from the state.

Stopping the stink

From DNA Info:

The city will begin a $33 million sewer upgrade this spring that will limit millions of gallons of pollution currently discharging into Flushing Bay and Bowery Bay, according to the Department of Environmental Protection.

The construction will be centered at five sites within the sewer system between LaGuardia Airport and the Horace Harding Expressway, officials said, and should be completed by 2018.

The changes should help prevent wastewater from flooding nearby lakes and bays as it currently does when it rains heavily, the DEP said, in order to avoid backing up into homes. The money will allow crews to work on the "regulators" or junction points, and divert water to a waste treatment plant even if it's raining.

Crowley wants barges removed

From the Queens Tribune:

The federal government must remove two abandoned barges that are languishing in Flushing Bay, U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens/Bronx) said at a press conference on Monday.

“Flushing Bay has historically been and continues to be a critically important waterway for New York,” Crowley said. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to recognize the urgency of this matter and act to immediately remove these derelict barges from our pay. They are not just an eyesore for our community. More importantly, they are polluting our water and creating an immediate safety hazard for the commercial, recreational and law enforcement ships that operate through the bay.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently dredging Flushing Bay, with an expected completion date on Dec. 26. The dredging is meant to restore federal navigation channels to their proper depth so that boats can use them for commerce and other purposes. As part of the project, the Army Corps are authorized to remove any barge or other object that blocks the federal navigation channels.

One barge did drift into the channel, and the Army Corps has taken responsibility for removing it. But before they do, they must go through a lengthy process to try and determine the owner of the barge, so that he or she can pay for its removal.

But Crowley argued that it was better to remove the barge first, and then find the owner.

Junk in Flushing Bay

From the Queens Chronicle:

Ever since a January windstorm apparently left two abandoned barges adrift on Flushing Bay, environmental advocates and Flushing residents have been asking why nothing has been done to clean up the mess.

Riverkeeper, a nonprofit New York City clean water advocate, has been on top of the incident since the barges first made their presence in Flushing Bay. Their concerns are twofold — not only is it unappealing for residents but it also is harming the environment. Styrofoam has begun to fall off the barges and spreading around the bay. Private property owners alongside the shore have seen debris land.

In January, Riverkeeper contacted the NYPD, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and city Department of Environmental Conservation, informing all of them of the issues. But while there have been responses, nothing has been done.

The condition of the barges has continued to decline over the last couple of months. Steel plating is breaking off and one of the barges broke in half.
Normally, when vessels break in half, both parts sink. But according to James Lipscomb, captain of the Hudson Riverkeeper, these barges have an unusual design called positive flotation. This, he said, makes the barges unsinkable.

Lipscomb and area residents cannot confirm but believe the barges were secured on the east side of Flushing Bay, attached to commercial property, and broke loose during the January storm and drifted to their current location.

Plan to clean up stink of Flushing Bay

From DNA Info:

The Department of Environmental Protection will begin dredging sediment from the bottom of Flushing Bay in 2016, according to a city official, at a cost of $47 million.

Sediment has formed over years due to Combined Sewer Overflow, or CSO, from nearby roads and highways.

It hasn't helped that a runway at nearby LaGuardia Airport partially blocks the water from "flushing," according to DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd, who testified about the funded project at a May city council hearing.

Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland, who lead the testimony as the Council's finance chair, told Lloyd the smells are compared to rotten eggs and has plagued her district for years.

The project, scheduled to be completed in 2019, will remove most of the gunk at the bottom and make a "significant" difference, Lloyd said.

Watch out for whitefish!

"Hi Crappie I got a real shitty story for you.

Last night I attended a meeting at Flushing Town Hall about Flushing Bay presented by the Empire Dragon Boat Club and Riverkeeper.

We learned that 1.2 billion gallons of untreated sewage enters the bay each year mainly from three discharge pipes and that there are also four pipes that empty into Flushing Creek. We also learned that sewage tank that was built in Flushing Meadow Park that was supposed to cure the problem only reduces about 56% CSO's from just one pipe. Also one of the pipes is from the Bowery Bay Sewage Treatment plant in Astoria.

They said every time it rains more than 1/10 of an inch CSO's go right into the bay. Add this to Willet's Point where there never were any sewers and other contaminates like oil etc got right into the water. Then there's La Guardia Airport that has had a couple fuel spills and all the de-icing fluid that is used has gone into the bay.There is also industrial pollution from cement companies that wash out the trucks and it all goes into the water.

Members of the Dragon boat teams are really concerned because they practice in the bay. One guy said that the joke on the team is that if you get sick once you are good for the rest of the season. Others said they throw their clothes away rather than washing them. They joked about seeing jelly fish but it was condoms floating by.

This is another example of piss poor city planning. With all the building of high density housing the problem will only get worse. NYC is violating the Clean Water Act and Riverkeeper says they sued the city back in 1992 but these things take a long time in the courts.

There was only one Asian guy there from a Dragon boat team and he claimed that fish and crabs from the bay are being sold on Main St.Fish and crabs are not considered safe to eat according to Riverkeeper."

- Anonymous

Flushing Bay is full of crap

From the Times Ledger:

Carmel Fromson knew something was wrong when she woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in her eye.

She had been out rowing on Flushing Bay hours earlier with the Empire Dragon Boat Team when she got some water splashed on her face. Unfortunately for Fromson, the area’s waters receive approximately 10 truckloads of human feces a year from sewer overflows that empty into the bay, according to researchers.

Fromson went immediately to the emergency room and required antibiotics to deal with an infection that was festering in her eye.

The constant flow of sludge into Flushing Bay is a problem the Empire Dragon Boat Team, which consists of 32 breast cancer survivors, has been dealing with for years.

The team, which was founded five years ago, uses the bay to practice twice a week. Raw sewage overflows into the bay anytime there is even minimal rainfall because the city’s sewer system cannot handle the extra water. It is not uncommon to see used tampons, condoms and feces floating in the water.

Awesome, where do I sign up?

Flushing stink expensive to eradicate

From the Daily News:

City officials said it could cost almost $50 million to dredge just a small section of the waterway, well known for its less-than-aromatic scent.

[Asst DEP Commissioner Mark] Lanaghan and other DEP officials briefed Queens Borough President Helen Marshall’s staff, City Council members and community board chairpersons last week on efforts to improve the water quality of Flushing Bay and Flushing Creek.

Dredging is just one piece of the complex Flushing Bay Waterbody/Watershed Facility Plan, designed to reduce the amount of combined sewer overflow that ends up in the waterway that curves around Citi Field and LaGuardia Airport.

Not a great place for a crane...

La G planes and cranes don't mix
By BILL SANDERSON, NY Post

Bonehead construction workers erected a crane on a barge in the middle of Flushing Bay -- right in the path of planes headed for La Guardia Airport.

Luckily, no one was hurt in the Jan. 8 incident, although a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said some planes had to be diverted until the barge was moved.

FAA rules allow construction cranes near airports -- if they are kept safely away from flight paths.

The crane was being used to build a trash-transfer station in College Point, 2,000 feet across the bay from La Guardia's Runway 13/31.

Critics have said the trash-transfer station itself will pose an aviation hazard, since garbage draws birds, like the Canada geese that brought down US Airways Flight 1549 last year.

But the FAA and the Port Authority signed off on the city Department of Sanitation project. The city says the transfer station will be sealed tightly enough to keep birds away.