SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Mark Treyger (Source: Assemblyman Bill Colton’s office)

New York State received $340 million dollars from the federal Environmental Protection Agency last week to upgrade sewage and drinking water plants to protect against future storms like Superstorm Sandy. Local City Council candidate Mark Treyger, running for the 47th District covering Coney Island and Gravesend, is calling on the state to steer those funds to the Coney Island Sewage Treatment Plant on Knapp Street, saying it needs it the most.

Of the $340 million, most of it – $283 million – is earmarked specifically for sewage plants. The funds are part of a the Sandy emergency relief package approved by Congress at the beginning of the year, and are aimed at making upgrades that would keep raw sewage contained instead of discharging into public waterways – as is the case during heavy rainfalls when the plants’ tanks overfill.

Treyger said in a press release that the local plant should be a high-priority for the state because of its vulnerable location and its trouble grappling with Superstorm Sandy. The press release said:

“Coney Island was one of many New York communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy. During, and in the immediate aftermath of the storm, people who were unable to evacuate, as well as those who quickly returned to their homes, did not have access to clean drinking water or reliable sanitation services,” said Treyger.

The Coney Island Waste Water Treatment Plant, located on Knapp Street, was hit with a cascade of problems during Hurricane Sandy. Water from Shell Bank Creek came over the bulkheads and flooded the building. Flood debris clogged vital parts of the plant and power was lost and to make matters worse. To compound the problems a 72 inch outfall pipe had been previously shut down for repairs.

“Our part of coastal south Brooklyn – not just New York and America’s playground – is particularly vulnerable to future natural disasters. In the event that another storm, of similar or even greater magnitude to Sandy, hits our area, we must be prepared. I strongly urge New York to use the money given to us by the Environmental Protection Agency to, among other critical projects, expedite desperately needed sewer upgrades in Coney Island.”

But the state says that the $283 million, which will be dispersed to municipalities throughout the state, is but a drop in the bucket to make the repairs needed. EPA officials are directing municipalities to request additional funds via grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and FEMA.

Representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the city’s sewage treatment plants, told Sheepshead Bites that the Knapp Street plant was just one of many that took damage. They said 10 of the city’s 14 sewage treatment had some degree of damage and service issues, but they were all at 100 percent functionality as of February 10. They added that the funds from the EPA are being coordinated through the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, and that the DEP had not yet received details about the allocation.

Source: Howard N2GOT / Flickr

Governor Andrew Cuomo approved a plan to inject some much needed funds to restore 28 acres of salt marsh in an effort to provide stability for the natural wildlife, as well as future storm protection. According to a press release, the project will be led by the Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers and the Northeast Chapter of the American Littoral Society.

In their effort to restore and protect the salt marsh grasses, the state has approved $645,000 for the project. The state press release broke down the source of and dispersal of the funds raised:

“DEC [Department of Environmental Conservation] funds provided for this planting include $500,000 in compensatory mitigation associated with improvements to the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and $145,000 from a settlement for illegal sewage discharges to Shellbank Creek. Planting work will begin in mid-May and is expected to be complete by the end of June.”

Restoring the salt marshes will bring stability to the local wildlife and fish populations while also providing storm protection for the Broad Channel community. During storms, the marshes reduce the force of waves and storm surges.

Dan Mundy, Jr., the president of the Jamaica Bay Eco-Watchers, thanked the state and governor and stressed the environmental importance of the project.

“These wetland islands are critical components to one of the most important estuaries on the East Coast. This project will restore two wetland islands that are nurseries to the tremendous number of species of bird and marine wildlife. In addition, these islands will play a critical role in dissipating the impact of future storm events and in the process will help to protect the adjacent communities.”

Source: Howard N2GOT / Flickr

A cadre of city, state and federal representatives spoke of Superstorm Sandy’s impact on Jamaica Bay last Tuesday at the latest Jamaica Bay Task Force meeting, according to a report by Rockawave.

The gathering was stuffed with over 150 people, all eager to hear from officials over the state of the Bay.

“Whatever you think of climate change, it is an indisputable fact that in the past 100 years water levels have risen,” said Carter Strickland, an NYC Department of Environmental Protection representative.

Learn the specifics of how Jamaica Bay weathered the storm.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Local mariners have something to be happy about this New Year: the Department of Environmental Protection reversed course on plans to destroy a 78-year-old navigational aid between Manhattan Beach and Breezy Point that mariners say makes them safer and shows them the way home when gizmos can’t.

According to documents released under a Freedom of Information Law request filed by Sheepshead Bites, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection decided to leave a wastewater diffuser pipe that locals affectionately refer to as the “roundhouse” after sailors and other mariners objected to its removal.

“Comments received questioned whether it would be more advantageous to leave the existing outlet chamber in place,” DEP reps wrote to partnering agencies in a September 2012 letter. “If kept, it could serve as an underwater fish habitat and provide opportunity for sea birds to perch.”

It wasn’t just the environmentalists that the DEP sought to please; the agency determined the now defunct roundhouse served a crucial purpose for navigation, and as a marker for underwater infrastructure that could damage vessels.

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Source: Nigel Chadwick via Wikimedia Commons

City and state environmental agencies are adding three new air monitors in regions most affected by Superstorm Sandy. The air monitor stations will measure fine particle matter in order to collect data on what, if any, air contamination resulted from Sandy’s impact.

Air monitors have already been put in place in our area including at spots in Gerritsen Beach, Floyd Bennett Field and Mill Basin. These monitors, operated by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), have reported that “all readings were in compliance with federal standards.”

The new stations will be located near Holland Avenue in the Rockaways, Lincoln Avenue near Father Capodanno Boulevard in Staten Island and Water Street near John Street in Lower Manhattan.

According to a joint press release from the aforementioned DEC, Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Health (DOH) and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), “[T]he state’s network of rooftop air monitors does not reveal a pattern of higher concentrations since Hurricane Sandy and DEP’s testing of asbestos at debris piles have also come back negative.”

In other words, so far, so good.

Even though the initial air quality reports seem promising, the DOHMH has created a Sandy Health Portal website, which provides information on outdoor air quality, vital mold cleanup tips for storm-damaged homes, and other health issues.

Source: Geoffrey Croft via awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com

The following is a press release issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation:

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and state Department of Health have lifted the boating advisory in Paerdegat Basin in Brooklyn that was in place since the oil spill that led to discharges into the Basin while National Grid was plugging a decommissioned underground gas pipeline.

The agencies continue to advise the public to avoid eating any fish or crabs from Paerdegat Basin in Brooklyn and 200 yards from the mouth of Paerdegat Basin in a small portion of Jamaica Bay as a precaution until further notice. The public is also reminded that all New York City waters are closed to shellfishing (harvest of clams, mussels, oysters or scallops).

An environmental investigation is underway to determine if there is residual contamination in the Basin. To date, National Grid has performed preliminary testing of the Basin’s surface water, and sampling data indicates there are no PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the water. DEC will verify the data in the coming weeks.

As part of the clean-up efforts, National Grid conducted an initial cleaning of boats impacted by the spill. DEC is currently evaluating the results of that cleaning to determine what further actions are needed to assure the vessels meet criteria for decontamination. National Grid also flushed the storm sewer line, cleaned the street and removed spilled condensate from the manhole.

National Grid will submit a draft workplan next week to DEC outlining a schedule for sampling basin sediments, biota and upland soil. Once DEC approves the plan, the company will be responsible for collecting and analyzing necessary samples. The results of the sampling performed under the workplan will determine whether any additional remediation is required. A timeline will be included in the workplan.

DEC and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are currently reviewing a plan by National Grid to clean out the remainder of the pipe that was not filled with concrete when the incident occurred.

Source: Geoffrey Croft via awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com

When we first broke the story about the Paerdegat Basin oil spill, in which an estimated 800 to 1,400 gallons of natural gas condensate, compressor oil and turbine oil poured into the waters near Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, info was scarce. Representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Environmental Conservation told us the spill had happened while an old pipe was being capped, but how the oil got into the water remained unclear. The company responsible for the spill, National Grid, did not respond to requests for comment.

National Grid has now weighed in, issuing a press release late last week that indicated the spill actually happened on land. Firefighters responding to complaints of a smell of natural gas in the neighborhood, created by the release of mercaptan, an additive that gives the gas its odor, arrived at the scene and flushed the oil and residue from the ground and into storm drains, which flowed into Paerdegat Basin.

Keep reading and see how what National Grid had to say.

Source: Geoffrey Croft via awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com

National Grid is expected to wrap up decontamination operations of last week’s gas and oil spill by the end of this weekend, while authorities note that the problem may be worse than originally expected.

A test of the oil that gushed from an old National Grid pipe found a PCB level of 10,000 ppm, 200 times the acceptable level and high enough to be deemed hazardous waste, a Department of Environmental Conservation bulletin notes. The sample was taken directly from the oil and not from areas where it has mixed with Jamaica Bay’s protected waters, where the concentration would have been diluted.

PCBs are a cancer-causing toxin.

The unusually high PCB level is due to the fact that the defunct pipe held old oil and gas from a different regulatory era, not the cleaner compounds circulating in National Grid’s active pipes.

Samples have not yet been tested from Paerdegat Basin – the site of the spill – itself, but the state Department of Health will review data on contaminant levels in the water and sediment to determine long-term effects on fish and wildlife. The DEC will conduct an investigation once cleanup is completed.

National Grid is also working with DEC and the Coast Guard to clean any boats and structures that have been contaminated by the spill.

The company led a tour of the area for local politicians including City Councilman Lew Fidler, who is skeptical of the company’s evaluation of the damage.

“You never take the word of the person who did it for how bad (it is),” Fidler told the Daily News. “I know it’s not on the level of the Exxon-Mobil spill, but if it’s in your neighborhood it sure feels like it.”

The spill was reported to authorities at 1:30 a.m. on September 28. National Grid was capping the unused pipe by injecting it with a cement slurry, but something went wrong and between 800 and 1,400 gallons of natural gas condensate, compressor oil and turbine oil poured into Paerdegat Basin, part of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

National Grid and the Williams Company are currently seeking the government’s permission to build a natural gas pipeline underneath Jamaica Bay, with a metering station in Floyd Bennett Field’s hangars. The proposal has already received the green light from federal legislators and is currently under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

However, environmentalists say National Grid and Williams both have a history of accidents like this and the plan should be blocked in favor of protecting the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a national park.

The DEC and Coast Guard are advising the public to avoid recreational boating and fishing near Paerdegat Basin. They also say to avoid consuming fish and shellfish from the area’s waters.

Source: Geoffrey Croft via awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com

Source: Geoffrey Croft via awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com

Early Thursday morning to Friday, 1,100 gallons of gas and oil spilled into the Paerdegat Basin Creek, which connects to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, after a pipe-cementing incident had gone wrong.

We reported on the story as it broke, and more information has since been released . Geoffrey Croft, blogger at A Walk In The Park NYC and founder of NYC Park Advocates has put together some photos of the environmental calamity and got feedback from local mariners.

“You could taste oil in your mouth” a boater said at the Midget Squadron Yacht Club, according to Croft, who also notes that neighbors were reporting headaches and nausea.

After the spill, the Coast Guard sent out pollution responders which included the FDNY, DEC and the Miller Environmental Group, an environmental waste crew. The cleanup crews are  laying down oil booms and blue absorbent pads in the water to help soak up the oil.

Over the weekend, officials were near the spill warning boaters and fishermen not to go near the water.

National Grid, which is the company that was replacing the pipe that initially leaked the toxins, was on hand, too. According to Croft, “Contractors were filling up multiple 55 gallons drums along Seaview Avenue in front of Canarsie Park.”

National Grid released the following statement after the spill:

On Sept. 27 National Grid and its contractor were working on filling in an old gas main that is no longer in service with cement.

During the process an oily water residue spilled from the exit pipe into a valve box. An odor from the residue was released, resulting in a number of odor calls. We were onsite with crews throughout the night investigating and did not find any gas leaks. We immediately notified the appropriate agencies and we and our environmental contractors are working under the direction of the Coast Guard and the NYS DEC to clean up a spill in Paerdergat Basin.

“Our whole club filled with gas,” said Mike Keller from the Diamond Point Yacht Club, a maritime club within the vicinity of the spill. ”My car completely filled will the smell of methane gas to the point where I was gagging. This whole area was filled with methane gas, waves of gas.”

Keller also said the spill spread was pushed out by outgoing tides to Jamaica Bay on Friday.

“Coast Guard pollution responders, working closely with city and state partners, will ensure the responsible party performs a proper and complete cleanup of the spill site,” wrote Petty Officer Erik Swanson, Coast Guard spokesman in New York, in a statement.

If National Grid is found responsible for any wrong-doing, they will be fined.

Lisa King, from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation stated that the spill “contained some PCBs,” which is a persistent organic pollutant, whose production was banned in the late 70′s. She goes on to say that:

At this point, it appears the spill is contained to that waterway. National Grid was performing work in the area at the time. You need to contact them for more specifics on the work they were doing. We are advising against recreational fishing and boating in the waterway until further notice. National Grid hired a contractor to clean up the work that has been on scene since the night of the spill. DEC is overseeing the work with the US Coast Guard. Once the immediate spill clean up efforts are complete, DEC will conduct sampling to see if there is lingering environmental damage.

In the meantime,boaters are still asked to stay away from the contaminated site.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz issues a press release this morning, commending the state Department of Environmental Conservation for their fast response to Friday’s oil spill in Jamaica Bay.

Below is the press release:

In the wake of Friday’s oil and gas spill in JamaicaBay, Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), a member of the Assembly’s Committee on Environmental Conservation, is praising the state agency charged with overseeing the investigation for its quick response and asking to be kept informed as the probe into the spill moves forward.

According to published reports, National Grid was cementing an “older pipe” on the evening of September 28 when 1,100 gallons of natural gas condensate, compressor oil and turbine oil discharged into Jamaica Bay.

Inspectors from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEC) and Coast Guard responded, and an environmental response contractor hired by National Grid has been working to suck the water-oil mixture out of the area to prevent further environmental damage.

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