Strike one on funding.... The western bays will never come back as long as that outflow dumps crap into Reynolds Channel.
This from the latest LI Herald
State and county elected officials, along with local activists and environmentalists, were disappointed to learn that an application for federal funds that would have helped pay for an outfall pipe from the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant to the Atlantic Ocean has been rejected.
“While it is disappointing that New York was not successful in securing additional funding in the National Disaster Resilience competition, it is important that this project advance in a timely manner with previously announced state and local funding,” said Basil Seggos, acting commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The proposal was part of a request made by New York state last year in a $1 billion national competition focusing on disaster resilience sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Even though New York was among the competition’s winners, announced on Jan. 21, it received only $35.8 million, which will be earmarked for public housing.
State officials had counted on the competition as a way to provide a third of the funding for the outfall pipe, which Nassau County officials said would now cost $425 million to $450 million to build.
The $150 million in HUD funding would have supplemented a $104 million capital commitment from Nassau County, along with $45.4 million in New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation grants and loans obtained by the county. The state is also awaiting an answer on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to use $150 million of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program allocation for the state for the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Sandy, which is currently under review. Another $5 million for the pipe is allocated in the state budget, which Cuomo announced this month.
“This is not the last bite at the apple for the outfall pipe,” said Marisa Kaufman, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sen.. Charles Schumer, an advocate of the pipe. “Other funding options, including the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds, are still under review, and we’re hard at work to secure that award.”
State Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) said that while the news was disappointing, it is imperative that officials remain dedicated to the goal of building a new outfall pipe. “State, federal and county officials must go back to the drawing board and find creative ways to fund this vital project,” Kaminsky said. “We’re so close, and cannot turn back now.”
Brian Nevin, a spokesman for County Executive Ed Mangano, said that county officials were also disappointed. “Clearly, an award here would have made the ocean outfall pipe possible,” Nevin wrote in a statement, adding that the county would continue working with the state to find a way to build the pipe.
County Legislator Denise Ford, whose 4th District includes Bay Park, told the Herald that she was “bitterly disappointed” that the funding didn’t come through. “It was an equitable portion,” she said. “They could’ve helped on this.”
Ford added that she planned to reach out to Mangano this week to discuss their options. “We are New Yorkers, and we are resilient,” she said. “I believe there has to be a solution.. We are committed to reducing the nitrogen that comes out of the plant, and we need to have it done. But I will start asking around, and hopefully [Mangano] can perform his magic. It affects us all. The health and well being of our residents is paramount.”
Why the need for a new pipe?
An ocean outfall pipe from the East Rockaway plant would redirect its effluent from Reynolds Channel three miles out into the Atlantic, where it would be diluted and dispersed to the ocean’s currents.
Reconstruction at the plant began in 2013, and $150 million was allocated to upgrade its nitrogen-removal system. That funding could not be used to build an outfall pipe, however, because, according to FEMA regulations, it was restricted to repairing equipment that was damaged in Sandy.
According to Schumer, however, without a new pipe in place, all of that work may be for naught, because, as of now, the waters of Reynolds Channel don’t measure up to Environmental Protection Agency standards, and will not do so without help from an outfall pipe. If Bay Park’s effluent, whose high levels of nitrogen threaten aquatic plant and animal life in the channel, were directed into the ocean instead, environmental experts contend, the wastewater would dissolve in the ocean’s constant movement rather than lingering in the slower-moving waters of the channel.
“The public is depending on the federal, state and county governments to stop pointing fingers and start fixing the problem,” said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “We need them to secure the funding and get it built. Every year the government does nothing, our bays become more polluted, wetlands degrade and our quality of life is diminished.” Esposito said she is tired of excuses, and that the proposed pipe is not a luxury item; it’s a necessity. “We don’t want to swim and fish in our sewage anymore,” she added. “How hard is that for government to understand?”
“While we are very grateful for all the money we have received, we are disappointed about this,” said Rob Weltner, executive director of Operation SPLASH, in Freeport. “It’s like playing a ouija board. Down at SPLASH we buy lottery tickets, [and] we figure if we win, we’ll donate the money for the outfall pipe. Now that would besomething.