ENB Region 2 Completed Applications 09/27/2006

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANY&NJ)has applied to renew and modify its SPDES permit for an existing cooling water system that serves the World Trade Center (WTC) site.  

The PANY&NJ is proposing to significantly reduce the amount of Hudson River water used to cool buildings in the redeveloped WTC complex.  Prior to September 11, 2001 water withdrawn from the River was used to cool all the buildings in the WTC; that system had a maximum design flow rate of 123,600 gallons per minute (GPM).  The reactivated system will use river water to cool only the non-commercial and retail spaces of the redeveloped WTC; the redesigned system will have a maximum design flow of 30,000 GPM.

The system intake is located in the Hudson River beneath Battery Park City’s waterfront promenade, immediately south of the North Cove.  A pump station located beneath Pumphouse Park sends water via below-grade piping to the WTC site.  Two subsurface return pipes discharge the system’s heated water to the North Cove.  The intake, pump station, underground piping to and from the WTC, and the discharge pipes were intact after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The reactivated cooling water system will use flow minimization methods to further reduce the system’s water usage.  The decreased cooling demand resulting from the reduced number of buildings cooling with river water - combined with the proposed flow minimization methods - will significantly reduce the volume of Hudson River water utilized by the cooling system.  As a result, the reactivated system’s impingement and entrainment impacts to the Hudson River fishery, will be significantly reduced from those of pre-September 11 operating conditions.   Reductions of more than 95% in impingement mortality and 84% in entrainment mortality are exprected.

The Department is proposing to modify the SPDES permit for the Astoria Generating Station (AGS).  The existing AGS facility is located on the East River and consists of four operating units generating approximately 1,280 MW.  The current facility utilizes a once-through cooling system and withdraws a maximum 1,250 MGD.  Cooling water, low-volume wastewater streams, and stormwater from AGS are discharged to the East River.

On December 28, 1992, Con Edison entered into a consent order with the Department and agreed to mitigate the excessive mortality of fish resulting from the operation of the AGS’s once-through cooling system.  The order required, among other things, that a series of studies be conducted to determine the Best Technology Available (BTA) for minimizing adverse impacts.  Following the completion of the studies, the Department negotiated with the owner of the facility at the time (Reliant Energy) and discussed appropriate ways to minimize adverse impact.  As a result of these discussions, Reliant Energy applied for a license to repower the facility under New York’s Article X Electric Generation Siting Law.  The Article X application included plans to convert the existing once through cooling system to a closed cycle system using mechanical draft wet/dry cooling towers.  The Department determined that the approximate 97% decrease in cooling water use resulting from this proposed action and the use of a protective intake structure (i.e., a combination of 2.0 mm wedge wire intake screens and experimental aquatic filter barrier cartridge system) constituted BTA for minimizing adverse environmental impact.  

On June 25, 2003, the State of New York Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment issued a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility and Public Need (PSC Case 00-F-1522) for the repowering of the Astoria Generating Station.  The repowering included the installation of six combined cycle combustion turbines, retirement of four existing boilers, reuse of certain existing equipment including two of the steam generators, and use of a closed cycle cooling system.  The repowered facility will have a generating capacity of approximately 1,842 MW and will have a maximum water withdrawal rate of 34.6 MGD.  These cooling system specifications were incorporated into the SPDES permit as well as an amended consent order.  The amended consent order extended the completion dates for all phases of the repowering (and adoption of closed cycle cooling) to the end 2008.

This draft SPDES permit authorizes the discharge of noncontact cooling water, treated wastewater, boiler blowdown, low volume wastewaters, miscellaneous waste streams, and storm water to the East River. In addition, the draft permit incorporates the repowering requirements agreed to in the consent order for the project permitted under Article X.