For Release: Wednesday, September 8, 2004
State Enforcement Targets Health of Waters near New York City
Consent Order With NYCDEP Requires City to Address CSO Concerns
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced that the State has negotiated a consent order with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) governing the implementation of the combined sewer overflow (CSO) abatement program by NYCDEP. The Consent Order is available for public review and comment until October 8, 2004.
CSOs are discharges of untreated sewage and industrial wastewaters, that occur when wet weather flows are in excess of the treatment capacity of combined sewer systems or the treatment works they serve.
"It's critical that we do everything in our power to prevent any adverse impacts to water quality before they start," Commissioner Crotty said. "This consent order requires New York City to address facilities and practices that contribute to large amounts of pollution entering surrounding waters. Implementation of the programs contained in this order will vastly improve water quality."
NYCDEP discharges untreated sewage and stormwater runoff from approximately 460 CSO outfalls during wet weather events. These discharges cause serious water quality standard violations in confined embayments, and have a significant impact on the overall quality of the waters in and around New York City. DEC's Priority Water Bodies List states that CSOs are one of the leading causes of water quality problems in and around the City, and several of those water bodies are on the "impaired waters" list.
As a result of a violations of the City's 1988 State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits and to settle issues brought about by parties in a 1989 adjudicatory hearing regarding these SPDES permits, DEC and NYCDEP entered into a consent order in 1992. The 1992 Order requires NYCDEP to develop and implement a CSO abatement program to eliminate the contravention of water quality standards attributable to CSOs. The 1992 Order contains compliance schedules for the planning, design and construction of the numerous CSO projects.
To date, NYCDEP has incurred numerous violations of the 1992 Order milestones. The 2004 consent order addresses these violations by requiring each of the following: compliance schedules with enforceable milestones based on current projects, payable penalties of $1.5 million, $2 million to fund projects that will benefit receiving waters, funding of Independent Environmental Monitors to assist in DEC oversight of the Order, and the development of a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) as required by the 1994 USEPA CSO Control Policy.
The 2004 Order requires the planning, design, and construction of over thirty projects City-wide, including: off-line retention tanks, sewer separation, flushing tunnels, vortex concentrators, throttling facilities, and numerous other projects designed to optimize the operation of the sewer collection system, pumping stations, and treatment plants during wet weather. When fully constructed, the estimated capital cost of these projects will be in excess of $ 2.2 billion.
The CSO abatement program required in the 2004 Order improves upon the 1992 Order by increasing the amount of wet weather flow being treated. The 2004 Order requires projects that provide treatment for 75.5 percent of wet weather flow, an improvement over the 70.2 percent wet weather treatment required by the 1992 Order. Other benefits of the 2004 Order include improved water quality and control of floatable material discharged from CSOs.
Further, the parties maintain that the proposed settlement resolves points raised by proposed intervening parties in the ongoing adjudicatory hearing concerning NYCDEP's SPDES permits.
In addition, DEC and NYCDEP propose to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA") governing the submittal, review and approval of Waterbody/Watershed reports required under the 2004 Order. The Waterbody/Watershed reports are an essential element of the LTCP that will evaluate water quality impacts that remain after the CSO abatement projects are implemented and determine if additional cost effective CSO control measures may be available to comply with water quality standards.
The CSO abatement program required under the 2004 ACO and the accompanying MOA commits more funds, achieves greater environmental benefit through improved wet weather capture and system performance, than was required under the 1992 Order. The abatement projects along with the comprehensive monitoring and Waterbody/Watershed reports and LTCP conform to the 1994 USEPA CSO Control Policy.
Prior to execution by DEC, the 2004 Order is being made available for public comment for 30 days. DEC will assess any comments and make any modifications to the Order prior to the execution of the Order. Full copies of the Order are available in hard copy at the following offices of DEC: Office of the Director of the Bureau of Water Compliance, Division of Water, 625 Broadway, 4th Floor, Albany, NY 12233-3506, or Mr. Robert Elburn, P.E., NYSDEC, Region 2, 47-40 21st Street, Long Island City , NY 11101.
Additional information on the Consent Order is available in the Environmental Notice Bulletin, which can be viewed on our website.
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