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Queens boards approve DEPsite selection for Newtown Creek CSO tunnel with conditions
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Summary
DEP presented plans for a 3+ mile, 50-million-gallon Newtown Creek CSO storage tunnel and associated diversion facilities; community boards 2 and 5 approved site selection and acquisition with conditions after questions about traffic, noise, aesthetics and environmental protections. The board vote passed following a motion to approve with CB2 conditions.
The Department of Environmental Protection asked the Queens borough board to approve site selection and acquisition steps tied to a long-term plan to reduce combined sewer overflow (CSO) into Newtown Creek.
Kate Edin, project manager for the Newtown Creek CSO storage tunnel, described the core project: a more-than-3-mile tunnel with roughly 50,000,000 gallons of storage designed to capture overflow from the four largest outfalls along Newtown Creek ("about 90% of the flow," she said) and send it by gravity to the Newtown Creek wastewater resource recovery facility for treatment after storms. Edin noted the project is driven by a consent order with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requiring reductions in CSO.
David Lee of DEP/DCP explained the land-use actions needed to implement the project: two separate land-use applications to allow acquisition of non-city properties and to site permanent facilities on city-owned property. DEP said the overall package would affect 99 properties, principally in industrially zoned areas, and would seek roughly 54 subterranean easements between about 25 and 75 feet below ground; the tunnel alignment would sit deeper, between about 80 and 130 feet below surface. DEP said the proposed actions are designed to avoid residential displacement because affected parcels are in industrial zoning.
DEP discussed environmental review: a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) issued in September identifies likely significant construction impacts for traffic and (in some locations) noise; DEP said it consulted with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which reported no concerns. Traffic mitigation measures under consideration include signal timing adjustments and worker/haul routing plans with DOT.
Board members and community representatives pressed DEP on construction access, soil removal, snow melters and where dewatering or haul-off would occur; Kate Edin said the project plans to barge excavated material where feasible and pointed to a former DSNY marine transfer station near the plant as an advantageous location for marine transfer. Members also asked about green infrastructure and site-bychanges; Edin said DEP plans bioswales and other on-site stormwater management at most diversion chamber sites.
Anna Talashraf, chair of Community Board 2, summarized CB2conditions (nine items) including clear maps and cross-sections to property owners, limited construction hours, bulkhead repair, sewer replacement in the area, an amended drainage plan, investments in Blissville and Maspeth, and coordination with DOT for additional street trees and rain gardens. She moved to approve the land-use actions with those conditions; the motion was seconded and, following a roll call of eligible community board and council representatives, "the yays have it." Community Board 2 and Community Board 5 were recorded as voting in favor.
DEP said the project remains in the EULIP/bureau president review phase, with FEIS and CPC hearings anticipated in the months ahead and a construction schedule staged across multiple packages with expected final completion in 2040. The board vote endorses the land-use applications advancing through the city's review; it does not itself authorize construction funding or final design approval.
