FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE04-41
July
20, 2004
Contact:
Ian Michaels
(718) 595-6600
DEP
Issues 2003 Harbor Water Quality Report Showing Cleaner Waterways
And Wildlife Resurgence
Harbor
Quality Improved by 98 Percent in Last 30 Years
Commissioner Christopher O. Ward of the New York City Department
of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that the agency
has issued the annual New York Harbor Water Quality Report. The
2003 report is the 94th in the series, and details improvements
in harbor water quality realized through investments in critical
infrastructure and better management of the City’s sewage
and sewage treatment systems.
“Water quality in New York Harbor is the best it’s
been in decades, showing significant declines in pollutants and
increases in dissolved oxygen,” said Commissioner Ward. “Even
ignoring the scientific data, the anecdotal evidence is abundant,
from the vast number of waterfowl breeding in the area, to increased
populations of bottom-dwelling organisms, to the fact that beach
closures have been virtually eliminated.
“We’re winning the battle for the overall Harbor,
but there’s still work to be done. The next battleground
is the local waterways that are enclosed and in close proximity
to people and sewage outfalls – places such as Flushing Bay
in Queens, Paerdegat Basin in Brooklyn and other parts of Jamaica
Bay. This is where we need to concentrate our future efforts, even
as we reap the benefits of decades of investment in the Harbor
as a whole.”
The 2003 Report notes that fecal coliform levels – an indicator
of the presence of raw or partially treated sewage and one of the
most important water quality indicators – dropped by over
98 percent in the Inner Harbor and Upper East River since the early
1970s. The trend coincides with upgrades to the four sewage treatment
plants that serve those areas: Bowery Bay, Tallman Island, Hunts
Point and Wards Island. Other reasons for improvements include
better monitoring and control of industrial discharges and the
abatement of illegal dumping into the sewer system.
The Report also details the problems associated with combined
sewer overflows (CSOs), or the discharge of untreated wastewater
during rainstorms and periods of heavy snow melting. Better management
of the sewer system and capital improvements have increased the
capture of overflow at sewage treatment plants from 18 percent
to 72 percent over the last 13 years. In fact, the DEP has developed
a series of Best Management Practices which have been largely adopted
by the federal EPA as the standard for all communities with CSO
problems.
The DEP has also identified 36 CSO abatement projects, totaling
over $500 million. These vary from the construction of massive
underground storage tanks near Flushing Bay and Paerdegat Basin
to the deployment of booms and nets in canals and creeks near 23
other CSO outfalls. The DEP uses skimmer boats in the Harbor to
collect floating trash and debris from CSOs and storm sewers, and
collected over 1,200 tons of material this way in 2003 on just
its largest skimmer vessel, the Cormorant.
Another pollution control program listed in the 2003 Report restricts
the discharge of certain types of industrial waste into the sewer
system. Over the last 12 years, the number of firms regulated under
this program has increased from 1,000 to 30,000, with no increase
in DEP staff. During that time, heavy metals in wastewater has
dropped from 7,800 lbs. to 2,800 lbs. per day citywide. Heavy industry
now accounts for less than one percent of the metals in untreated
sewage citywide.
In 1998, the DEP initiated a program to eliminate the discharge
of untreated sewage into the Harbor during dry weather. This program
involved a detailed evaluation of the City’s entire 425 miles
of shoreline and over 3,000 sewer outfalls. The initial survey
found that there was over 3 million gallons a day of untreated
sewage being dumped into the Harbor daily. To date, the DEP has
eliminated 96 percent of these discharges.
In 1997, the DEP began its annual Enhanced Beach Protection Program
to decrease dry weather sewage discharges though better surveillance
and improved preventive maintenance. As part of this effort, 92
sewage pumping stations throughout the City have had computerized
monitoring equipment installed. As a result, the total amount of
untreated sewage bypassed from pump stations and regulators during
the 2002 season was just 0.0002 percent of total dry weather flow,
a 97 percent decrease from the previous year.
“Some of the main benefits to New Yorkers of all this work
and investment is that all public beaches in the City have been
open for bathing since 1992, and wet weather swimming advisories
have been lifted at all but three of these beaches,” said
Commissioner Ward. “Shore birds have returned to breed in
several parts of the Harbor, and fish and shellfish restrictions
have been relaxed.
“The Harbor Survey Program provides the longest documented
assessment of the impact of human activities on the City’s
water,” he continued. “By sampling at 53 stations and
measuring more than a dozen water quality parameters throughout
the Harbor, the survey identifies trends and changes and provides
a unique database for scientists and educators.”