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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE10-68

July 2, 2010

CONTACT:

Farrell Sklerov / Mercedes Padilla (718) 595-6600

Statement of NYC Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas Holloway On Demolition of Unfinished Development Located Next to Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant

“Today’s announcement is another example of DEP’s efforts to be a good neighbor in the Rockaway community. This half-finished condominium complex has become a blemish on the community and its removal is finally at hand. After the project was halted a few years back, the City stepped in to ensure that the eyesore sitting right next to the Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant would not remain forever.

The City took ownership of the property through a condemnation process in 2008 and immediately began to improve sidewalk and fencing to provide safer access to a school that was located next door. The design phase of a $2 million plan to remake the property as a storage facility where spare parts and equipment can be housed immediately followed. I want to thank all of the local elected officials and the residents and other stakeholders in this community for working with us to change the unacceptable status quo.

Next week, construction crews will start demolishing the remaining structures. The work will be completed by the end of the summer. Immediately after, DEP will start building the storage facility, which will be complete by the end of this year.”

DEP has committed more than $60 million to the Rockaway Wastewater Treatment Plant over the next five years. Since 2002, the City has invested more than $5 billion to upgrade its 14 wastewater treatment plants. Because of these investments, DEP has achieved a number of milestones recently: reaching Citywide monthly average Clean Water Act secondary treatment standards for the first time ever—three years ahead of schedule; ending Federal probation and monitoring this past December 2009 that began in 2001; and agreeing to a historic nitrogen-reduction program for Jamaica Bay with the State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

 

 

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