Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island - “2024 Newtown Creek CSO Storage Tunnel Modification”

Public Notice

"2024 Newtown Creek CSO Storage Tunnel Modification" to the Order on Consent between the City of New York (NYC) and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), DEC Case No. CO2-20000107-8, a.k.a. NYC CSO Order.

Counties: New York (Manhattan), Richmond (Staten Island), Kings (Brooklyn), Bronx (Bronx) and Queens (Queens)

Lead Agency: NYS DEC - Division of Water, Albany

Deadline for Questions:
Questions regarding the 2024 Newtown Creek CSO Storage Tunnel Modification must be submitted by December 13, 2024 to the contact listed below.

Brief Description:

The NYC CSO Order was executed between NYS DEC and NYC DEP in 2005 and has been modified several times since executed. The NYC CSO Order includes various milestones and projects associated with the abatement of Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) within New York City. NYS DEC and NYC DEP have identified desired changes to the NYC CSO Order. Pursuant to Paragraphs XVI.A and D.3 of the NYC CSO Order, NYS DEC is required to publicly notice "[i]n the event of a substantive and significant modification to the construction compliance schedules provided for in this Order." This notification outlines the specific changes under the 2024 Newtown Creek CSO Storage Tunnel Modification and the rationale for the changes.

Appendix A, VIII. Newtown Creek CSO

Current Milestones:

E. Borden Avenue Pump Station Expansion
1. Initiate Final Design - July 2021
2. Design Completion - December 2024*
3. Notice to Proceed to Completion - September 2025*
4. Construction Completion - September 2029*

F. 62.5% CSO Storage Tunnel
1. Initiate Final Design - August 2022
2. Design Completion - December 2028*
3. Notice to Proceed to Completion - December 2029*
4. Construction Completion - December 2040*

Proposed Milestones:

E. Borden Avenue Pump Station Expansion - DELETE
1. Initiate Final Design - July 2021
2. Design Completion - December 2024*
3. Notice to Proceed to Completion - September 2025*
4. Construction Completion - September 2029*

F. 62.5% CSO Storage Tunnel - DELETE
1. Initiate Final Design - August 2022
2. Design Completion - December 2028*
3. Notice to Proceed to Completion - December 2029*
4. Construction Completion - December 2040*

G. 54-Inch Gravity Interceptor and Diversion(1)
1. Initiate Final Design - Completed
2. Final Design Completion Including CPM Analysis - September 2027
3. Notice to Proceed to Construction - June 2028
4. Construction Completion - December 2031

H. 50 MG CSO Storage Tunnel (BB-026, NC-015, NC-077, and NC-083)
1. Initiate Final Design - Completed
2. Design Completion - December 2028
3. Notice to Proceed to Completion - December 2029
4. Construction Completion - December 2040

New Footnote:
(1) The New York City Department of Design and Construction has informed NYC DEP that additional time may be needed to complete designs due to ULURP being required to acquire property at the BB-026 site to construct diversion structure for both the existing project and proposed modification.

Background on Changes:

In June 2018, NYS DEC approved the 2017 Newtown Creek Combined Sewer Overflow Long-Term Control Plan (LTCP). The Newtown Creek LTCP included two projects: 1) an expansion of the Borden Avenue pump station by 26 million gallons per day to capture CSOs from outfall BB-026, and 2) construction of a new CSO storage tunnel to capture 62.5% of the CSOs from outfalls, NC-015, NC-077, and NC-083 (estimated size was 39 million gallons) on an annual basis. In July 2021, NYCDEP began design of the Borden Avenue pump station expansion, and in August 2022, NYCDEP began design of the CSO storage tunnel, in accordance with the CSO Order milestones.

In 2024, NYC DEP proposed to NYS DEC changes to the approved LTCP projects, which entailed elimination of the Borden Avenue pump station expansion and an upsizing of the CSO storage tunnel from the originally estimated capacity of 39 million gallons to 50 million gallons. The larger CSO storage tunnel would capture CSOs from the four largest CSO outfalls to the waterbody, outfalls NC-015, NC-077, and NC-083 which were included under the original CSO storage tunnel project, as well as BB-026, which was included under the Borden Avenue pump station expansion project.

NYC DEP and NYS DEC conducted technical discussions to confirm the feasibility of the proposed changes, as well as the projected impacts to attainment with water quality standards. Based on these discussions, NYS DEC confirmed that the elimination of the Borden Avenue pump station expansion and the upsizing of the CSO storage tunnel would result in slightly more CSO capture and slightly better attainment with water quality standards within Newtown Creek compared to the original LTCP projects. In addition, the proposed modifications would eliminate the displacement of about 100 million gallons of CSO from Newtown Creek to the East River.

Although the proposed modifications to the LTCP projects result in more CSO capture and improved attainment with water quality standards, these benefits will not be realized until the CSO storage tunnel is completed in 2040. The benefits of the Borden Avenue pump station expansion from reducing CSOs to Dutch Kills would have been realized sooner. To compensate for these delayed benefits, NYS DEC requested that NYCDEP identify an interim project to provide nearer term benefits for the Dutch Kills. NYC DEP proposed the construction of a 54-inch gravity interceptor from outfall BB-026 to the Borden Avenue pump station, which will result in about 20 million gallons per year of CSO reduction to Dutch Kills and be completed by December 2031. NYS DEC determined that this interim project provided reasonable nearer term benefits for Dutch Kills.

In conjunction with the technical discussions with NYC DEP, NYS DEC also confirmed with United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Region 2 that the proposed changes to the Newtown Creek LTCP projects are consistent with the Newtown Creek Superfund Site Operable Unit 2 Record of Decision. Therefore, NYS DEC believes that the elimination of the Borden Avenue pump station expansion, the upsizing of the CSO storage tunnel to 50 million gallons, and the addition of the 54-inch gravity interceptor for BB-026 is preferred compared to the original LTCP projects because they will result in more CSO capture and improved attainment with water quality standards over the long-term.

Document Availability: Hard copies of the 2005 CSO Order and approved modifications are available for public review at the following offices of NYS DEC and NYC DEP:

Ryan Waldron
NYS DEC - Division of Water
Bureau of Water Compliance
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY 12233-3506

Selvin Southwell
NYS DEC - Region 2 Office
Division of Water
47-40 21st Street
Long Island City, NY 11101

Diana Dellafiora
NYC DEP - Bureau of Legal Affairs
59-17 Junction Boulevard
Flushing, NY 11373

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