Posted on February 2, 2017
By Graham Rayman, NY Daily News
Something is rotten in the state of Flushing Bay, Queens.
Residents in part of the bay near the World’s Fair Marina at Grand Central Expressway and Astoria Blvd. have long complained of strong odors emanating from the bay caused by rotten sediment.
But the city Department of Environmental Protection has begun a $34 million dredging project to get rid of the rotten egg smell.
Contractors will also remove deteriorating timber piles, an abandoned pier and non-native trees. The city expects to finish later this year.
Contractors will also do work to expand the wetlands and replant the area.
DEP Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza said the project will improve the quality of life for locals. Elected officials applauded the move.
“This project is vital to improving the vicinity and an important component to protecting our ecosystem,” state Sen. Jose Peralta said in a statement.
Assembly Member Michael Simanowitz said the project is a “great overdue relief to the community.”
“Not only do we benefit from the removal of harmful sediment and pervasive odors, but wetland expansion is a win for our environment,” he said.
DEP officials said long-reach excavators located on barges will dredge 91,000 cubic yards of sediment over the 17.5-acre area.
The 78 deteriorated timber piles, the pier and the non-native trees will also be removed in part to improve views along one part of the 1.4-mile-long Flushing Bay Promenade, officials said.
Three acres of wetland, including mudflats and marsh, which filters the water, will be rebuilt, officials said.
During the work, a curtain will be installed to isolate the area from the rest of the bay, officials said.
The sediment will be transferred elsewhere for disposal, officials said.
The operation won’t restrict boat-owners’ access to the marina.
DEP is in the midst of other projects aimed at improving Flushing Bay, including a $132 million construction of 400 new catch basins and almost 12 miles of new sanitary and storm sewers.
The work will allow the decommissioning of three sewer outfalls, which will end the 50 million gallons of sewer overflow that flows into the bay each year.
A $33 million project is underway to upgrade five important junction points that will reduce sewer overflows by another 225 million gallons each year.
In addition, DEP is building hundreds of specially designed curbside rain gardens, which store flood water and release it slowly into the ground, in the vicinity of Flushing Bay.
The dredging of Flushing Bay is part of an agreement between New York City and New York State, officials said.
Source: NY Daily News
