DEP promises full accounting of cost overruns

At filtration plant meeting

By Manny Grossman

Amidst accusations of incompetence and poor stewardship of the environment, the city Department of Environmental Protection was on the hot seat at last week's Croton Filtration Plant Monitoring Committee meeting.

Faced with the possibility of a City Council investigation into cost overruns, the DEP has promised to come back to next month's meeting with a full cost breakdown of the $2.8 billion project. The agency also pledged to take a serious look at how it will deal with the hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater it dumps into local sewers every day.

A packed house greeted the monitoring committee on Sept. 20, with attendees ranging from bitter opponents of the project to boisterous union officials and workers who most definitely favor the plant's construction.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz explained to the committee his belief that it is time for the city to investigate the process by which the plant came to be sited in Van Cortlandt Park, and "why it is costing so much."

He alleged that "the original cost estimate showing it was cheaper to build in the Bronx was untrue, and that [the cost of] the Eastview site [in northern Westchester] was inflated," to show it was cheaper to build in the Bronx.

The city's Independent Budget Office released its cost estimates last April. Their numbers show the plant will cost approximately $2.8 billion, "virtually identical to the numbers we put out three months ago," Mr. Dinowitz said. He told The Press that he has handed a package of materials outlining his case against DEP to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

City Councilman Oliver Koppell "shared Assemblyman's Dinowitz's concerns," and said, "I have had substantial reservations about siting the plant in the park, and some of these have unfortunately come to fruition."

The DEP was then grilled on the ground water and storm water it is dumping - and expects to dump indefinitely - into local sewers.

Steve Lawitts, first deputy commissioner of the DEP, said that "naturally there was going to be groundwater at the site, and this was always in the planning. Generally there is only 100,000 gallons being dumped on a dry day, and even at 1.2 million gallons a day [when it rains heavily], this is "less than one-tenth of one percent" of what the sewer system can handle.

This was not acceptable, however, to Bronx Parks Commissioner Hector Aponte, who asked for "consideration for using the water in some way when the plant is finished." He suggested using the water to clean city trucks, or to fill street sweepers. "Parks wants this water," he said.

When he said this, a chorus of agreement went up among the committee and the audience. Community Board 8 Chairman Tony Cassino, who sits on the monitoring committee said, "we should find a way to use this water."

Saul Scheinbach, chair of Community Board 8's sanitation and environment committee said, "this agency's middle name is 'environmental.' This agency should not be contributing to pollution. If we as laymen can come up with solutions [for the groundwater], it boggles my mind that this agency of experts cannot find a creative way to deal with the problem."

Mr. Lawitts said that the DEP's long-term plan is to continue dumping the water in the sewer, but "we are looking at alternatives and will come back next month" with those.

Also attending the meeting were representatives from the various contractors working on the plant. Skanska, the general contractor, sent a representative, as did Schlessinger Electric and Center Sheetmetal. They all pledged to find as many workers from the Bronx as possible.

Representatives from the various unions working on the project gave presentations as well. They were grilled on the number of Bronx-based workers on the job.

Mr. Scheinbach said, "to date, this project has not topped 25 percent of Bronx workers."

While the union officials pledged to try to find as many Bronx workers as possible, Mr. Donohue, who was speaking for the Sandhogs union said, "My union is made up of miners. There's not many miners in the Bronx." The other unions present shared this sentiment, and they made it clear that although they would try their best to find Bronx workers, they said the monitoring committee shouldn't have "unrealistic expectations."

Finally, the issue of using Jerome Park Reservoir as an accessible park for community residents was brought up.

"Why can't we have better access?" asked Mr. Cassino.

Mr. Lawitts said that continuing security concerns make it not "prudent" that the public be given access to the reservoir. As far as the DEP is concerned, he said that is a "done deal."

This is part of the September 27, 2007 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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