December 11, 2019

Good Morning, Chair Constantinides and members of the Committee on Environmental Protection. Thank you for inviting us here to today to discuss “Challenges in Managing the Department of Environmental Protection Wastewater Infrastructure.” DEP operates and maintains the City’s vast water and wastewater infrastructure, from the dams and reservoirs located more than one hundred miles from the City, to the fourteen wastewater resource recovery facilities spread throughout the five boroughs. The distribution and collection system includes the longest continuous tunnel in the world and more than 7,500 miles of sewers, equivalent to a pipe stretching from City Hall to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska and back.

I am glad to be here to discuss this important topic, particularly in light of the sewer blockage that caused so much damage in southeast Queens just over a week ago. Homeowners, their families, and their tenants impacted by that blockage have endured a real calamity, and we are sorry for the tremendous disruption, especially during a Holiday weekend. My staff and our agency colleagues have been working around-the-clock since the morning of November 30^th to ensure that we:

• Connect with homeowners to identify and address critical needs;
• Identify and address the cause of the sewer blockage located deep beneath the 150th Street overpass abutment;
• Install and maintain multiple bypass pumps to move wastewater around the blockage;
• Pump out flooded basements;
• Clean impacted homes;
• Provide air quality monitoring throughout the neighborhood;
• Wash down streets and clear debris; and
• Install new boilers and hot water heaters for those who have been without heat and hot water.

This work will not stop until the job is done.

Sewer Infrastructure Maintenance

During the de Blasio Administration, significant additional DEP resources have been authorized for inspecting and cleaning sewers and drainage infrastructure. As reported in the annual Mayor’s Management Report, sewer blockages have dropped considerably—by 48%—between FY13 and FY19. On an average day, we physically inspect more than 9,000 feet of sewers. More than 600 miles of sewer were cleaned of debris in 2018. More than two-thirds of this was pro-active maintenance cleaning.

Data about sewer maintenance are presented in DEP’s annual State of the Sewers report, which is posted on our website, and additional information is provided annually to the City Council regarding maintenance of sewer catch basins.

I know that questions have been raised about the age the City’s water and sewer infrastructure, and I would like to address these concerns. As is well documented in the industry, age alone is not a good indicator of replacement requirements. Material compositions, subsurface conditions, construction techniques, and traffic all impact longevity. DEP engineers use a sophisticated asset management tool to determine when water and sewer pipes need replacement. We typically allocate $1B each year in our capital improvement plan for pipe replacement and upgrades. We are always mindful that this funding comes almost exclusively from property owners who pay a water bill, so we must be efficient in our daily work and use analytics for our capital planning.

Sewer Blockage in Queens

As everyone here is aware, during the weekend of November 30 to December 1, a large sewer became partially blocked in southeast Queens. These types of back-ups are very rare, which is indicative of how diligently DEP crews maintain our 7,500 miles of sewer infrastructure, 95 sewage pumping stations, and our fourteen treatment plants that handle 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater on a dry weather day and up to 3.8 billion gallons when it rains. I know there are many questions about how events unfolded on Saturday and how the city has responded, so I would like to take a few minutes to provide a rundown of everything that has happened.

Timeline

Between 3:30am and 6am, seven calls were made to 311 by residents in South Ozone Park reporting sewage backing up into their basements or cellars. At 7:55am, a DEP crew in a flusher/degreaser truck arrived at 146^th Street and Sutter Avenue. They worked for about an hour to clear that pipe.

By 10am, a total of twelve calls were received by 311, and DEP supervisors recognized that the issue was not localized but area-wide. More crews were dispatched. As the investigation progressed through late morning, DEP staff determined that a blockage outside of the neighborhood in a sewer further downstream could be the cause. They eventually traced the blockage to a 42-inch sanitary sewer located south of the eastbound South Conduit Avenue.

The blockage was also unfortunately in a section of pipe that is beneath the bridge abutment for the 150th Street overpass, which spans South Conduit Avenue, the Belt Parkway, and North Conduit Avenue. DEP tried to clear the blockage by lowering equipment through access chambers that had been installed in the abutment by the New York State Department of Transportation in 1987, when it constructed the Nassau Expressway and built a section of connecting sewer beneath the abutment.

As Saturday progressed, it became apparent that trying to clear the blockage through the abutment was only marginally successful, and that a deep excavation would be required. Recognizing the engineering challenges of excavating at this difficult location, DEP crews began deploying large pumps to convey wastewater from the neighborhood around the blockage. DEP teams also began providing assistance to residents to help pump out their flooded basements. That bypass system has been successful in pumping more than 10 million gallons of wastewater each day to sewers that are not affected by the blockage.

Regarding the excavation, two lanes of South Conduit Avenue have been closed for the last nine days as work progresses. In addition to the difficult location, groundwater has also been a challenge. DEP has hired a contractor to install two large, deep wells in the proximity of the excavation to lower the water table in that location. DEP has been working closely with New York State DOT engineers to monitor the bridge abutment for any movement to insure its structural stability.

DEP engineers have concurrently been evaluating whether to simply abandon this section of sewer, given its inaccessibility. It’s unclear why 1980s DEP allowed the State to build highway and sewer infrastructure that has extremely limited access. Today, we require 15-foot surface easements when public sewers are constructed by governmental entities. We are evaluating the benefit of building a new section of sewer around the bridge abutment.

Since this incident began, there have been between 80 and 150 DEP personnel in the affected area each day. I want to thank them for their dedication and hard work during this time. I also want to thank the staff from NYCEM, CERT, DOHMH, FDNY, NYPD, DOT, HPD the Comptroller’s office, and the Red Cross who have been working with residents in the area.

Support Services

It is often said that City Agencies are unable to coordinate with one another, I am proud to say that this has not been the case over the past week and a half. I want to thank Commissioner Criswell and the staff at the NYC Department of Emergency Management who have worked so closely with my team to provide critical services to the community. I also want to thank the American Red Cross who has managed a Reception Center since November 30^th, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), who have been supporting the community. We have all worked together to share data, update processes, and connect with homeowners.

A suite of services is available for all affected residents and homeowners.

• The Red Cross continues to provide shelter to anyone who could not stay in their home following the backup, as well as sanitary cleaning kits and other services to meet immediate needs.
• The city is providing professional cleaning services and is replacing damaged boilers, furnaces, and hot water heaters in impacted homes.
• DEP and DOHMH have deployed air quality monitoring equipment at homeowner’s request and have confirmed normal air quality readings at each location.
• The Comptroller’s office has been helping people with water damage claim reimbursement forms, and has promised to expedite processing all claims related to this incident.

My staff, as well as staff from NYCEM and volunteers from the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), canvassed the affected area multiple times throughout the week knocking on doors and handing out flyers to ensure that homeowners could connect to critical resources. I thank all of the people who have been helping reach residents in the last week and a half.

Finally, I want to reiterate how sorry we are that this has happened and assure city residents that incidents of this scale are exceedingly rare. The city is dedicated to assisting all affected residents recover from this flooding. DEP is taking responsibility for the damages caused by the sewer back-up.

Canvassers knocked on every door whithin a day or two of the incident—many more than three times. If you believe that you have been affected but you have not connected with city services yet, please reach out. The reception center is still open and we will continue to provide assistance for anyone in need. We will not stop until everyone is back in a safe and livable home.