Residents in the northwestern part of Astoria have long been forced to endure stenches of varying intensity, thanks to the all-important Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. But their long, olfactory nightmare may be over at last, now that the Department of Environmental Protection has finally added covers to its four sludge tanks. What will they think of next?
The DEP and City Council Member Costa Constantinides announced today that the $3 million project to install "aluminum covers and odor control units" has been completed. A press release explains that "the $3 million project ensures that nuisance odors emanating from the wastewater treatment plant are captured by the new aluminum covers and removed through an activated carbon filtration process. Work on the project began in 2015 and was completed by Memorial Day."
DEP Acting Commissioner Steven Lawitts said, "Wastewater treatment is a vital process that safeguards the environment and protects public health, and we also work hard to ensure that we are good neighbors to those who live and work in the neighborhoods that surround our plants,. The completed odor control upgrades at the Bowery Bay facility will directly benefit the residents of northern Queens and I want to thank Council Member Costa Constantinides for the time, energy and efforts he and his staff devoted to partnering with DEP on addressing this important environmental concern."
Constantinides said, "As lifetime residents of the neighborhood, my family and I have too much experience with the odor from the Bowery Bay Plant. The new aluminum tank covers and odor control units will help improve the quality of life for all families in the area. Eliminating most of the odor that comes from the plant is a major benefit for our community. I thank DEP for partnering together with us on this $3 million upgrade project and working to complete it on time."
NYC has 14 wastewater treatment plants across the city, and the DEP explains that it "works to limit their impact on the surrounding neighborhoods."
At the Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, there are four holding tanks that have the capacity to store a combined 550,000 cubic feet of sludge. The aluminum covers, which are up to 85 feet wide, capture any nuisance odor and each dual-bed carbon canister filter cleanses up to 21,742 cubic feet of air per minute. The carbon filters capture and absorb the odorous hydrogen sulfide gas molecules produced during the wastewater treatment and sludge digestion process. The City College of New York will work with DEP to document the performance of the carbon filters.
The Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, which went into operation in 1939, treats 150 million gallons of wastewater every day and serves 850,000 residents in northwestern Queens.
