DEP Biweekly Reports Folder 0049, 2000-2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document - -- - ---

PEP has expended a great deal of effort to acquire land in Kansico. The City already controls 50% of the approximately 8,400 acres in the basin (including the reservoir). An additional 1,000 sores of land were deemed eligible for acquisition under the Watershed Memorandum of Agreement DEP has solicited owners of those acres and currently is working on deals for approximately 200 acres. Much of the land is prime, central Westchester real estate in the hands of wealthy individuals or large corporate or institutional owners. These owners are not highly motivated to sell and may be able to afford to hold on to the land (and pay taxes on it) with the expectation that land values In the area will only increase. Nonetheless, the City has diligently pursued acquisition of as marry acres as possible and I have been personally involved in making appeals to the landowners.

Wastewater Diversion (Westchester and Putnam Counties) t Under the terms of the Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), Westchester and Putnam Counties are considering options for-diverting some or all of the effluent from the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPa) in the City's watershed out of the watershed. Both Counties proceeded with city funded studies of this matter and each County is now actively considering a diversion option. Putnam County Executive Bondi is attempting to advance a plan to divert all 38 WWTPs in the watershed in Putnam to a discharge point on the Hudson River. This ambitious plan would involve piping the treated effluent from each of the existing plants many miles out of the watershed. A consultant to the County has estimated the cost of this project to be $100 million. Under the MOA, the City gave the County $30 million which could be used for diversion; with interest that fund has grown to approximately $35 million. If these facilities are diverted, the City would save the cost of upgrading them to tertiary treatment, a City commitment under the MOA. This savings is estimated to be $65 million. Under the MOA, the City is required to put those savings toward the cost of an overall diversion project. The County has requested that the City commit funds toward the operation and maintenance of the diverted plants, not a requirement of the MOA, DEP is considering that request, but in return has sought the elimination of the 10% growth credit specified in the MOA (for every ten gallons of wastewater diverted the County could get one gallon toward construction of a new WWTP in otherwise restricted areas). The City has also requested restrictions on the future expansion of the WWTPs to be diverted. DEP staff continues to discuss these issues with the County Executive's office. It should be noted that there is some question whether the County Executive will be able to get the County Legislature to agree to the growth restriction requested by the City. This project would not move forward without the ultimate approval from the County Legislature. DEP has been engaged in discussions with Westchester regarding a smaller diversion project for nearly a year. Under the plan, three facilities would be diverted, including the Yorktown WWTP, a large facility with a history of severe operational problems. The Yorktown WWTP would be diverted to a County-owned WWTP in Peekskill. The other two facilities would be diverted to a pump station in Mount Kisco and ultimately to a County-owned plant in Yonkers. At the time the MOA was signed, Westchester was given $38 million that could be used for diversion; with interest, the County now has approximately $45 million. As in Putnam, the MOA binds the City to devote the savings from avoiding a WW'l'p upgrade to diversion; this could amount to approximately an additional S15 million. The costs of the contemplated diversion project are estimated to be in the S12 million to $25 million range, depending upon the specific details of the chosen project and who provides the estimate.

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