World Trade Center document custody notice, Law Department

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

« TH E DIGEST [issue number Three. September 2 0 0 3 From Commissioner Ward Sawbmg Nbw York Crry's Waterways with Over the summer, DEP made significant progress in our THE BWT Marine Division mission to ensure that New York City's water remains DEP has a wide range ofresponsibilities - not only do we maintain the Qty's water distribution and dean and safe for ail New Yorkers. As you may know, the sewer systems, but we protect our watersheds, collect waisr and sewer fees from our customers. Oty is under direction from the US Environmental and respond to hazardous materials situations and air. noise, and asbestos complaints. DEP^ Protection Agency and the New York State Departments Bureau ofWastewater Treatment(BWT) is charged with handfing and processing New York Oty's of Environmental Conservation and Health to filter the U billion gallons per day of wastewater, and operates the Qty's 14 vrastewato' treatment plants Croton water supply, which delivers, on average, 10% of and 93 wastewater pumping stations throughout the five boroughs. In addition to operating the die City's drinking water. Qty's wastewater infrastructure. BWT is also responsible for maintaining foe high quality of the Our regulators have ruled that the Qty must filter its wateHiodiessurPbuftdfogNewYoritaty; - Croton supply - the City's other water supply, the 8WTs Marine Division operates a fleet of I *-1’'-j ‘f

Catskill/Delaware, received a Filtration Avoidance vessels that perform a number pf duties, | ' 4 ' " Determination (FAD) from the ERA last November - due including monitoring harbor water quality. I v to concerns about long-term public health ride, as well as surveying the shoreline for combined sewage SbsgJB seasonally occurring color and taste deficiencies in the water. To remedy these deficiencies and provide dean outflow, and transporti ng sludge to dewater- ingfecil'ities. £ water from the Croton system in perpetuity. DEP will con­ Sines 1909. New York Qty has beet mow- V'X*'" struct a filtration plant for the Croton supply; years of envi­ toring tile water quality of foe New York ronmental studies indicate filtration combined with strong Harbor. Monitoring technique have p--------—f^sprey water^ied protection, is the best method to guarantee changed a great deal since then, but DEP’s ___________ safe, high-quality drinking water. ongoing anal>ws indicate that it keeps improving. In order to make sure that harbor water quality DEP is considering three different locations for the pro­ remains high, DEP monitors water at S3 different points along the Harbor, performing routine tests posed plant, two in the Bronx and one Westchester to measure a number ofwater quality indicators. The Marine Science Harbor Survey Program oper­ County. In June, the State Legislature passed a bill allowing ates two vessels that are dedicated to monitoring the Harbor's quality - one of the vessels, the Osfxre^, was custom-made for water quality sampling in New York Harbor. It contains a shipboards the Qty to alienate parkland under Mosholu Golf Course la^torytiiataequipped to meet all ofthe quality control and sampOng (continued on reverse in Van Cortlandt Park, thereby keeping Mosholu open as a siting possibility. In July. Governor Pataki signed the bill into law. This success was due to a truly tremendous effort on ■' An iNTERViEwwiTH: Keane UITCH,' ■ the part of many staff here at DEP. City Hall, and the sup­ ■ WB.,ONSOFKASSDESn.UCT1ONUNff.BK port of our partners in the construction trades. The New York Qty O^ortment of Envimrtmemal Proteetien Hazardous Ateeriols Response The Legislation requires that DEP prepare a Supplemental (HMRU)l^^dttestmrimastte<^hnical^atM^Haxl^MinNewyi>rkC^ Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) that will contain a DEP’s Bureau afSaence and jeefmeit^ in the J970’s, It arr&itfy orates under die BECs Div/sion of complete evaluation of the three potential sites. The Office Emergency Response and Technical AsseKmenc (DERTA). DERW is one ofthe most tsduucfOy accred­ Environmental Planning and Assessment is preparing the ited groups in die countryand continues to receive specialized training in the use ofhii^advaK.ed ins^ • SEIS with the assistance of our consultants, and we antici­ menBidonattliecutdngedgeoftschnotf^. lndielightafrecente»ints.DEIiTA^sNazMat Unit has pate that it will be completed by June 2004. at which time expanded to Indude die Weapons ofMt&s Destruction Group fWMD} widi particular emphasis on bkx we will be able to select the preferred location from the tes^anddteit^miffdrei^ddetiecdon.Tlmffoi^<riasddnswidivarioiB^id&dmu^outNi^ three sites currently under consideration. fork Oty induding NYPD, Bomb squad, end the Deparment ofHeddi. Keane is a member of As part of the State legislation. DEP has agreed to invest foe Weapons ofDestruction Unit in due Hazardous Materials divi^ ofBEC $205 million in park-related improvements for the Bronx to mitigate the impacts of constructing the plant in a public YooVe been worked at DEP for a while did you get your start with the Agency? ; park, if the plant is, in feet constructed at the Mo^u site. Kb I've been an official DEP employee for two years - but 1 actually worked for DEP while I was“« Though the plant will be underground, the construction college. I spent two years as a summer intern in the organic lab, 1 studied biochemistry, which means period of 5 - 6 years will be inconvenient for neighboring there are basically two options to pursue: medicne or pharmaceuticals -1 ended up working fora communities and park users. vitamin manufecturer on Long Island and a pharmaceutical company in New jersey for a while spe- Qty water infrastructure and parks projects have often cializingin inhalation formulations. When 1 first graduated from college, though, my DEP supervisor been related or conjoined, but this mitigation package had suggested I interview with Hazardous Materials. I did. and two yea« later they gave me a call!: presents a real opportunity for the Qty to create a green legacy for the Bronx at the same time we improve the qual­ Kb I started with the Right-t>Know group. Basically, Right-toKnow keeps databases of aU the fe* ity of Croton water for ail New Yorkers. ities in the Qty that store hazardous materials, and what materials are stored in them, as if there's Very truly yours. an emergency at one of the buildings, responders know immediately what substances they're deal­ ing with. They also keep records of ride management plans on file for large feclities, ' ’ ' ' ■ . ' - (centinuedonnsverse.,./^

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