NYC's CSO LONG Term Control Plans
What's Being Done to Address Combined Sewer Overflows in NYC?
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is required to develop CSO Long Term Control Plans (LTCPs) to reduce the overflows that discharge into high-priority NYC waterbodies (listed below). So far, DEP has submitted ten LTCPs, available here, to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Nine of the plans have already been approved by DEC. Scroll down to see status of each plan and fact sheets for each waterway.
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2020/21 Note: As of early 2020, the city has issued notifications to the state regarding delays in some of these plans due to the pandemic. Some of the plans for disinfection facilities are on hold, some holding tank projects are also on hold. The most recent CSO quarterly report contains details on these delays and here is a link to an article about some of the potential delays. SWIM and partners continue to monitor these program and keep the public informed on status of the plans through our quarterly public meetings and e-blasts.
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The City's proposed CSO Long Term Control Plans will not make our waterways safe for recreational activities!
SWIM Coalition is calling for the plans to be improved! As they stand right now, once the proposed plans are completed (decades from now), they will leave hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage overflows in each waterbody annually, on dozens of occasions per year, totaling ~18 billion gallons per year. Many of the plans do not reduce overflow volume at all and instead call for diverting raw sewage into the East River or dumping chlorine into the raw sewage before discharging it to rivers, creeks, and bays.
SWIM sent a letter to the State advising them NOT to approve the LTCP's. Here is a link to our letter.
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Important Facts ABOUT THE CITY'S CSO Long Term Control PlanS:
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Fact Sheet on All of New York City's CSO Long Term Control Plans to date
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Public health not protected
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Too much raw sewage overflow
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Proposed chlorination rather than reduction of sewage in some waters
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Plans not integrated to address stormwater from NYC municipal separate storm sewer system
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Plans based on out of date water quality criteria and don't consider climate projections
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YOU CAN TAKE ACTION TOO!! Click here to send a message to our elected officials letting them know NYC needs to stop sewage overflows into waterways where New Yorkers swim, wade, boat and fish!
Approval Status of Each ltcp:
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Map of Waterways
Citywide/Open Waters LTCP:
This plan is slated to address the 11 billion gallons of CSO overflows that are discharged annually into the East River, Hudson River, Harlem River, Upper and Lower New York Harbor, Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill, the western portion of Long Island Sound and the many inlets and embayments that line these waters.
The plan is due to the State DEC for review in March 2020. For more information on the city's latest proposal for this plan, click here.
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Alley Creek & Little Neck Bay
LTCP approved by DEC, March 2017
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Bronx River
LTCP approved by DEC, March 2017
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Coney Island Creek
LTCP Approved by DEC, April 2018
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Flushing Bay & Creek
LTCP approved by DEC, March 2017
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Gowanus Canal
LTCP approved by DEC, March 2017
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Hutchinson River
LTCP approved by DEC, March 2017
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Jamaica Bay
Pending DEC Approval
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Newtown Creek
LTCP Approved by DEC, July 2018
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Westchester Creek
LTCP approved by DEC, August 2017
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Long Island
Sound
Jamaica Bay
SWIM Coalition is actively engaging stakeholders
SWIM has organized and participated in a series of community workshops and meetings near the ten waterways that have a CSO Long Term Control Plan (LTCP). We make sure that the public and waterway stewards have information about the plans, know how they can participate in the development of the plans and understand how the plans will impact their communities for generations to come.
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SWIM's Clean Water Steward Handbook outlines the purpose of LTCP's and takes a deep dive into what's at stake and why it is important for local stakeholders to get involved in the development of the plans by attending the City’s public meetings and asking important questions about how the plans will provide water quality improvements.
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SWIM Coalition Members are advocating for stronger LTCPs
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SWIM Coalition member delegations have met with the New York City Council Committee for Environmental Protection and the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability and NYC DEP to convey our concerns about the City’s LTCPs and the coinciding Green Infrastructure Plan. That fact is: the plans do not do enough to reduce stormwater runoff or combined sewer overflow volume.
SWIM and our allies have sent public comment letters to the State Dept. of Environmental Conservation calling on them NOT to approve the City's proposed CSO Long Term Control Plans. See our blog post about this here.
In June 2017, nine SWIM Coalition member organizations came together to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - which oversees the LTCP approval process - for lax oversight of NYC’s waters. The lawsuit argues that the EPA has not enforced its own ruling that New York State must, by 2015, switch to a more scientifically accurate bacteria-indicator standard for assessing water quality. Not only has the State not adopted more effective scientific testing, it has not required the City to use these more modern standards in their development of the CSO Long Term Control Plans. In other words: New York City’s plans to handle sewer and stormwater overflows are based on outdated water-quality assessment methodology!
Coalition members are working with their elected officials and calling on the City to improve the LTCPs, implement more green infrastructure, and modernize its water-quality assessment standards.
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New Yorkers are SPeaking up
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SWIM Coalition members and advocates from around the City recently testified at a City Council public hearing on the City's Wastewater Infrastructure. See our blog post about the hearing here.
And here is a link to SWIM's testimony.
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Some advocates are getting creative! The Gowanus Canal Conservancy and Newtown Creek Alliance have obtained the City’s approval to implement catch basin stenciling programs in Brooklyn and Queens. The stencils, pictured right, warn people against pouring toxins down storm drains.
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SWIM Coalition supported the 2017 launch of the Waterfront Alliance Harbor Scorecard, which provides information - and a score - for each waterbody in NYC to inform citizens about the health of their local waterways.
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SWIM and our allies have sent public comment letters to the State Dept. of Environmental Conservation calling on them NOT to approve the City's proposed CSO Long Term Control Plans. See our blog post about this here.
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What comes next?
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SWIM will continue our campaign to ensure that the City's plans to improve water quality in NYC's waterways meet federal health standards for safe contact and recreation.
Follow our blog for the latest information, including registration information for important public meetings.
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Image: Newtown Creek Alliance catch basin stencil
SWIM members at City Hall (during the launch of the WFA Harbor Scorecard) calling for the City and State to do better in cleaning up our waterways!!