Representatives from the offices of three southeast Queens politicians piled into a white 15-passenger van on a humid morning last week and headed for Staten Island.
Accompanied by officials from the city's Department of Environmental Protection, the group was off for a tour Friday of Staten Island's "Bluebelt," a network of "best management practices" put in place by the city to help mitigate storm water pollution and flooding.| |
"It's much more challenging in Queens," said Dana Gumb, the director of the Staten Island Bluebelt, when asked what the Jamaica officials could learn from the work DEP has done on Staten Island. "The density is much more intense and the sewer system is already built."
Gumb explained that there are simply more people, houses and concrete in southeast Queens than there are in Staten Island, making projects to control storm water much more difficult.
In Staten Island, DEP benefited from an abundance of city-owned property that was used in developing the Bluebelt project, Gumb said. In addition, the Bluebelt was developed in conjunction with the area's sewer system, allowing city engineers to specifically tailor the BMPs to the new sanitary and storm water sewers that were being built.
DEP does not have this luxury in southeast Queens, where the high-water table leads to frequent flooding. The city is also in the process of creating a plan to nurse Jamaica Bay back to health and it is believed easing the strain on the area's sewer system would reduce pollution in the bay. When the storm sewer is taxed, it overflows in the sanitary system and the overflow is discharged into the bay.
The Staten Island Bluebelt - developed in the late 1990s - located in southern Staten Island, uses natural drainage corridors, including streams, ponds and wetlands to store and filter storm water.
Because there is little land the city can acquire in Jamaica where BMPs could be implemented, Gumb explained that DEP is working with the Parks Department to implement storm water plans in existing parks.
A proposal to open wetlands on 147th Avenue in order to filter the water going into the lake at Springfield Park is already in the design phase. The 147th Avenue floods severely when it rains.
"This will reduce flooding tremendously," Gumb said.
The city is also looking at potential projects in Baisley Pond Park and Brookville Park, DEP officials said.
The second stop on the tour was a "sand filter" located at the corner of Boyle Place and Nugent Street. James Rossi, another DEP official, said storm water is diverted through the sand, cleaning it of toxins. He said this particular BMP could be extremely useful in Jamaica, because it doesn't require much space.
"This works in tight spaces," Rossi said. "You can improve water quality in a narrow area."
The southeast Queens officials nodded, then made their way back to the van for the trip to the next stop.
