Senate Bill S4557A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4557

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to direct the city of New York to conduct an analysis of stormwa-
ter and groundwater issues in southeast Queens

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would require New York City to conduct a detailed analysis of
stormwater and groundwater issues in Southeast Queens that, at a mini-
mum, evaluates: the feasibility and efficacy of the installation of
reverse seepage basins; the status of stormwater sewer upgrades; and the
potential rehabilitation of former water supply wells, In addition, a
report on the findings would be required to be submitted to the Legisla-
ture no later than June 30, 2023.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

New York City shall conduct a detailed analysis of stormwater and
groundwater issues in Southeast Queens.
              

 
EXISTING LAW:

New York City is not directed under existing law to perform such an
analysis.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

For one hundred years, from 1897 to 1996, Southwest Queens, NYC received
its drinking water from a private company, Jamaica Water Supply Co.
(JWS). That company had 69 wells from which it pumped 60 million gallons
of water per day from underground. Besides providing water for this
community, this pumping extracted water from the ground and kept the
standing water level at manageable levels. In 1996, New York City
purchased JWS and stopped pumping water from these wells. The water left
underground began rising at an alarming level. In testimony before a NY
City Council committee in September 2007, the Department of Environ-
mental Preservation Commissioner Emily Lloyd stated that the ground
water level in Jamaica, Queens had risen 35 feet since pumping of the
wells was discontinued in 1996. This rising level was flooding homes and
backing up in the existing sewer and hindering their effectiveness. Ms.
Lloyd stated that resolving the ground water' problem was "as imperative
as continuing to install sewers in Southeast Queens." DEP officials told
Southeast Queens residents in the early 2000's they would face severe
flooding if this water was not pumped out of the ground.

Those rising water levels are now flooding large parts of Southern
Queens, where the standing water level is now higher than many basements
or lower level offices. As a result York College (CUNY) pump's :hundreds
of thousands of gallons of water per' day from its lower levels; the
Parsons Blvd. subway gets flooded; the Jamaica MTA Bus Depot gets flood-
ed (rain or shine); PS37, Springfield Gardens, The Allen Senior Housing
Complex, Carter Community Church, Queens Bridge Home and other locations
are running electric pumps in their basements 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week to get rid of the water constantly invading their premises. This is
in addition to hundreds of homes and businesses throughout Southeast
Queens that are forced to run electric pumps to remove basement flooding
and have had their home or businesses literally ruined by the rising
water levels.

In the summer of 2011, NYC DEP awarded a contract to begin pumping water
from the JWS wells in 2018. At that time NYC must shut down the Delaware
Water Tunnel which supplies a large share of New York City's water. NYC
considers this well water to be part of their plan to replace the water
supplied by the Delaware system. However, NYC has refused to bring any
of these wells on line earlier, even though they are fully aware of the
flood damage throughout South Queens. They also know that pumping or
extracting the ground water is the key to reducing the water level and
easing the flooding plaguing the area.

Additionally, NYC sued Exxon-Mobil on the grounds that their operations
in Southeast Queens had damaged the ground water in the area. NYC won a
judgment for $104 million, which is being appealed by Exxon. Five other
oil companies sued by NYC because of damage to the ground water in
Southeast Queens settled with the city for an additional $15 million.
The community's position is that NYC was awarded this money based on
damage to the Southeast Queens water supply and the money should be used
to resolve the problem that this water is now creating for the residents
and businesses in Southeast Queens.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2015 SENATE: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

2016 SENATE: REFERRED TO CITIES

2017 SENATE: REFERRED TO CITIES

2018 SENATE: ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

2019 SENATE: REFERRED TO CITIES 2020 REFERRED TO CITIES

2020 SENATE: REFERRED TO CITIES

2021 SENATE: REFERRED TO CITIES

2021 ASSEMBLY: PASSED ASSEMBLY

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

De minimus

 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.