The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Design and Construction (DDC) have completed the largest ever expansion of the Staten Island Bluebelt, an artificial wetland system which helps manage stormwater and reduce localized flooding. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has accepted DEP's Certification of Completed Construction for the $5 billion Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade. NYC tap water was awarded the top prize at the 2017 Regional Tap Water Taste Contest held at the American Museum of Natural History. Water-saving automatic shut-off timers and activation buttons have been installed on 400 spray showers at City playgrounds.
Integral pieces of the $30 million tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will be used to repair a leak in the 85-mile-long Delaware Aqueduct have begun to arrive in Newburgh. Earlier this year, the machine was named Nora after trailblazing suffragist and engineer Nora Stanton Blatch Deforest Barney. 135 young people participated in the 2017 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) summer internship program. Sheep have been deployed to Rondout Reservoir to help maintain the facility's grassy fields after peviously having been stationed at Neversink Dam.
After 10 years of outreach through the Hydrant Education Action Team (HEAT) program, reports of illegally opened hydrants have fallen by more than 60 percent. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined with Council Member Andy King to distribute rain barrels to approximately 100 Bronx homeowners from the Wakefield, Olinville, Edenwald, Eastchester, Williamsbridge, Baychester, and Co-op City neighborhoods. Ground was broken on a project to convert an asphalt schoolyard at JHS 189Q in Flushing, Queens, to a playground with green infrastructure elements.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announces the Ashokan Century Program, a comprehensive $750 million project to upgrade infrastructure and facilities at the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County. Work will be performed on the main dam and dikes, spillway channel, and dividing weir bridge, as well as the Catskill Aqueduct headworks and chambers and a monument to J. Waldo Smith, the Chief Engineer of the original construction. Work continues on the Delaware Aqueduct Bypass Tunnel, with preparations in place for the start of tunnel boring. DEP joined local elected officials to distribute rainbarrels to around 320 homeowners on the South Shore of Staten Island.
July marks the 175th anniversary of the first delivery of water through New York City's Old Croton Aqueduct. The New York City Deparment of Environmental Protection (DEP) will begin a new groundwater drainage feasibility study in southeast Queens. Also in Queens, the DEP's Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations recently completed several drainage and flooding alleviation projects in the neighborhoods of St. Albans, Jamaica, South Jamaica, Laurelton and Rosedale. The New York City Chapter of Trout Unlimited planted nearly 150 native trees along Muscoot Reservoir, which will improve environmental quality and stream bank stability.
The Always Creating Excellence (ACE) program recognizes New York City Department of Environmental Protection staff members that have exhibited outstanding effort, and have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the people of New York City.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) partnered with Mayor Bill de Blasio to announce a $115 water and sewer bill credit to more than 53,000 low-income homeowners. An education team from DEP participated in and sponsored part of the City of Water Day event recently held on Governor's Island. Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza gave welcoming remarks at the 25th Annual ReLeaf Conference at St. John's University in Jamaica, Queens. The New York City Green Infrastructure Grant Program is now offering funding for projects citywide. DEP employees, friends, and family participated in the third annual NYC Disability Pride Parade in Manhattan.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is currently undertaking multiple projects to address flooding in eastern Queens neighborhoods, as part of a $1.7 billion commitment by the City's Mayor, Bill de Blasio. DEP recently worked to clear debris in the waters of Sheepshead Bay. As part of a statewide effort to educate the public about invasive species, DEP has set up an education tent at the Pakatakan Farmers Market in Delaware County for the duration of New York Invasive Species Week.
The first neighborhood playground in New York City to be fully reconstructed under the Community Parks Initiative (CPI) has been opened, including $500,000 of green infrastructure elements allocated by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). DEP distributed rain barrels to about 100 homeowners from several neighborhoods of Queens. Director of Stormwater Management Outreach Mikelle Adgate has been honored with an award by the Stormwater Infrastructure Matters (SWIM) Coalition. DEP's Catch Basin Inspection Unit celebrates the completion of the first year of a new program to inspect stormwater basins annually, as opposed to every three years.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in partnership with the New York Aquarium, NYC Department of Sanitation and NYC Parks Department, had launched a public awareness campaign called Don't Trash Our Waters which aims to reduce litter and improve the health of the city's waterbodies. Chief Operator Tim Daly of the Croton Water Filtration Plant has been honored with the Operator of the Year Award by the New York State American Water Works Association (NYSAWWA). The DEP's 2017 Water-on-the-Go Program is underway, offering portable public drinking water fountains to promote the city's tap water. DEP has completed a new Bluebelt in Staten Island's Pleasant Plains neighborhood.