Environmentalists sue NYC over plans to chlorinate Flushing Creek in Queens
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has announced plans to clean Flushing Creek with chlorine, sparking outrage among some environmentalists.
Now, they're filing a lawsuit.
Bacteria in Flushing Bay
The DEP has been mandated by state regulators to combat bacteria in Flushing Bay, a waterway containing runoff from the city's combined sewer system. When heavy rain overwhelms the system, industrial wastewater and domestic sewage are discharged into the creek and bay, which connect beside CitiField.
"As a paddler, canoeist, I step into the water to launch the boat, and sometimes we're afraid of all the sewage, raw sewage," Flushing Bay dragon boater James Ma said.
The city shared plans to construct a Willets Point facility for sanitizing the creek with a chlorination-dechlorination process, but environmentalists fear the fix will do more harm than good.
"It's going to wipe everything out, kill the seagrasses, kill the mussels, kill the oysters. It will kill the fish," marine pathologist James Cervino said.
He added, "Yes, the chlorine will kill the bad bacteria, but it's also going to kill the good bacteria."
Lawsuit against DEP
Guardians of Flushing Bay, Riverkeeper, and Save the Sound are now suing the DEP, alleging the agency has failed to address adverse impacts of chlorination on water quality and aquatic life.
"The city is steamrolling the project forward without doing a full environmental review process," Guardians of Flushing Bay executive director Rebecca Pryor said.
The area is soon to undergo transformation with a new soccer stadium and casino.
"With all of that development, we're missing opportunities to increase green infrastructure, which could really help reduce the sewage problem," Guardians of Flushing Bay member Margaret Flanagan said.
"It doesn't create swimmable water for us," Guardians of Flushing Bay board member Cody Herrmann said. "I think we can spend the money better and do something different that has a bigger impact."
They propose alternatives including transforming Rikers Island into a wastewater treatment center and adding a stormwater retention tank at the former Flushing Airport site.
The DEP declined to comment on the lawsuit or provide a timeline for chlorination, deferring to the New York City Law Department, which told CBS News New York only that the case is under review.
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