Sewage diversion diverts attention from the real problem in the watershed –storm water runoff and over-development – and shifts responsibility for water quality and wastewater treatment to the low-income, high-minority communities of Peekskill and Yonkers.

The NYC DEP’s reports that “the quality of New York City’s drinking water remains high and meets all health-related State and federal drinking water standards.”[1]  However, the New Croton Reservoir is categorized as ‘impaired’ due to excessive phosphorous loading. 

Eighty-seven percent of the phosphorous loading comes from storm water runoff alone – not from sewage treatment in the watershed.[2]   Storm water runoff is due to poor planning and over-development.

Wastewater treatment accounts for less than 13% of the Croton’s impairment.  The Hallocks Mills plant in Yorktown accounts for 5% or less of the Croton’s impairment. 

Upgrading the WWTPs, as recommended in the 1997 MOA, will significantly reduce phosphorous levels and will remove 99.9% of the disease-causing pathogens from treated wastewater.[3]

Blasland, Bouck & Lee, Inc., an engineering firm hired by the Town of Yorktown, reports that the Hallocks Mill WWTP can be fixed and upgraded.  The repair and upgrade of the Hallocks Mill WWTP would cost less than diverting sewage to Peekskill.          

Despite these facts, Westchester County and the watershed communities have ignored the serious problem of storm water runoff and over-development in the watershed.  Instead, they have focused on developing plans to divert raw sewage from high-income, predominantly non-minority watershed communities to the low-income, high-minority communities of Peekskill, and Yonkers. 

[1] www.nyc.gov/dep/  “New York City 2000 Drinking water Supply and Quality Report,” New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

[2] “Nonpoint Source Implementation of the Phase II TMDLs”, Department of Environmental Conservation, April 2001.

[3] http://www.nypirg.org/enviro/water/plants.html “NYPIRG’s Watershed Protection Project:  Wastewater Treatment Plants”, New York Public Interest Research Group.