Pipelinejanuary 14, 2020 Volume XI • Issue 523 Special Guest Commissioner’S Corner As Many Attendees from DEP
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WEEKLY Bill de Blasio, Mayor Vincent Sapienza, P.E., Commissioner PIPELINEJanuary 14, 2020 Volume XI • Issue 523 Special Guest Commissioner’s Corner as many attendees from DEP. The Conference is an annual Joseph Murin Chief Financial Officer event that is co-hosted by DEP, the Board, and the Authority, the three component entities that together operate and As 2019 drew to a close, DEP, oversee the City’s water and the New York City Water Board wastewater systems. (Board), and the New York City Municipal Water Finance DEP is the utility entity that Authority (Authority) jointly runs the system, oversees new hosted nearly 100 attendees for construction projects, and owns the system’s 25th annual Silver the system’s considerable asset Jubilee Investor Conference. base. The Board is the utility’s securities; it is managed by a as part of the City’s ongoing effort Conference attendees included rate setting body that establishes Board comprised of mayoral to manage its financial affairs in representatives from many of the annual water and wastewater and gubernatorial appointees, keeping with the best practices of the major Wall Street banks charges; the Board is comprised in addition to appointees from both the public and private sector. and investment firms, rating of seven Mayoral appointees key city agencies, including Attendees at the 2019 Conference agencies and financial advisors, supported by a professional staff DEP. This three-part legal and heard a system update as well as a diverse assembly of eight. The Authority is the bond financial structure provides the presentation from Commissioner of City employees, drawn financing body that works with system with stable, recurring Sapienza, with an emphasis on from the Authority, the Office Wall Street to sell new bonds cash flows to meet the operating priority Capital Projects being of Management and Budget, to investors, as well as ensure and maintenance and debt managed by the system; an the Office of the Comptroller, compliance with the applicable service needs of the system. The overview of DEP’s Waste-Product the Law Department, as well rules and regulations governing effectiveness of this arrangement Reuse initiatives from Bureau of has been recognized by all three Wastewater Treatment (BWT) bond rating firms, which have Deputy Commissioner Pam Spotlight on Safety awarded the system with top Elardo; a deep dive into BWT’s credit ratings. By maintaining Biogas recycling program from top credit ratings we keep our Drivers/Passengers: Jane Gajwani; an overview Dangers of “Dooring” borrowing costs down, which of BWT’s biosolids beneficial After parking, check for in turn helps to keep our rates According to current NYC reuse program from Jennifer bicyclists before opening the low for customers. Department of Transportation door. Use the “Dutch reach”, McDonnell; and an update on the (DOT) data, nearly 30 cyclist using the opposite hand furthest The system first explored the idea Bureau of Sustainability’s green fatalities occurred in the city from the door, to open the door. of a formal annual event aimed infrastructure program from Margot in 2019—that’s more than This will help shift your body in a at the system’s bond investors Walker. Attendees also enjoyed a any other year since 2000. better position to see bicyclists during the early 1990s, and held walking tour of the Newtown Creek One danger that might get coming from behind you. its first Conference in 1994. Wastewater Resource Recovery overlooked is “dooring,” This was in response to growing Facility conducted by Facility staff when a cyclist collides with Cyclists: requests for information and and, before embarking on the tour, a vehicle’s open door. This Be prepared for the possibility higher due diligence expectations were given an overview of the includes a cyclist swerving into that a car door may be opened in the Investor Community, as well Facility by Plant Chief Zainool Ali. traffic to avoid an open door. in your path. When possible, Opening a car door suddenly leave room between yourself can also cause other drivers and parked cars (3 feet is to collide with the door and/or generally recommended) so person exiting the vehicle. Both that you can avoid a door that cyclists, drivers and vehicle opens unexpectedly. passengers should take For more information, visit the precaution to avoid this. NYC DOT website. At DEP, everyone is responsible for safety. If you or anyone on your team is concerned about your working conditions, it’s okay to ask your supervisor or your bureau’s EHS liaison how they can help. If you’ve still got questions, you can call the EHS Employee Concerns Hotline. It’s DEP’s responsibility to acknowledge and fix unsafe situations, procedures, and practices. With your help, we’ll not only get the job done, we’ll make it safer for ourselves, our coworkers, our families, and our city. CALL (800) 897-9677 OR SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH PIPELINE. HELP IS ON THE WAY. In the News Hard Hats and PPE=Caps and Gowns Last Friday, 33 new Sewage Treatment Workers celebrated the completion of six weeks of classroom and hands on training with Commissioner Sapienza and NY1 host Pat Kiernan discussed a graduation ceremony held at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Monday’s water main break on the Upper West Side in Manhattan Resource Recovery Facility. The graduates gathered in front of the during the “Mornings on 1” Tuesday segment. Sapienza noted that aeration tanks to celebrate their accomplishment with Bureau of New York City significantly outperforms other large U.S. cities when Wastewater Treatment Deputy Commissioner Pam Elardo; Director it comes to water main breaks while Kiernan acknowledged DEP’s of Plant Operations Arthur Spangel; Director of Collections & impressive emergency response. Watch the NY1 video. Resource Recovery Operations Frank Loncar; and Director of EH&S Compliance Bill Yulinsky. Congratulations to the graduates! A Greenhouse for Green Thumbs Welcome Aboard! On Monday, 35 new employees attended orientation and received an overview of the department from HR Specialist Grace Franco and Deputy Director of Human Resources Grace Pigott. We hope everyone will join us in welcoming them to DEP! Jae Hyeon An, Stephen Darko, Thomas Esposito-Kelly, Remon Hanna, Alexis Serrano-Shanetzky, Thomas Sullivan, Emily Torres and Katarzyna Zera with BWSO; Rhayven Appleton, The Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations has opened a Nicholas Devito-Rodriguez, Leon Elliot, Tornelle Lutchman, greenhouse facility at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Courtney Murray, Anthony Patterson, Elson Primus, Gabriel Recovery Facility. The greenhouse will be used to grow herbaceous Richards, Nancy Rodriguez, Lakiesha Samuels, Nikisha Skeete perennial plants and grasses for use in rain gardens and stormwater and Tanyetta Walthrust with BCS; Steven Caldwell, Ting Chen, greenstreets. In the coming weeks, the greenhouse will begin to grow Iman Ebeid, Saleem Muwwakkil and Travis Shiwbaran with BWT; 12,000–15,000 seedlings. It will also be used to overwinter some William Dowling, Frank Fetzer, Weston VanVorst and Kimberly herbs, geraniums, and ferns that will be used in decorative planters Yewchuk with BWS; Lindsey Hirsch with the Commissioner’s this summer. Staff includes two gardeners and two full-time city Parks Office; Alieen Hwang with BLA; Bijie Jia with BEPA; Giovanne workers who will spend 50 percent of their time working on propagation Quezada with ACCO, and Nicolette Salmon and Brandon Vasquez and nursery operations. with BPS. We welcome your feedback! To submit an announcement or suggestion, please email us at: [email protected]..