Brown is about 10 dumpster load of sewage poop that gets deposited by CSO BB-006 every year CSO BB-006 (based on 2011 bathymetry for 4 to 6 feet deep mudflats) - about 16.8 acres or 85,000 cubic yards of this will be WORST dredged by NYCDEP OFFENDER TI-011 1434 million HISTORICAL WETLANDS & gallons of raw ROUGH HISTORICAL STREAM sewage per BB-08 year PATTERNS – NOW BURIED BB-08 PRIORITY GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE HISTORICAL ACTION AREA FLUSHING Red = poten*ally unmapped MEADOWS wetlands for restora*on studies TIDAL SALT TI-010 MARSH IRELAND CREEK KISSENA CREEK FLUSHING CREEK WEST BRANCH SEWAGE FOR FLUSHING BAY AREA HANDLED BY 2 SEWAGE PLANTS BOWERY BAY (BB) TO WEST BB-06 PRIORITY TALLMANN ISLAND (TI) TO EAST GREEN (Flushing Bay receives sewage from as far INFRASTRUCTURE away as Douglaston via system of pumps) ACTION AREA TI-014 THE CSO CSO TI-011 PROBLEM: 272 million gallons WHAT CAUSED IT ? MASSIVE TI-012 LANDFILLING CSO BB-007 3.4 million gallons CSO TI-022 30 million gallons Pier One CSO BB-008 534 million gallons CSO BB-006 WORST OFFENDER 1434 million gallons of raw sewage per year. This is about 5.5% of all sewage going CSO TI-010 into harbor 743 million gallons (built 1938) STREAM ONE HOW DOES FLUSHING MEADOWS HYDROLOGY WORK ? Blue dashes show general historical runoff paerns STREAMS DIVERTED FROM SALT MEADOWS NOW GO INTO SEWER OVERFLOW INSTEAD 1934, 16 May - Mountains of ash, useD to fill the Flushing MeaDows marshlanD, future site of the 1964 WorlD Fair. Drain pipes are being laiD to Drain eDal anD spring feD streams 1934 – 11 March, Construceon of GranD Central Parkway across Flushing Creek anD the Flushing MeaDows eDal marshes BURIED STREAM 1924 FairchilD Aerial with new rail line allowing lanDfilling of Flushing MeaDows with coal ash. Marsh streams woulD be diverted into new sewer pipes (causing sewer overflows into bay when it rains) “This is a valley of ashes - a fantas1c farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” The Great Gatsby, the Valley of Ashes, Pg. 26, Chapter 2, F. Sco? Fitzgerald, 1925 Study Project: balloon map edges of now landfilled historical marshes to see if marine Sparena grass health variaons marsh shoulD make mouth of Flushing Creek priority zone for new wetlanDs restoraons for CSO- Historical BB06 dredging shoreline was landfilled by migaon highway +/- 1600 feet BB-06 Potenal wetlanD restoraon site ? Dredging Site BB-06 Sparena marsh 1858 United States Geological Survey by Hassler & Rockwell showing the original Flushing Bay shoreline Sparena dal marshes Circa 2010 – Ghost of olD Flushing Creek meanDer that is sell visible in DiscoloreD grass behinD New York Hall of Science (this was Bable Scene site for the movie “Men in Black”) These are Queens NeighborhooDs The New York City Department of Environmental Proteceon has priorized for 2012 onwards for geng storm water out of the combined sewer pipes 272 mgy or 9.3 gallons per m 2 534 million gallons of sewage per year 10.3 gallons per 2 1434 mgy Not sure why they are ignoring TI-010 which WORST NEIGHBORHOOD is 743 million gallons 12.3 gallons per year of sewage overflows of sewage per year from every square foot of lanD WHERE SHOULD WE PRIORITIZE COMMUNITY SEWER OVERFLOW REDUCTION PROJECTS ? (RAIN BARRELS, RAIN GARDENS, STREET CREEKS, ENHANCED TREE PITS, ETC) FLUSHING BAY GETS AROUND Paler water is from eutrophicaon from about 10 dumpster load of sewage poop that gets deposited every year by the 3 BILLION GALLONS OF SEWAGE PER BB-006 and BB-08 combined sewer overflow . The sewage YEAR nutrients cause eutrophicaeon (the milky color) anD affect fish survival by lowering oxygen levels. High synthec estrogen levels (from human birth control pills), heavy metals anD oils are other pollutant problems affecng local ecology survival anD health. PROPOSED CIRCA 2015 DREDGING & WETLAND RESTORATION AREA – WETLANDS PLANNED TO BE 2 FT HIGHER THAN NORMAL TO ACCOMMODATE SEA LEVEL RISE PIER ONE CSO BB-008 CSO BB-006 WORST OFFENDER 1434 million gallons of raw sewage per year 1901 USGS Map showing original extent of the Flushing MeaDows eDal marshes anD historic streams Rough study notes prepared by Eymund Diegel to discuss Flushing Bay water quality and historical change issues [email protected] March 2014 .