Nassau County to release RFP for $360M project on the transport of treated sewage
New York– Nassau County engineers have determined that the 110-year old aqueduct running underneath Sunrise Highway is in “very good condition” and county officials are preparing to proceed to the next stages of a proposed project to refurbish and improve the pipe to transport treated sewage from Bay Park to Cedar Creek. A major portion of the aqueduct has been examined and the rest of the pipe is expected to be studied within the next two weeks. Through the study, city officials are hoping to determine whether the pipe can be utilized to transfer treated effluent from the Bay Park Water Reclamation Facility to the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant on the Wantagh-Seafood border.
The county is planning to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to select an engineering firm for design services once the study is completed. The county’s plans will include a new pumping facility at the Bay Park plant, a new pipe from the Bay Park plant to the aqueduct, rehabilitation of the aqueduct with an internal lining and a new pipe from the aqueduct to the Cedar Creek facility. The cost of the project is estimated to be $360 million and most of it would come from state and federal grants. In addition, funds from the $830 million that the county received from Hurricane Sandy relief could also be utilized. The design phase is set to begin this summer and is projected to be completed by early 2019. Construction will then begin in mid-2019 and will take up to 3 years to finish. Currently, the Bay Park plant discharges treated wastewater into the Reynolds Channel from a cement pipe north of the Long Beach fishing pier. The nitrogen in the sewer has caused significant damage to the marsh and marine life in the Western Bays.
Under the new plan, the treated effluent from Bay Park will be limited to 75 million gallons per day through the Cedar Creek pipe. Bay Park is the only location where there would be any increase in discharge but it would only occur 1 percent of the time. The Bay Park plant discharges 50 million gallons of sewage per day into the Western Bays and the plant will implement new denitrification technologies that will reduce the nitrogen by 60 percent. The $2.4 million study of the 9.5-mile pipeline is expected to be completed in the next couple weeks and will help guide the next course of action.