The city of Long Beach, N.Y., is seeking an additional $12 million on top of the $6 million already received in grants to fund a sewage pipeline to Bay Park in East Rockaway, N.Y.
The planned project would total roughly $50 million in total costs and intends to run a pipeline under Sunrise Highway so that it may release the sewage 3 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean rather than its current destination in Reynolds Channel where the water could be more greatly diluted.
The $18 million dollar pipeline addition is only one component to the larger project totalling $50 million in costs. Specifically, this component would build a new pipeline to connect to a preexisting pipeline. The total timeline of the project will likely span at least seven years, according to John Mirando, director of Long Beach Public Works.
"It’s still only one part of this project. It’s a critical component, so we can then build the pump station and bypass our wastewater station,” said Mirando. “The goal is to get the nitrogen and ammonia out of Reynolds Channel and clean it up significantly.”
The city is currently responsible for 5% of nitrogen levels in the bay, but with more progressive environmental regulations being put in place by the state government, it will soon fall out of compliance with nitrogen and ammonia standards.
Long Beach, in conjunction with Lido Beach, N.Y., discharge more than 4.2 million gal of treated sewage into Reynolds Channel daily.