Politics & Government

Bloomberg Says Water Rate Hike Buying Cleaned-Up Gowanus

Cleaning up 120-plus years of wastewater ain't cheap.

This article was written by Matthew Hampton.

After news broke on Friday that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's hand-picked water board was approving yet another rate hike, hizzoner decided to show you what you're buying.

Guess what? You're about to be the proud owners of a cleaner, greener Gowanus Canal. That you can boat in! Eventually. Don't do it now though, please, it's not safe. 

The city's water board approved a 5.6 percent water and sewage rate increase on Friday, raising the average water bill for a single family to nearly $1,000 annually, according to the New York Daily News.

At a press conference right on top of the truly stinky Gowanus Canal on Monday, Bloomberg laid the blame squarely at the feet of the federal government, saying mandated construction is what's causing your water bill to nearly double over the last decade.

"Sixty-five percent of DEP's capital spending went to address federal mandates," Bloomberg said. "That cost the average city resident $258 this year alone on their water bill." 

But look on the bright side, Bloomberg said, all that extra scratch has helped the city drop more than $20 billion on water quality improvements since he took office. And the mayor claimed those improvements helped the city get back on its feet faster than surrounding areas after Hurricane Sandy.
 
Bloomberg was also more than happy to point to upgrades to the Gowanus Canal project, which DEP Commissioner Carter Strickland said is on pace to be finished by the end of this year.

It broke ground/tainted water in 2009. 

The project has spent the last four years upgrading a Gowanus-adjacent wastewater pump station and upgrading the water tunnel that feeds oxygen-rich water into the now fetid canal, an integral part of the clean-up process. 

Strickland admitted that the ultimate goal is to have the water in the canal meet "boating standards" for water quality. "We don't meet it now, we know that. That's what we're aiming for," Strickland said. 

The mayor added that thanks to more than a century of wastewater and other contamination, no one in the DEP expected the canal to reach a standard suitable for swimming. 

His helpful warning? "Don't drink the water." 


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