Sewer Upgrade on Northern to Wrap Up in Early 2011

A massive project to prevent flooding in northeast Queens by creating a filtering station in Douglaston is likely to be completed early next year, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Environmental Protection said.

The project, which encompasses 16 acres along Northern Boulevard, will filter overflow from Douglaston's sewers and prevent flooding in Bayside after the communities are struck by torrential rainstorms.

"It will save my community from flooding and clean up the ecosystem," Community Board 11 Chairman Jerry Iannece. "I want this project done. It's going to be like night and day."

The city originally planned to complete the project by November, but it will not likely wrap up until early 2011, CB 11 Susan Seinfeld said.

The project's first phase was completed in 2007 as a means to halt flooding in Bayside Hills.

The second phase is located on a gigantic lot on Northern Boulevard in Douglaston near Alley Pond Environmental Center. It was formerly the site of an old pumping station.

Under this portion of the project, sewer overflow and storm water will be held in a large tank at the site before being filtered and channeled back to a water treatment plant.

The tank can hold up to five gallons of water, DEP Commissioner Cas Holloway said.

A third phase involves cleaning five locations around Bayside's Oakland Lake and Ravine.

The project, which costs a total $20 million between the three phases, is shared by the DEP and the city's Department of Parks and Recreation.

Storm water previously flowed straight to Alley Creek and Little Neck Bay from Douglaston during downpours, but it will now be retained, DEP Spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla said.

The project will decrease contamination levels in Douglaston and Bayside and reduce the volume of combined sewer overflow that is annually dumped into Alley Creek from 246 million gallons to 112 million gallons, Holloway said.

A total 16 acres of wetland have been restored during the course of the project's three phases.

But the pumping station project has caused some structural damage to Alley Pond Environmental Center's walls and floors. Irene Scheid, executive director of Alley Pond, said she did not know when the center's $7 million renovation to fix the damage would begin.

That project will include upgrading the environmental center's existing building and adding up to 5,000 square feet of space. New modules at the site will connect to the center through a covered walkway.

The upgrade is the largest of its kind at the center, which is located at 228-06 Northern Blvd., for several decades.