Water Quality Problems and Solutions in Jamaica Bay: Analyzing the Role of Wastewater
Semester
The New York/New Jersey Clean Ocean and Shore Trust commissioned our team of Columbia University graduate students to assess and make recommendations concerning environmental impacts associated with the disposal of treated wastewater in Jamaica Bay, a marine system along the coasts of Brooklyn and Queens, New York. The Bay, a 10,000 acre body of water, receives the vast majority of its freshwater flow from treated effluent coming from four Wastewater Pollution Control Plants (WPCPs). The 267 million gallons of wastewater discharged from these plants per day has very high concentrations of nitrogen, which is known to have adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. This report assesses the viability of a range of policy solutions to deal with nitrogen loading in the bay; including the construction of an outfall pipe which would dispose of the treated wastewater several miles out in the Atlantic Ocean.