Prohibits disposal of spoils containing toxic pollutants into the waters of the marine district

Title of bill

An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to prohibiting the disposal of dredged spoils containing toxic pollutants into the waters of the marine district

Purpose

Prohibits disposal of spoils containing toxic pollutants into the waters of the marine district.

Summary of provisions

This legislation amends § 17-0503 of the Environmental Conservation Law by adding a new subdivision 3. "Marine district" is defined in § 17-0501 as the waters of the Atlantic Ocean within 3 nautical miles from the coast line and all other tidal waters within the State, except the Hudson River northerly of the south end of Manhattan Island.

Justification

The Army Corps of Engineers (COE) has been and is currently exploring a plan to use underwater pits near the shores of Richmond County and Kings County to bury dredged material that does not meet federal ocean dumping standards.

The Army Corps' proposal is to dump millions of cubic yards of highly contaminated dredged spoils in pre-existing borrow pits located within 3 miles of Coney Island and Staten Island. The material to be dumped contains elevated levels of Dioxin 2, 3, 7 and 8, TCDD, PVBs, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and arsenic. It has been estimated by the COE and other responsible agencies that 150 million cubic yards of contaminated dredged spoils will be disposed of in this manner over a period of ten years. It has been calculated that from 3% to 5% of this highly contaminated material will be dispersed into the surrounding water under calm ocean conditions. Should storms, hurricanes or fast moving tides be encountered, this loss will be accelerated, creating high pollution levels in the waters near the fishing and swimming areas of the Gateway Parks System. The East Bank Shoal area, where one of the pits is located, supports a large and diverse benthic community which predator species feed upon. Large schools of striped bass, bluefish, fluke and flounder migrate across this area throughout the fishing season. The area supports a large community of resident predator fish as well. These migratory resources are critical to the entire east coast of the U.S.

The striped bass resource, which for the past decade has been banned from sale in NYS because of PCB contamination, has been steadily recovering and is expected to show only slight contamination, however the introduction of toxic dredged spoil into the waters would defeat the progress that has been made thus far. Additionally, if the local and migratory marine resources become contaminated, the diverse group of waterfront businesses that they support will be severely impacted.

This proposal is inconsistent with the intent of federal, state and city Coastal Zone Management Programs, the Environmental Conservation Law and the policies expressed by the Governor.

This bill would prevent the dumping of this contaminated material in any of the existing facilities in the New York Coastal Region.

Legislative history

2008: S.5583 - Passed Senate/A.3320 - Referred to Environmental Conservation 2007: S.5583 - Passed Senate/A.3320 - Referred to Environmental Conservation 2006: S.2071 - Passed Senate/A.3335 - Referred to Environmental Conservation 2005: S.2071 - 3rd Reading Calendar/A.3335 - Referred to Environmental Conservation 2004: S.1537 - 3rd Reading Calendar/A.3408 - Referred to Environmental Conservation 2003: S.1537 - Referred to Environmental Conservation/A.3408 - Referred to Environmental Conservation

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.