DEP: Help For Flooding Problems Is On The Way

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last week announced that construction to relieve flooding in Whitestone will begin much sooner than originally had been planned.
More than 50 fed-up residents gathered at St. Alphonsus on Parsons Boulevard to get an update from DEP Commissioner Christopher O. Ward and Councilmember John Liu regarding the communitys worsening flooding problems, which are being blamed, in part, for three deaths this month.
It was last year at this time that the DEP devised a solution to the residents water woes. That remedy included installing storm sewers, catch basins and drainage outlets in the area along the service road of the Whitestone Expressway, the Cross Island Parkway, 149th Street and 26th Avenue. Residents got some good news at the meeting, as Ward announced that the timeframe has been condensed from 10 years down to five. This means that flooded residents would receive relief much faster according to Ward, within the first two years of construction.
The 10-year plan, as outlined by Ward, would come at a cost of $35 million, up $5 million from last years estimates. But that wont be enough to stall commencement of the work.
"The DEP is committed to this area," said Ward. "The designer has been selected and design work is about to start," said Ward. "It took a mixture of creativity, new thinking and technology to put together this project."
Ward went on to explain the key components of the proposal: "The three elements that came together were: the new ability to micro-tunnel under the Whitestone Expressway, looking at the area as a basin, and using the open-space wetlands behind the College Point Corporate Park to accept the drainage."
Following the August 11 storm, when two teenagers were killed after a downed power line electrified a huge puddle on 117th Street, many residents were angry and demanded that the problems in the area, which currently has no storm sewers, be dealt with swiftly. Then, this past weekend, 77-year-old Edward Kierenia died while trying to clear his homes sewer trap, fearing it would flood with another storm (see story above).
Flooding has been a particularly persistent problem along the western section of the project area, where the elevation is lowest, between the Whitestone Expressway and Parsons Boulevard, from 20th Avenue to 25th Avenue. As a result, in recent years 50 seepage basins were installed in the area, but these have proven ineffective in alleviating the floods.
Those in attendance were disappointed with the current situation; many even brought photos of their individual homes, claiming that the flooding has worsened since the installation of the seepage basins.
"We never had a problem until the problem was supposed to be fixed," said one angry College Point home-owner. "The seepage basins dont work they just collect bugs and stink."
In response, Ward urged long-term solutions in lieu of quick fixes, but also told residents to submit specific complaints so that a task force could be dispatched to investigate.
E-mail this reporter at rbellastella@aol.com