Posts Tagged ‘NYC DEP’
faint draft
Sludge Boats, baby, Sludge Boats…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For those two weeks which formed the end of November, a humble narrator was enjoying a vacation from all things with the Missus. In fact, for about half of our vacation time, Our Lady of the Pentacle and myself weren’t even on the North American continent. The week of Thanksgiving, we were back, but maintained a low profile.
One thing which drew me and the camera out of our splendid seclusion, however, was the news that the NYC DEP would be holding a ceremony to christen the fleet of three new sludge boats over at their Wards Island facility. How could I resist… I mean… Sludge Boats.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
MV’s (municipal vehicles) Rockaway, Port Richmond, and Hunts Point have been shaking down in NY Harbor all year. Remember, back in the beginning of 2014, when a humble narrator braved the chill climes of a polar vortex at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to bring you images of Hunts Point?
You’ll say “jump” and I’ll say “how high” when the subject of Sludge Boats is at hand. Height is what these boats are designed around, incidentally. This new class of MV’s can pass under the Pulaski Bridge, spanning my beloved Newtown Creek at high tide, without requiring the drawbridge to open.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The lady in the center of the shot is DEP Commissioner Emily Lloyd, incidentally, with Deputy Commissioner Angella Locata to her left. I don’t know who the lady on the right is, but I led this post off with her christening the Hunts Point, so there you are.
There were lots and lots of important folks at Wards Island – brass from DEP and City Hall, Press, even a press Helicopter – as well as a whole gaggle of us from the Newtown Creek Monitoring Committee. NCMC is a community group that performs citizen oversight on the multi billion dollar construction efforts at the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant over in Greenpoint, and the delivery of these three new Sludge Boats are a sign that the decades long project is nearing completion.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After the ceremonial events were accomplished, the DEP welcomed all onboard the Hunts Point, allowing an opportunity for inspection and observation.
The Port Richmond peeled out of the dock early, probably because it had “shit to do.” Get it? Shit to do? Sludge Boat… Shit… Ahhh, nevermind. Port Richmond headed south toward the Triborough Bridge through the Hells Gate section of the estimable East River.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Exploration of the boat brought me to the big chair up on the bridge, and although no one would have let me start the engine and put Hunts Point through her paces, I did stand there murmuring “vroom vroom” until such time as I was asked to stop doing so. I did manage to say “make it so” and “ahead warp factor 3, Mr. Sulu” as well. One thinks that being so close to the very locus of Robert Moses’s power base on Wards Island causes odd concatenations in the thought process.
Alternatively, actually getting on a Sludge Boat after all these years simply made me giddy with delight. A big Mazel Tov goes out to the NYC DEP on the occasion of the birth of their new triplets.
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second to nothing
Dredging operations on the Newtown Creek are underway.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
After a couple of false starts and delayed beginnings, DonJon Towing is finally getting busy over on my beloved Creek. The dredging project is designed to provide a maritime channel for a new class of DEP Sludge Boats (see this Newtown Pentacle post from back in January of this year for details on the new boats) which will use a dock on Whale Creek, rather than the current East river facility, to accept the processed material produced by the Newtown Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant in Greenpoint.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered yesterday, at Whale Creek – a Brooklyn side tributary of Newtown Creek which the sewer plant wraps around.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Unfortunately, due to a busy work schedule and weather issues, I only managed to get there late in the afternoon and missed the action. This little push boat was busily managing the barges into a docking position, however.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The dredging rig was the Delaware Bay, which is a 225 foot long monster commissioned in 2008, and outfitted with a 123 foot long boom and crane.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s the actual dredging bucket, which is outfitted with some sort of esoteric gasket system. I’ve never felt pity for a big steel machine before, but… Yuck… this is Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The whole operation is meant to continue on for about six weeks. The initial phase of it, here on Whale Creek, will only be operating 12 hours a day, but once they work their way out onto the main body of the Creek – probably Tuesday of next week, they will go 24/7.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This little Survey boat was buzzing about, and I’m told it carried a battery of sonar equipment which allowed visualization of the dredging work in real time. There’s a lot of stuff down there, pipelines and cables and such, for the DonJon crews to watch out for.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A DEP contractor was on hand performing air quality tests and odor control functions. This was his little weather station.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Also part of this contractors kit was a Hydrogen Sulfide monitor, which measures concentrations of the compound released from the underwater sediments during the dredge process.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s critical, once the operation moves out of Whale Creek and heads west towards the more populated sections of the Creek in Greenpoint and Hunters Point, that you call 311 if you’re being affected by smells or noise. Also, I’ve been told that the NCWWTP Nature Walk will be closed for the weekend, in the name of safety.
If you smell something, say something, and call 311.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
a New Sludge Boat, baby, a new sludge boat
It’s called a Boat because it can’t launch a boat, that’s what Ships can do.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
First – here’s what a Sludge Boat is.
This Sludge Boat’s contract was completed on June 12 of 2013, and she splashed into the world a scant 290 feet long. That boat you’re looking at in the shot above is the NYC DEP’s M/V Hunts Point, and she cost $28 million to build down in Louisiana’s Bollinger Shipyards.
Word went out that it had arrived at the Navy Yard, so a humble narrator set off for Brooklyn.
from nyc.gov
The M/V Hunts Point, the newest addition to the DEP marine fleet, recently completed its sea trials and left its dock in Louisiana for the trip around the tip of Florida and up the East Coast. It is expected to arrive in New York City next week. You can follow its progress here. The Hunts Point is the first of three new sludge vessels that DEP has commissioned and it will replace the 1967-vintage M/V Newtown Creek.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
NYC DEP is a good choice if you need to confess a secret to someone who will never reveal it, by the way, and other than a few nuggets on nyc.gov there has been very little official discussion of this new boat. In some ways, it’s a bit mysterious, but there’s a whole contingent over at DEP who don’t understand the enthusiasm some show for their toys. The MTA on the other hand, actually encourages railfans.
With all the mystery vessels that have been presented at this, your Newtown Pentacle, over the years – I’ve developed some small aptitude for discovery. M/V Hunts Point uses call sign WDH2432, has a gross tonnage of 2,772 and is – as mentioned- 290 feet long. Her draught is 4.3m, and the reason that her stature is so reduced as compared to the less modern vessels of DEP’s fleet – it’s so that she can pass under the Pulaski Bridge on Newtown Creek rather than requiring it to open.
from nywea.org
Municipal sludge vessels have been a part of New York City’s sludge disposal system since the late 1930s. The Federal Work Projects Administration (WPA) funded and built the first three Motorized Vessels(M/V): M/V Wards Island, M/V Tallman Island, and the M/V Coney Island. Before these vessels were available, sludge was routinely discarded into the surrounding waters from the few sludge facilities operating at that time. As a result, the harbor waters became so polluted that incoming traffic would find their hulls cleaned of any marine life.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This change in behavior, the current sludge boats dock at the East River in Greenpoint to siphon off the product of the sewer plants’ operation, is predicated upon the scheme of these boats sailing up Newtown Creek from the East River and into the Whale Creek tributary which adjoins it. The boat will attach to a specially designed dock at Whale Creek. M/V Hunts Point is the first of three such vessels.
Need for the hated sludge tank and dock at the corner of Commercial Street will be eliminated, satisfying a key complaint of the community, by this operation.
Bollinger Shipyards provides new construction, repair and conversion products and services to the commercial offshore energy and marine transportation markets around the world, and to the U.S. Government and naval shipbuilding marketplace from our U.S. Gulf of Mexico facilities. Family owned and operated since 1946, Bollinger maintains ten ISO 9001:2008 certified shipyards and a fleet of twenty-eight dry-docks for shallow draft and deepwater vessels. Bollinger has earned a premier reputation for superior quality, value, timely service and delivery to its customers.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
A friend who is associated with the Brooklyn Navy Yard brought me in to the place with him yesterday, graciously allowing me to capture these and other shots at the location. Please welcome, Lords and Ladies, to your service – the M/V Hunts Point, NYC’s latest and greatest Sludge Boat.
from wikipedia
The United States Navy Yard, New York, also known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the New York Naval Shipyard (NYNSY), is a shipyard located in Brooklyn, New York, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear’s Hook in Manhattan. It was bounded by Navy Street, Flushing and Kent Avenues, and at the height of its production of warships for the United States Navy, it covered over 200 acres (0.81 km2).
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anomalous heaviness
Today’s post details an oft overlooked bit of DEP street furniture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It is a curse to be curious about and notice everything, especially in a feature rich environment like New York City.
Ubiquitous street furniture such as Fireboxes and manhole covers endlessly fascinate, and something I’ve always been curious about is what might be going on inside the “N.Y.C. Drinking Water Sampling Stations” which adorn certain streets in nearly every neighborhood.
from nyc.gov
Water for the system is impounded in three upstate reservoir systems which include 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes with a total storage capacity of approximately 580 billion gallons. The three water collection systems were designed and built with various interconnections to increase flexibility by permitting exchange of water from one to another. This feature mitigates localized droughts and takes advantage of excess water in any of the three watersheds.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Every one who lives in Brooklyn or Queens has wondered about this, and I suspect those from the Bronx and Staten Island do too. Manhattan folks have other things to think about, and no time for such trivial matters.
Seriously, though, what’s with these things?
from wikipedia
To enhance water quality monitoring in a drinking water network sampling stations are installed along the route of a water network. Water sampling stations are connected to next water main and have a little sink. Water samples are analyzed for bacteria, chlorine levels, pH, inorganic and organic pollutants, turbidity, odor, and many other water quality indicators.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, while visiting everybody’s favorite sewer plant in Greenpoint, your humble narrator happened upon a display of one of these “Drinking Water Sampling Stations.”
Even luckier, it bore a card within it that carries a dry and fact based recitation on the objects, their purpose, and the practices and purpose of those who employ them. The information on the card was basically the same thing found at the link below, so rather than retype it… just click through if at all curious about how many of these units are installed and how they’re used.
from nyc.gov
The stations rise about 4 1/2 feet above the ground and are made of heavy cast iron. Inside, a 3/4 inch copper tube feeds water from a nearby water main into the station. Each station is equipped with a spigot from which water samples are taken. The total cost of the construction and installation of the stations was approximately 11 million dollars.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For you gear heads out there- check out page 137 of this product catalog from General Foundries, the company that manufactures these things as item NYCWSS1 for the City, for a schematic drawing.
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Want to see something cool? June 2013 Walking Tours-
The Poison Cauldron– Saturday, June 15, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, June 22, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, June 29, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
short work
Today’s post is part of the Maritime Sunday series.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Recent business carried me to the tony DUMBO section of Brooklyn, and having accomplished my meeting, your humble narrator made for the East River Ferry stop at Fulton Landing to get home to Queens. It was a foggy day, with the mist seemingly on the edge of unleashing precipitants, and the always picturesque Brooklyn Bridge was vamping for the camera while I waited for the ferry, so…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That’s when the NYC DEP Skimmer boat “Jamaica Bay” appeared. SV Jamaica Bay was new in 2005, Its service area is reported tersely as “Tributaries,” it is 50 feet long, and can carry a capacity of 3,000 -12,000 lbs of wet material.
from epa.gov
Floatable debris consists of a wide assortment of plastic, wood, paper, glass, rubber, metal and organic waste materials that float or are suspended in the water column and may eventually be deposited on shorelines and beaches. Floatable debris originating from street litter, combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges, storm water discharges, decaying shoreline structures, pleasure boaters, and littering beach goers, can harm the marine environment and cause area beaches to close.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
For the benefit of those of you who don’t spend all of your time puzzling out the make and model of things which randomly navigate past you, a “skimmer” is a kind of work boat which travels along and scoops up “floatables.” This can mean anything from tree limbs to trash, and the NYC DEP operates just one several of skimmer fleets on the harbor. NJDEP and US Army Corps of Engineers also perform this task. The gizmo at the front of the thing opens up and forms a boom, and onboard conveyor systems draw flotsam and jetsam out of the water column and into a bin.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Skimmer boat “Jamaica Bay” is one of several “small” skimmers operated by DEP, and the big one is called “Cormorant.” One thing about which jumps at me whenever I look at the NYC DEP… as a department… is just how GIGANTIC it is.
A hearty maritime Sunday shout goes out to the Captain and crew of SV Jamaica Bay.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Want to see something cool? June 2013 Walking Tours-
The Poison Cauldron– Saturday, June 15, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Atlas Obscura, tickets now on sale.
Kill Van Kull– Saturday, June 22, 2013
Staten Island walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Working Harbor Committee, tickets now on sale.
The Insalubrious Valley– Saturday, June 29, 2013
Newtown Creek walking tour with Mitch Waxman and Newtown Creek Alliance, tickets now on sale.
The Newtown Pentacle 