Update on our Sewers, Water Quality, and Climate Change
In 1999, the Hutchinson River was cited as one of the most polluted rivers in New York State. As a result, Mount Vernon homeowners have had to deal with the burden of sewage back up in their homes for a long time. The neglect is part of a systemic issue that has persisted for decades, but we have made this a critical priority of our administration. During the campaign, we knocked on doors of those living in the Beechwood area of Mount Vernon, and their number one complaint was having to deal with continuous leaks and sewage back up in their homes. Mount Vernon is not unique in our sewage challenges, municipalities all around the country are dealing with these issues right now. Our neighbors to the north, Portchester are currently dealing with repairing/replacing their sewer lines and Mount Vernon will soon be following their lead in addressing our sewers.
This week we sat down with Senator Alessandra Biaggi, members of Save the Sound, Hutchinson River Restoration Project, and representatives from several City Island associations about sewers and water quality in our area. As you know, Mount Vernon is currently dealing with a federal lawsuit regarding our sewers and we’ve allocated $500,000 in the budget to start addressing these concerns. The meeting was a positive step in finding new partners in our fight to repair our century-old sewer infrastructure. We’ve been working with Senator Biaggi, who has been a strong advocate for Mount Vernon, to find innovative ways to address this issue and we’re confident that we can move forward in providing a remedy for our sewers.
Last year, we release a platform on green initiatives that included a Clean Waterways Project to address our sewage issue. You can read it here. This week we passed our first budget which makes key investments in protecting our environment. As planning commissioner, we brought in $1.6 million dollars to further address our infrastructure issues. This was a positive step and now we will be looking at the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act, Environmental Justice Grants and working with our stakeholder groups to advocate for funding to address these issues, at no cost to the taxpayer. In the next few weeks, we will be meeting with state agencies to continue to advocate for more resources for Mount Vernon. We know the challenges, but we are taking the steps to have the residents of Mount Vernon join us at the table to find solutions that will be integral in moving our city forward.
