(April 29 — Princeton, NJ) Six months after Hurricane Sandy left parts of the East Coast leveled and underwater, killed 159 people and caused at least $70 billion in damage, a new report from Climate Central reveals yet another dimension of the destruction: 11 billion gallons of partially or untreated sewage leaked into rivers, lakes and waterways in the aftermath of the storm.
Climate Central assessed data from a variety of agencies in eight states, municipal governments, plant operators and the EPA for its analysis. Results indicate that the record-setting storm surges that flooded major sewage treatment facilities accounted for 94 percent of spilled sewage in and around New York City and throughout New Jersey.
Other report highlights:
- The amount of sewage overflow during Sandy, 11 billion gallons, is equivalent to the entire area of Central Park — 843 acres/1.4 square miles — stacked 41 feet high with sewage — more than 50 times the BP oil spill.
- 32 percent of the overflow was untreated sewage.
- 93 percent of the volume of sewage overflows took place in New York and New Jersey. Eighteen of the 20 largest spills ended up in these two states, as did the four individual sewage overflows of more than 1 billion gallons each — two from New York and two from New Jersey.
- Outside of New York and New Jersey (684 million gallons), the leading cause of a spill was heavy precipitation, which either overwhelmed a plant or flowed out of a combined sewage overflow (CSO). In the remaining seven states, heavy precipitation was responsible for 550 million gallons of overflow.
- In Washington D.C. Sandy produced 5.1 inches of rain in 24 hours, leading to the sixth-largest Sandy-related sewage overflow: 475 million gallons of untreated sewage and contaminated runoff.
- New York and New Jersey authorities estimate it will cost $3 billion to repair flood damaged facilities.
“Our research reveals another yet danger we will face as climate change drives sea levels higher,” said report author Dr. Alyson Kenward. “Our sewage infrastructure isn’t built to withstand such surges, and we are putting our property, safety and lives at risk if we don’t adequately plan for these challenges.”
Along with the report, Climate Central is launching an embeddable online interactive that tracks the overflow totals by state (CT, DE, MD, NU, NY, PA, RI and VA were included in the analysis), type and cause.
Kenward will join Climate Central’s Dr. Ben Strauss on a call tomorrow to discuss report findings.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND MATERIAL:
- Surging Seas, Climate Central
Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, Climate Central is a non-profit research and journalism organization providing authoritative information to help the public and policymakers make sound decisions about climate and energy.