Staten Island pols urge mayor to apply for EPA funding to upgrade city sewer infrastructure

Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis and several Staten Island elected officials penned a letter to Mayor Eric Adams on Monday encouraging him to apply for grant funding recently announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to upgrade New York City’s essential water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

The EPA announced last month that New York State will be receiving $256,106,000 in funding through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to help underserved communities improve their water infrastructure. This capital, in the form of grants and principal forgiveness loans, is in addition to the $207 million that New York received in October 2022, also through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

In the letter, the officials refer to several storms in recent years that have resulted in severe flooding, exacerbated by outdated and clogged sewer infrastructure, on Staten Island.

“Hurricane Sandy showed that our infrastructure is inadequate, and expansion is necessary to protect our constituents and their properties. Every storm following Sandy, such as Hurricane Ida, Staten Island experiences widespread flooding,” they said in the letter. “Our city stands united with a shared goal to fully recover from these storms, and even with the progress we’ve seen in recent years, our city’s aging sewer infrastructure has continued to cripple neighborhoods throughout Staten Island, cause severe property damage, and even death.”

The EPA grants are made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

As the officials point out, New York City has begun to see benefits of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with funding to maintain and restore nearly 800 bridges citywide, make rail and freight upgrades, modernize Coast Guard housing at Fort Wadsworth and make service reliability improvements to the Staten Island Ferry.

They closed the letter reminding the mayor that the whole city stands to benefit from receiving the EPA funding.

“The EPA’s announcement presents the city an opportunity to attain resources that would upgrade its wastewater infrastructure to prepare for future storms without having to place the financial burden on city taxpayers. We respectfully request your administration utilizes these funds for the betterment of residents throughout the city. We look forward to receiving your response and partnering with your administration as more projects come to fruition,” they said.

The officials who signed the letter with Malliotakis include: Borough President Vito J. Fossella, State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D-North Shore/South Brooklyn), State Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Charles Fall (D-North Shore); Assemblymembers Michael Tannousis (R-East Shore/South Brooklyn), Sam Pirozzolo (R-Mid Island) and Michael Reilly (R-South Shore); City Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) and Councilmembers David Carr (R-Mid Island) and Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore).

A spokesperson for City Hall told the Advance/SILive.com that the mayor will be reviewing the letter.