Will supply-chain delays affect Staten Island seawall project? Pols say more fed funding needed.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A crucial infrastructure project designed to protect Staten Island’s East Shore from coastal storms will run out of funds due to COVID-19 pandemic-related supply-chain delays and shortages that have raised the cost of construction, a bi-partisan group of lawmakers said.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) penned a letter to leading officials at the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) calling for the agency to use federal funds recently made available by President Joe Biden to keep the project known as the East Shore seawall on-track.

“The high levels of precipitation from this most recent extreme weather event was a stark reminder to the residents of Staten Island of the risks they continue to face as they wait for this project to be constructed,” the letter reads. “Should hurricane force winds impact the area, as experienced during Hurricane Sandy, natural coastal barriers will give way to flood waters once again.”

“We cannot underestimate the importance of how urgently this project must be completed,” said the letter.

The elected officials, who noted that part of the seawall will be proceeding after a series of hitches, said the need for additional funding is now clear amid the supply chain issues.

A source with knowledge of the project said the funding gap now expected amounts to around $365 million. Sixty-five percent of the seawall is to be funded by the federal government while the remaining 35% is the responsibility of the city and state.

The USACE serves as the agency leading construction of the seawall, officially known as the “South Shore of Staten Island Coastal Storm Risk Management Project.”

Malliotakis said the project will “eventually run out of funding” in an interview with the Advance/SILive.com, adding that the phases closer to the end of construction would be in most jeopardy.

“We’re trying to be proactive and get the money allocated up-front,” said Malliotakis, who has previously called for all levels of government to work together to complete the project with urgency.

A bill Biden signed into law on Sept. 30 includes $3 billion for the USACE to use in construction of flood and storm reduction projects, and borough officials asked the agency use a portion of that allocation for the seawall.

“This project is key to safeguarding Staten Island, New York from future flooding devastation as experienced by Hurricane Sandy in 2012,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.

Gene Pawlik, a spokesman for the USACE, confirmed the agency received the letter.

“As always, we will look at the concerns expressed by the Members and will respond at the appropriate time,” Pawlik added.

ROADBLOCKS FOR THE SEAWALL

A decades-old hazardous waste issue has caused an ongoing rift in the project, as the environmental remediation of the area toward the southern portion of the proposed seawall in Great Kills has been a point of contention between the local and federal government, the Advance/SILive.com previously reported.

An NYPD anti-terror flyover in 2005 preparing for a possible “dirty bomb” scenario originally found the radiation around Great Kills Park, which is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. An Advance/SILive.com report from the time of the NYPD’s helicopter flyover indicated a piece of metal equipment — possibly part of an old X-ray machine — was found underground on Aug. 2, 2005.

The USACE will be handling the remediation efforts in the park, but has declined to handle the work needed in the area adjacent to the park where the seawall project will be. Additionally, the current Army assistant secretary of civil works declined to grant a policy waiver in May that would’ve allowed the USACE to handle the radiation remediation.

While parties in the city and state initially had the belief that the USACE would be handling the work with the city covering the cost, the agency has not indicated it would take that responsibility.

Schumer previously told the Advance/SILive.com a change in leadership at a key U.S. Army position might be cause for optimism on the environmental remediation front.

And while Malliotakis previously expressed hope the USACE would handle the work, she fervently believes the city should begin seeking a private contractor to do the remediation to avoid future delays.

“We need to make sure that the city, state and federal partners are all working together” in order for the project to get completed, said Malliotakis, whose former assembly district was brutally damaged by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. “It’s just too critically important for the future of Staten Island.”

Officials said New York City recently submitted plans for additional drainage projects to the USACE that will allow for the construction of the project’s interior drainage to begin, and the city is now working to issue contracts for that stage of construction.

Malliotakis said she was told to expect ground to break on the project in the fall of 2022.