Raw sewage keeps residents from enjoying Flushing Creek
Navigating a muddy trail, Xin Xu walked around the creek’s shore to set his fishing rod and the rest of his equipment. Then he sat on his toolbox waiting for the fish to bite, 20 feet away from a train’s track. Catch and release, catch and release.
“Just to relax here, in the fresh air, or maybe not fresh air,” said the 38 year old, who comes fishing twice a week. “The air is not good, the water sometimes is dirty, dark, and it smells like gas.”
But Flushing Creek is the closest fishing spot to his house. Xu lives in Flushing, Queens, and cannot go too far away for fishing. He needs to be available both for his family, who lives in the area, and his job, as a landlord.
Flushing Creek is one of the most polluted waterways in New York City, with more than 2.3 billion gallons of raw sewage dumped in its waters every year, according to the city’s department of Environmental Protection. Adjoining a very densely populated neighborhood, the shore is locked between Flushing Meadows Park’s gulf, new buildings and highways. Most local residents cannot make use of the creek or the waterfront.
Angela and Lili Gonzalez, mother and daughter, came to spend time at the Sky View mall, constructed on the shore of the creek. They have been living in Flushing for seven years and since they moved in, nothing has changed. “A long time ago, when we got there, it was like this, and now it is still stinky,” said Angela, 50 years old. “When you want to enjoy the park, of course it bothers.”
New York City’s combined sewage system makes it very sensitive to rainfall episodes. Since stormwater pipes and sewage pipes are connected, the overflow is directly sent to the city’s waterways. Flushing Creek is a low elevation point and gathers waste water.
Recent samples show that the Creek is unsafe for swimming, with levels of enterococcus colonies, a bacterium commonly found in feces, rising to 3169 per 100ml last june. Similar levels have been reported in the Bronx River and Newton Creek.
The pollution of Flushing Creek and the larger bay deters inhabitants from accessing water. The organization Guardians of the Flushing Bay works on water quality testing and sets events to connect residents to the waterfront. “It is highly polluted and that can be a turnoff,” said Rebecca Pryor, the executive director of the organization. “It is surrounded by massive highways, massive parking lots and it’s hard to get to if you do not have a car or a bike; there are a lot of economic barriers,” she added.
One solution, according to local organizations, would be to treat the water and restore wetlands. However, concerns rose since new housing units and malls are to be constructed, risking to overload the sewage infrastructure.
Eric Sanderson, an expert in landscape and ecosystem ecology at the New York City Botanical Gardens, explained that the existing infrastructure will not be able to deal with the intensity of future rain events. “There is a limit to what engineers could do,” he said, “ and now, with climate change and much more intense rain events, there is a water quantity and quality problem. And the water quantity problem is something you cannot easily fix.”
A housing and commercial complex, the Special Flushing Waterfront, will be built on the shore, taking on 29 acres of polluted land. Bridget Palacios, 31 years old, has seen the neighborhood changing with the construction of new buildings. “These apartments, they are selling the view on the Flushing Bay,” she said. “But as a Queens’ person, I would not live there for a thousand dollars!”
