Sewage from the Queen City of the Sound

Residents and politicians in New Rochelle want to know why, if the sewage plant that serves the Queen City of the Sound was designed to treat 13.6 million gallons a day but actually treats 15 million gallons a day, big new housing projects are being approved by and built in the city.

Almost 20 years ago the state put a moratorium on new extensions of the sewer district. This came during the environmental review of a proposal to build almost 2,000 condos on Davids Island, off New Rochelle, and led eventually to the death of that project.

So why was the Davids Island project not allowed to hook in to the sewage plant but big downtown developments being built today can?

The answer is that Davids Island was not in the New Rochelle sewage district and the moratorium prevented new additions to the district. The new downtown developments are already in the district and thus have to be allowed to connect in, despite the fact that the treatment plant is over its permit. Today’s Journal News has a story and a couple of county legislators are planning to discuss the situation at a public meeting tomorrow evening.