NYAW presents plans for iron removal plant in Valley Stream

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New York American Water presented plans to improve the landscaping of the iron removal plant being built on North Terrace Place in Valley Stream after several residents expressed concerns about its unsightliness at a public hearing last Thursday.

The plans include planting Leyland cypresses and Japanese Zelkova trees in the fall, as well as construction of a metal house around the tanks in 2020. “We want to make it look good,” said John Kilpatrick, the engineering manager for New York American. “Then we realized that if we put a building around this, we could run it through the winter.”

He said that only about half of the utility’s iron removal plants could run in the cold weather, and with the building, the tanks would not have to be winterized. As a result, residents’ clothing would not become rust-stained from being laundered in the winter.

“The goal of this project is just to improve water quality for everybody,” Kilpatrick said.

Before the building housing the tanks could be built, however, New York American would have to get permits from the Village of Valley Stream’s building department. Representatives from the water utility would then hold another public hearing on the designs of the building.

Mayor Ed Fare said that the village is working with the company on a number of possible designs for the building. He even asked if the utility could plant flowers along with the trees to further improve the landscaping and said that any building must fit with the aesthetic of the community.

When asked how the construction of the projects would be funded, Kilpatrick said that, “a small percentage” of the increase to residents’ water bills “is due to all the infrastructure we’re doing.”

“The cost of the infrastructure gets shared by everybody in our service district,” he said.

Residents react

Some residents said they were not impressed with the presentation. “Nothing was accomplished,” said Araceli Mata, who lives across from the Terrace Place construction site. “They’re just building this monstrosity right in front of my house.”

Construction on the plant began in November 2017, after the Valley Stream’s building department approved the plans. Letters were then sent out to residents and a public hearing was held.

Mata said that, since then, her property value decreased by 15 percent and her plants died. “I’m just concerned about the environmental affects,” she said.

As part of the hearing, Kilpatrick said that only inert materials would be used at the iron removal plant, including chlorine, sand and well water. “There’s no hazardous chemicals,” he said.

He also said that during the past three years, New York American has worked to improve security at all of its plants. New tanks have been installed to prevent water from seeping into the ground and new containment procedures have been implemented. “We have very strict safety standards,” Kilpatrick said.

Lee Buccola, a Martens Avenue resident, said she was happy with the presentation. “I’m happy that they’re going to put a plant in there because I haven’t been able to wear white clothes in forever,” said Buccola. “I have really bad stains.”

She also said that she was happy that the water company planned to build a metal structure to house the tanks, which she can see from her upstairs rooms. “I think the building is the key thing to it,” she said. “And I get that they need a building so that it works all year round.”

The plant is scheduled to become functional this month.