NYCDEPCostAnalys isReport-0607 .pdf - New York-New Jersey ...

Executive Summary
At the request of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) the
Advanced Wastewater Treatment Programmatic Assistance Team (AWT Team) has developed
conceptual designs, cost estimates and treatment projections for ten levels of treatment at four of
the City’s Water Pollution Control Plants (WPCPs): Port Richmond, Red Hook, North River, and
Owls Head. This work was prepared in response to the Nutrient Workgroup of the New York-
New Jersey Harbor Estuary Plan (HEP), which has expressed an intent to promulgate a Total
Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for nitrogen and carbon by December 31, 2008 for sections of
New York Harbor. Detailed water quality modeling is underway that will specify the limiting
nutrient – carbon, nitrogen, or a combination of the two – and the key zones of the harbor in need
of load reduction. The nutrient workgroup has stated that it will consider the associated costs of
advanced treatment alternatives in combination with their projected water quality benefit.
The year 2045 was selected as the design horizon for this project, and a set of projected flows
and loads were developed and agreed upon for this effort. Conceptual design reports and
drawing sets were prepared at each of the facilities selected for in-depth analysis. Projected
annual average effluent concentrations were developed from BioWin process modeling and fullscale
experience. Capital cost estimates were prepared from these conceptual design reports,
drawing sets, and a set of contingencies and escalation factors were applied appropriate for the
New York City marketplace.
The Team’s conceptual capital cost curves are presented in this executive summary. These cost
curves include conceptual costs developed on behalf of HEP. Where available, these conceptual
cost curves were supplemented with known construction costs (escalated to 2007 dollars) for
Advanced Basic BNR and Full Step BNR technologies currently under construction at Upper
East River WPCPs. These conceptual capital cost estimates do not include the cost of land
acquisition, which are unknown at this time. Land acquisition is likely to be a major cost driver
for advanced technologies at space-constrained plants such as North River, Owls Head, and to a
lesser extend Red Hook.
This submittal intends to fulfill the HEP Nutrient Workgroup’s request for draft cost information.
Objectives for the final submittal in November 2007 include providing operation and
maintenance (O&M) cost curves as well as capital costs, and refining this report based on the
feedback provided by NYCDEP and HEP.
Background
Low levels of dissolved oxygen (DO) have been observed in various locations throughout the
New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary in numerous water quality sampling studies. Water
quality modeling shows that low levels of dissolved oxygen will continue to persist in future
conditions. This water quality modeling work has shown that both nitrogen and carbon
discharges have an impact on harborwide water quality issues. The degree to which these two
constituents influence DO levels under varying conditions is an additional variable at play. HEP
is developing management zones for locations throughout the Harbor, similar in nature to the
Long Island Sound Study (LISS) management zones, of which, the Upper and Lower East River
are a part. In the long term, these management zones may be used to establish Total Maximum
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