MOUNT VERNON

1. DRAFT Last Update: 11/27/2018 Mayor Richard Thomas MOUNT VERNON I N I T I A T I V E SMART, CLEAN & GREEN

2. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing BrokenSewers & Waterways Under the leadership of Mayor Richard Thomas, the City of Mount Vernon has developed an innovative storm water and greenscaping infrastructure plan to address the challenges of degraded water quality, aging infrastructure, the impacts of climate change on human health and our ecosystems. Mount Vernon will continue to demonstrate that the City intends to fully comply with the United States Department of Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) Order related to fixing broken sewers and clean up vital waterways under Docket No. CWA-02-2016-3024. This water contamination runoff crisis is happening in all cities across the United States which are characterized by paved roads, rooftops, parking lots, and impacted soils. Due to these elements major cities have serious problems with storm water and those problems are only growing as urbanization proceeds and climate change causes more severe weather events. • According to the USEPA, urban runoff is the greatest contributor of contamination to the nation‘s waters, with combined sewer overflow outfalls releasing an estimated 850 billion gallons each year (USEPA 2004). • A New York Times analysis estimates that a U.S. water line bursts every two minutes, leaking wastewater into properties, damaging streets, and releasing pollutants into rivers and drinking water supplies. • The American Society of Civil Engineers assigned both the U.S. drinking water and wastewater systems a grade of D-, observing that many U.S. systems have reached the end of their “useful design lives.” Did you know: DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE

3. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing Broken Sewers & Waterways The immediate actions to comply with the USEPA Order to fix broken sewers and to clean up vital waterways: • Mayor Richard Thomas exercised an emergency authority to contract with DolphRotfeld Engineering to commence work immediately. • The Thomas Administration secured the help of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who directed Deputy Secretary for the Environment Venetia Lannon to provide the City of Mount Vernon with Technical and Financial guidance to ensure project success. • The Thomas Administration expanded the core team by adding qualified personnel to ensure all aspects of the problems are being addressed. • The City of Mount Vernon identified potential contractors to perform emergency repair work including: DeFoe Contracting; AECOM; Xyelum; PCI Industries; M. Zonzini Pipeline Services; Yonkers Contracting; Montesano Contracting; ELQ Industries; and more. • The City of Mount Vernon will hold numerous roundtables updating both public and potential vendors on sewer upgrades process. • Mayor Thomas is developing a parks expansion program and “greenscaping plan” that transforms impervious environments to open land and reclaims underutilized park assets to mitigate environmental damage. Hutchinson River Waterfront Pelham Borderline / Hutchinson River Parkway Exits 7 - 12 DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE

4. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing Broken Sewers & Waterways Mayor Richard Thomas has expanded the vision of the compliance program to include the following draft principles: • Mount Vernon to become a national leader in green water management. • Mount Vernon to invest in data collection, heavy equipment, new technology and both short term and long-term planning to implement source based solutions to stop pollution from entering waterways and cleanup said waterways. • Mount Vernon to implement requirements for new and existing infrastructure to reduce sewer usage through proven source runoff management programs and tactics. • Mount Vernon to increase its greenspace (currently at 1% of 4.4 sq miles) through the creation of new parks, expansion of current ones, and encouraging green rooftops to soften the urban environment. • Mount Vernon to take on a large scale streetscaping program to expand “green-print” that enhances storm water management and provides air quality improvements. Mount Vernon Shores Waterfront Mount Vernon intends to reclaim a longtime city dump and storage facility that is currently in violation of state D.E.C regulations by converting the area into a recreational space providing access to Eastchester Bay, the East River and Long Island Sound. DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE

5. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing BrokenSewers & Waterways • Mount Vernon to develop incentives for property owners to go green, make new and existing infrastructures passive, aim for near zero energy usage. • Mount Vernon to convert zombie vampires, a.k.a. abandoned buildings, into open space or construct new structures for responsible redevelopment. • Mount Vernon to restore rivers and connected waterbodies with physical habitat enhancement measures to strengthen aquatic health. • Mount Vernon to invest in additional infrastructure controls, adding equipment to meet water quality standards. • Mount Vernon will seek authorization from State and Federal authorities to dredge impacted waterways as part of an overall rehabilitation solution to make said waterways swimmable, fishable and accessible for recreation again. State and Federal clean water reclamation funding will also be needed to achieve this goal. This may require the reauthorization of certain waterways by the US Army Corps of Engineers. DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE

6. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing BrokenSewers & Waterways VS Gray - Infrastructure Green - Infrastructure • Impervious surfaces lead to high volumes and rates of untreated runoff. • Sewage and debris overflows cause severe contamination of rivers and other water bodies. • Broken pipes cause hazardous sewer back-ups into property basements and also cause undermined streets which create harmful potholes. • Destroy aquatic habitats, erode stream channels, and damage embankments. • Millions of dollars in sewer repairs to fix waste water systems that have reached the end of their “useful design lives.” • Restores permeability to the urban landscape as a natural drainage system, using landscape design interventions – such as soil, infiltration planters, green roofs, rain gardens, vegetated swales, and permeable pavement to capture runoff at the source rather than the end of the pipeline. • A better management of storm flows by reducing the volume and toxicity of storm water runoff that decreases to flooding while increasing water quality. • Projects will be more modest than massive underground construction projects which take less time to install and are also cost effective to the taxpayers • Provide clean drinking water and filters out air pollution • Provides recreational space • Creates wildlife habitat • Opportunity for the development of jobs and careers Bronx River Waterfront DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE

7. The City of Mount Vernon – Clean & Green InitiativeE.P.A. Compliance Progress and Next Steps on Fixing Broken Sewers & Waterways Team Members DRAFT - MOUNT VERNON CLEAN & GREEN INITIATIVE