Case Studies
Exploring Paths to Long-Term Resilience: Evolving Options for Protecting the City of Kingston’s Wastewater Treatment Plant from Rising Waters
At the intersection of Roundout Creek and the Hudson River, the City of Kingston’s East Strand Street wastewater treatment plant stands just a few feet away from a rising estuarial river. This case study explores impacts from prior flooding on the facility and examines how Kingston can treat its sewage over the long term without interruption from coastal storms and elevated sea levels.
Built in the 1940s, Kingston’s wastewater treatment plant sits at the outlet of Rondout Creek into the Hudson River. The base elevation of the facility is just a few feet above the normal tidal peak river elevation. Flooding at the facility occurs when hurricanes and tropical storms generate storm surge in the river. As sea level rises, the facility will suffer extensive damage from the upward shift in the base height of the river, even if tropical storms remain similar to current storms in intensity or frequency.
After sizable tropical storms in the mid-1950s, the Lower Hudson Valley experienced no major storm events until 2011 and 2012, when the remnants of Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy moved north through the Hudson Valley. The remnants of Hurricane Irene only caused minor damage,1 but Superstorm Sandy revealed the vulnerability of the facility. Workers pumped floodwaters out of the treatment plant as the storm surge subsided and vacuumed and wiped equipment to get the plant back online, but equipment that had been submerged started to fail.2 An electrical transformer stopped working within the first few hours, and only an emergency generator supplied electricity. Over the next few years, previously submerged equipment failed at a higher rate than usual, leading the Federal Emergency Management Agency to agree in 2016 to provide $2.7 million in funds to replace critical equipment.3
Highlights
- Even when treatment facilities are in locations vulnerable to flooding, certain factors can limit relocation plans. These factors include the possibly limited extent of historical damage, the potential to upgrade the existing facility to reduce flood risk, and the high cost of moving the facility.
- The need to comply with regulatory requirements (and avoid fines) can take precedence over long-term strategic plans to protect the facility from sea level rise and other climate hazards.
Soon after Superstorm Sandy, the City of Kingston formed a Tidal Waterfront Task Force. The task force recognized the wastewater treatment plant as one of the three most vulnerable pieces of infrastructure in the city.4 In 2015, an engineering firm made an in-depth report on the facility and noted alternatives for minimizing its future flood risk.5 This report numbered over 100 pages and detailed the mechanical, electrical, and structural components of the existing facility and needs for future upgrades. In addition, the report identified and ranked 10 possible nearby sites for moving the wastewater treatment plant to a higher elevation.
The most viable option for a new site was a vacant commercial property about 1 mile from the existing facility with elevations near 50 feet above current sea level, which would almost certainly prevent future flooding. In 2015, cost estimates for a new facility were between $100 million and $120 million, a large capital cost for the city. Another option was to upgrade the existing facility. Already partially underway, an upgrade would relocate critical mechanical and electrical components to a high-water elevation of 10 feet (the Superstorm Sandy high-water elevation was 8 feet). The treatment tanks themselves are over 10 feet tall. Given that the tanks are designed to keep treatment water in, they are generally resistant to floodwater unless the floodwater spills in over the top. With the mechanical and electrical components raised, the plant would be resilient to all but the worst-case scenario for flooding in the next several decades.5 These upgrades to the existing facility will cost around $15 million. However, as sea level continues to rise, the facility may eventually require more extensive upgrades, making a move to a new location more attractive.
While planning for future climate impacts, municipalities also face a challenge in meeting existing regulatory requirements. In 2023, the City of Kingston completed $9.5 million project to build a longer effluent pipe at the site of the existing wastewater treatment facility to comply with state pollutant discharge regulations.6 Effluent from the treatment plant had been exceeding standards for nitrogen, and the new effluent pipe enhances dilution and brings the facility back into compliance. Without this work, the City of Kingston would have faced fines and litigation.7
Rising water levels in the Hudson River and Rondout Creek caused by a storm in December 2023, just days after the ribbon cutting for the wastewater treatment facility upgrade project, required the city to install flood barriers at the wastewater treatment plant to help ensure continued operations.8 The need to address current impediments to the operation of the existing facility makes it difficult for the City of Kingston to provide the resources and effort necessary to move the facility to a new location.
References
1. One year after the storms: Where we are now. (2012, August 26). Times Herald-Record. https://www.recordonline.com/story/news/2012/08/26/one-year-after-storms-where/49442760007/
2. Kirby, P., & Wind, K. (2012, November 5). N.Y. wastewater treatment plant back online after Sandy-related shutdown. Treatment Plant Operator. https://www.tpomag.com/online_exclusives/2012/11/n.y._wastewater_treatment_plant_back_online_after_sandy_related_shutdown
3. Office of Senator Chuck Schumer. (2016, April 14). FEMA heeds Schumer’s call to fully fund Kingston’s sewage treatment plant flooded by Hurricane Sandy. Retrieved January 18, 2024, from https://www.schumer.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/fema-heeds-schumers-call-to-fully-fund-kingstons-sewage-treatment-plant-flooded-by-hurricane-sandy
4. City of Kingston Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force. (2013). Planning for rising waters: Final report of the City of Kingston Tidal Waterfront Flooding Task Force. https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/remediation_hudson_pdf/ktowntffr.pdf
5. City of Kingston & Barton & Loguidice. (2015). Long-term capital plan, East Strand Street Wastewater Treatment Facility. https://kingston-ny.gov/content/8399/22301/22344/default.aspx
6. Todd. (2023, December 15). Kingston water treatment plan project complete. Mid Hudson News. https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/12/15/kingston-water-treatment-plan-project-complete/
7. Zangla, A. (2021, October 9). Kingston to borrow up to extra $9M for wastewater plant work. https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2021/10/09/kingston-to-borrow-up-to-extra-9m-for-wastewater-plant-work/
8. Diane Pineiro-Zucker. (2023, December 18). One dead in Catskill as floods hit Mid-Hudson region; Kingston mayor warns of tidal flooding. Daily Freeman. https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2023/12/18/heavy-rains-cause-power-outages-some-schools-to-close/