41 



be necessary. The decisions on the cost-effectiveness of these further 

 controls will be complex and tough to make. 



Several demonstration projects (financed by EPA and New York City) are 

 underway to investigate methods to control, store, and treat combined sewer 

 outfall discharges. For example, a project to demonstrate the feasibility 

 of a floating pontoon storage device in the tidal Fresh Creek (Brooklyn) is 

 in the initial stages of design. This device, developed for use in Swedish 

 freshwater lakes, is estimated to cost 1/10 of concrete storage. Another 

 project, on Staten Island (Port Richmond), is investigating the use of 

 ultra-violet light in the disinfection of both combined sewer outfall 

 discharges and treated effluents from a sewerage treatment plant. 



These regulatory processes and feasibility studies are important to the 

 improvement of water quality in the Hudson estuar y, an d thereby the Bight 

 Apex. They are continually being evaluated by EPA and the two States with 

 the stated goal of attaining the water uses as illustrated on Figure 3. 

 EPA, New York and New Jersey are committed to utilize all legal means to 

 attain water-quality standards established for the estuary and coastal 

 waters (up to 3-mile limit). 



In order to attain the established standards, an improvement in water 

 quality is necessary. Our focus in the past has been on restoring the 

 quality of the estuary. We have not really focused on the impacts that 

 these decisions have had on the Bight Apex. This will change 



