Good News from Hallets Cove

In October, we described how citizen water sampling of Hallets Cove on the East River had prompted the NYC Department of Environmental Protection to identify a source of contamination. Dye testing at the Astoria Houses, a NYC Housing Authority development with 22 buildings, found one building that had sewage flowing into a storm sewer that discharges directly into Hallets Cove. The Housing Authority had 30 days to fix the problem.

We’ve received confirmation that the fix was made, and DEP plans to collect water samples to gauge the effect of the fix on Hallets Cove, where Long Island City Community Boathouse conducts public programs on the water.

Citizen samplers working with the Boathouse, NYC Water Trail Association, LaGuardia Community College and HarborLab also plan to test the water at the end of January, and to resume weekly testing in the Spring.