www.BXTimes.com BRONX WEEKLY June 23, 2019 2
‘Sea-gate’ idea possible for Hutchinson River resiliency
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A storm resiliency plan that
would see the construction
of a sea gate barrier on a
borough river has local
environmentalists expressing
concern.
Members of the Hutchinson
River Restoration Project are concerned
about a proposal to build
a 20-foot-tall concrete wall with
a sea gate along the Hutchinson
River near where it meets Eastchester
Bay, in the vicinity of the
Pelham Bridge.
The group believes that such
a structure could have a drastic
impact on plants and wildlife.
The HRRP maintains the
Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary
opposite Co-op City along
the river, which is in what is
known as a tidal estuary where
saltwater from Eastchester Bay
and freshwater from the river’s
origin in Westchester co-mingle
with one another.
The organization’s president,
Eleanor Rae, said that the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers is looking
at the possibility of the ‘sea
gate’ and other concrete barriers
along the river as part of a larger
study of resiliency in both New
York and New Jersey called the
New York and New Jersey Harbor
and Tributaries Focus Area
Feasibility Study.
The study was commissioned
after Hurricane Sandy to fi nd
resiliency solutions if another
large superstorm hit the New
York area.
Rae said that even though the
completed study is expected in
late 2019 or early 2020, and work
on any recommended projects
would be at least two to three
years way, they are never the less
vigilant because it remained unclear
how such structures would
affect ecology, plants and wildlife.
“I do think this is a terribly
important issue for all of us,”
said Rae, who said that members
of her group attended a meeting
on the project in April at Hostos
College.
Even if a ‘sea gate’ was rarely
closed for long periods of time,
most in the group think it could
have a major negative effect on
the intermingling of water from
both sources of the river, Rae and
several other members said.
A barrier with a gate would be
necessary, said Carl Lundgren,
an HRRP member, because the
Hutchinson River is an active
waterway for commercial barges
that deliver materials further up
river.
Lundgren and Rae both want
to ensure that U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is aware that the
Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary
is part of the river and needs to
be accommodated.
Matthew Umbro, HHRC vice
president said that a structure so
large, spanning hundreds of feet
in width, would have a drastic
impact on what is a rather unique
ecosystem, especially since even
more concrete walls could be
constructed elsewhere along the
river, according to draft proposals.
“Even the footprint on a project
(this size) along the river would
require clearing some of the forest
and building on and through
marshland,” said Umbro.
Umbro said HHRC supports
natural solutions to the prevent
fl ooding.
Paul Mankiewicz, a biologist
from City Island, said that a combination
of plants and marshes
(natural barriers), along with seawalls,
could stop water.
A spokesman for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Michael Embrich,
said these ideas are just concepts
at this point.
The corps is currently in the
process of culling options, and
taking a look at the fi scal and environmental
implications of proposals,
before submitting a fi nal
report.
“We will be looking at and
working with our partners to fi nd
engineering solutions, as we have
done for hundreds of years,” said
Embrich.
Any comments or questions
can be addressed to nynjharbortribstudy@
usace.army.mil
A group of advocates with the Hutchinson River Restoration Project are concerned
about issues related to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers idea concerning
a possible ‘sea gate’ on the Hutchinson River just north of where it meets Eastchester
Bay (pictured here near Turtle Cove). So far, the wall is only part of a
draft of ideas for resiliency. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
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