FEMA Reimburses Westchester $2.4 Million for Sandy Costs

When Superstorm Sandy tore through Westchester blustery winds knocked out the power at the Yonkers Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant, while heavy rain threatened to flood out the facility.

“Superstorm Sandy devastated our region, taking lives, devastating homes and businesses, and threatening to cripple our region’s infrastructure, including our supply of safe drinking water,” said U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey, the senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee in a news release.

To ensure that the plant would continue to provide clean drinking water, Westchester County used emergency measures including running temporary generators, draining flooded areas, rewiring and installing bypass systems, and transporting sludge to other sites to prevent backup of sewage and harmful waste at the Yonkers Wastewater Treatment Plant, according to the release.

The Yonkers Wastewater Treatment Plant serves multiple towns in Westchester including New Rochelle. 

“The Yonkers Joint Wastewater Treatment Plant took a direct hit, and Westchester County went to extreme and costly lengths to keep the plant up and running to protect residents’ health,” said Lowey in the release.

Measures taken during Sandy and in the aftermath of the storm put Westchester in the hole for more than $2 million.

However, Lowey announced Tuesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s public assistance program will now reimburse Westchester for 90 percent of the emergency measures taken by the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilites to secure the water treatment plant. 

The $2,477,959 in funds are a part of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, a bipartisan bill that was passed in January to help municipalities affected by Sandy. 

“Municipalities in Westchester and Rockland counties have received more than $35 million in FEMA grants since the storm hit," according to the statement from Lowey.