News

Belgrave Pipe Update from Udalls Cove

Many folks who have passed by the Douglaston Point recently have seen the large work barge moored in Little Neck Bay near the mouth of Udalls Cove. This is part of the long-awaited project to replace the discharge pipe from the Belgrave Sewage Treatment Plant. 

The Belgrave plant is located east of Virginia Point, near the north end of Little Neck Parkway. It treats sewage from parts of Great Neck. The discharge pipe carries the treated wastewater (which is really very clean) out into Little Neck Bay. The current discharge pipe runs from the plant across the Udalls Cove marsh and out to that ugly concrete structure with the daisies (or sunflowers?) painted on it, visible from Douglas Manor’s Memorial Field. From there the pipe continues just under the muddy cove bottom until it is about 850 feet north of the Douglaston Point, where the cleaned wastewater is discharged into the Bay. 

The 90-year old pipe is leaking and needs to be replaced. The replacement pipe will be installed deep underground, using directional drilling. The drill rig will be located on the treatment plant property, and all the drilling will be done from that location. The pipe will take off from the plant property, then dip down to a depth of about 40-50 feet underground. It will continue underground north for about a half mile, and then curve back up to the same discharge location as the current pipe. The diffusers through which the treated wastewater is discharged will be wider and more efficient than the current diffuser. 

Under the construction permit issued by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the current pipe will be left in place so as not to disturb the marsh. However, the concrete structure, and the final 140 feet of pipe extending from the Udalls Cove shoreline to the structure, will be removed, as the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee had requested. The work barge that’s now in the water is taking borings so that the geological conditions underground, through which the new pipe will be placed, are fully understood and incorporated into the project design before the drilling starts. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.