By DAVID CRUZ  

Amid a decade of delays for the Croton Water Filtration Plant project, Mayor Bill de Blasio has re-hired the city Department of Environmental Protection commissioner largely criticized for turning the plant project into the city’s costliest endeavor.

Emily Lloyd was once again tapped to run the DEP, replacing outgoing chief Carter Strickland.  She was DEP boss from 2005 to 2008 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, charged with overseeing construction of the plant. But the project gradually spiraled out of control, resulting in federal fines for slow work, federal probes into the project’s mob-connected construction firms, and audits showing ballooning cost overruns.  Costs have since been passed on to Bronxites, soaked with sky high water bills over the last decade.

It’s long been considered a boondoggle by dogged activists and elected officials who’ve followed the plant’s unfortunate story, creating a divide between them and DEP officials who’ve stonewalled over requests for transparency. From the beginning, activists have harangued the city to investigate the mishandling of the project under Lloyd’s tenure.

Passing the Torch Back to Lloyd
Still, de Blasio labeled Lloyd a “highly-respected leader” when he announced her encore at a ceremony on Feb. 18, adding that he’s known her for over 20 years and has “just the greatest faith in and the greatest respect for [her].” After leaving city government, Lloyd served as president of the Prospect Park Alliance, a nonprofit group that beautifies Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

Lloyd ignored the filtration plant in her remarks, focusing primarily on making repairs to the Delaware Aqueduct, another New York City waterway system that carries half of the drinking water into the city. With steel portions currently leaking from age, DEP was tasked to build a temporary 2.5-mile bypass tunnel.  DEP Deputy Commissioner said the project is “ahead of schedule and under budget,” opposite of the filtration plant.

De Blasio’s view of Lloyd ran counter to Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz, whose 81st Assembly District falls within the filtration plant. “I question, especially given some of the good appointments [de Blasio] made, why he would bring back a re-tread from the Bloomberg administration who presided for some time over the cost overruns,” said Dinowitz.

Gary Axelbank, an activist delving into the plant issue for the last decade, said Lloyd barely attended meetings held monthly by the Croton Filtration Monitoring Committee (CFMC). When she and her deputy commissioner attended a July 2007 private meeting at Dinowitz’s district office, Axelbank recalled her as standoffish, often speaking in a “condescending tone.”

During CFMC gatherings, Lloyd allowed a policy that forbade the public from asking direct questions to DEP officials or managers related to the project. Instead, questions were deferred to board members who later broached those inquiries to the DEP.

“We had to fight and petition to get them to change the rules,” said Axelbank, adding that de Blasio’s choice for DEP suggests more of a regressive than progressive stance, which de Blasio has self-popularized.  “If the mayor was going to move forward and really understand what the issues were here, he would find somebody who would rein in the costs, [and] understand the problems,” said Axelbank.  “[Lloyd] doesn’t appear to be that person.”

A History Marred With Bungling
The filtration plant has remained a bruise in the northwest Bronx, largely because of its sheer mishandling that extends beyond Lloyd’s tenure. The plant was ordered built by the federal government 20 years ago after finding that raw water from the New Croton Aqueduct was frequently colored.  Forcing its hand, the DEP constructed the filtration plant beneath the Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park, seizing 43 acres of parkland and sectioning off the public walkway at the Jerome Park Reservoir, where filtered water would travel.

“We’ve always wanted access to the Reservoir,” said Axelbank.  “Under Emily Lloyd we just got farther and farther away.”

The city pledged $200 million in beautification projects for Bronx parks in exchange for the community’s approval.  But assurances went unfulfilled after an audit by then Comptroller John Liu found that roughly $107 million worth of projects were completed. Meantime, the number of construction jobs promised to Bronxites didn’t pan out.

When Lloyd came on board, she often balked at matters of more transparency.  When asked if she would agree to bi-yearly budget updates and community roundtable discussions with experts who calculated the bids, she declined.  Although she promised no more blasting will happen along the Reservoir site, she reneged after insisting that blasting will help speed up the timetable.

When the inflated costs became apparent, the city’s Independent Budget Office found that the project went $2 billion over-budget, from its original $990 million estimate.  This analysis came just a year after Lloyd voted down a resolution by CFMC to launch a probe into the project’s finances.  Lloyd maintained that the inflated costs were due to surprise price jumps in construction material. Dinowitz disputed the charge, blaming design changes to the project’s ballooning price tag.

 More Problems
A host of problems further delayed progress for the plant, including original contractor, Tutor Perini, bowing out of the biggest phase of the project in 2007.  Swedish-firm Skanska was hired at an extra $200 million, but the delays incurred federal fines after violating agreed-upon start times.  All this happened under Lloyd’s watch.

After Lloyd left, the problems at the plant persisted with one construction firm being charged for two separate violations that included ties to the mob and fraud.

The project is now at the tail end of construction, four years after the city’s initial completion date of 2010. In February, DEP made some headway in the project by entering its test phase of the filtration plant, monitoring the mechanical and filtration systems, according to a DEP spokesman.  He did not answer questions on Lloyd’s qualifications, though he mentioned she is expected to resume her post in mid-March.

The de Blasio administration did not answer questions relating to Lloyd, including the administration’s process when vetting Lloyd given her lackluster response to the community. She’s expected to resume her position in mid-March.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.