The impact of Superstorm Sandy on the region's power, transportation and institutional infrastructure was clearly evident to millions of customers who suffered outages, delays and dislocations. The hurricane's effect on regional environmental infrastructure—drinking water and wastewater treatment plants—was less obvious to most people but amplified their vulnerability to wind and water threats.
Sandy caused 11 billion gallons of partially treated and untreated sewage to flow from plants flooded by storm surges or rain into waterways in Washington, D.C., and eight East Coast states last October, according to a report by Climate Central, a Princeton, N.J., environmental group. More than 94% of the total Sandy-generated sewage overflow occurred in New York and New Jersey, with four wastewater treatment plants in the two states each reporting flows of more than 1 billion gallons. That is despite what the group said were "heroic" efforts by operations staff to reduce the impacts. Treatment plant recovery, damage repair and resiliency building already are costing the two states more than $3.7 billion, and the tab is far from final.