ASTORIA — Things are looking up — and smelling better — for the neighborhood.
The city wrapped up $3 million in upgrades at the Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant — an effort to stem the pervasive stink of sewage from the facility that's plagued parts of Astoria and northern Queens for years, officials announced this week.
The Department of Environmental Protection installed aluminum covers on the plant's four "sludge tanks" that are designed to capture and remove smells through carbon filters, which can clean up to 21,742 cubic feet of air per minute, officials said.
Residents near Bowery Bay — located along the East River just east of LaGuardia Airport — are no stranger to the smell of raw sewage. Stink from the plant has long been a problem for those living in Astoria Heights, even wafting as far as Astoria Park on warm days.
In his State of the District speech earlier this year, City Councilman Costa Constantinides recalled growing up with the smell, which he said has prompted his young son to nickname the East River "Rotten Egg River."
"I grew up near the corner of 42nd and Ditmars, and I vividly recall my mom coming home from work with tears in her eyes because the stench was that bad," he said during the speech.
The new covers and filtration system at Bowery Bay will capture 99 percent odors coming from the plant's tanks, officials said.
The city is taking other initiatives to combat local sewage stink: this year saw the start of a $47 million project to dredge smelly sediment from the bottom of Flushing Bay near LaGuardia airport.
