Paerdegat Basin is a channel that connects to Jamaica Bay

Jamaica Bay

Jamaica Bay is located on the southwestern tip of Long Island in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, and the town of Hempstead, New York/hamlet of Inwood...

 on the southern end of Brooklyn, New York, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located on the west side of the Canarsie area. It connects to Jamaica Bay to the south, and the north end of the basin is adjacent to the intersection of Ralph Avenue and Flatlands Avenue

Flatlands Avenue

Flatlands Avenue is a major street in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It runs approximately five miles east / west, from Avenue N and East 35th Street in Flatlands, Brooklyn in the west to Forbell Street, east of Fountain Avenue....

.

"Paerdegat" derives from the old Dutch 'paardengat', meaning "horse gate".

Pollution and mitigation

The waterway is polluted due to the overflow location of the combined sewer system at the basin's northern end. The area's sanitary sewer

Sanitary sewer

A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...

 (from residential and industrial sources) is carried through the same system as the storm water. Typically, the full volume of that water is drained to the sewage treatment plant located on Knapp Street

Knapp Street

Knapp Street is a major street in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. It runs north to south, with its northern terminus at Gerritsen Avenue in Marine Park, and its southern terminus at Emmons Avenue in Sheepshead Bay. Knapp Street has an interchange with the Belt Parkway at...

. However, during periods of heavy rainfall, the Knapp Street plant does not have the capacity to treat the full volume of the water, so untreated water is forced to flow out into Paerdegat Basin. New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Department of Environmental Protection is working to mitigate the environmental impact of the overflow on the ecosystem. At the same time, the DEP is working with the Park's department to repair the saltwater wetland area which lines the east and west shores of the basin.

The department's solution to the problem is the construction of a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) facility at that location. Construction is ongoing. The construction contract was awarded to the joint venture of Slattery Skanska / Gottlieb Skanska, which is a subsidiary of the global construction company, Skanska

Skanska

Skanska AB, is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden, where it also is the largest construction company. The company's head office is in Solna, north of Stockholm.-History:...

, which is headquartered in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. The facility will serve as holding tank

Holding tank

A holding tank, also called a waste water holding tank or black tank, is a container for storing sewage in vehicles equipped with toilets. Vehicles that employ holding tanks include recreational vehicles , trucks or lorries , railroad trains, boats, aircraft, and even spacecraft...

for the excess water. Once the storm causing the overload of water has passed, and the Knapp Street plant can accept additional water, the water is pumped from the holding tank of the CSO facility back to the plant to be treated. This prevents the raw untreated sewage from flowing into the Basin. The Odor Control System is being supplied by Cor Pro Inc of Ponte Vedra, Florida. The construction management and surety consulting is being provided by Cashin Spinelli Ferretti Llc. of Hauppauge, New York.