The
Department of Environmental Facilities
can trace its origins back to the nineteenth century
when the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission was created by the State
legislature in 1895. The purpose of the Commission was to
develop a sewage collection and disposal plan that would clean up
the Bronx River. The commission described the river this way in
1896: "Into this stream of varying flow, all kinds of sewage
refuse and factory waste finds its way. Barn yards, privies,
cesspools, gas-house refuse, the watery part of the White Plains'
sewage disposal works, drains from hoses in Tuckahoe, Bronxville,
Mount Vernon, Woodlawn and Williamsbridge deposit their unsanitary
and foul-smelling contributions." Over the next several decades, working
through the Sanitary Sewer Commission and the Department of Public
Works, the County made a great deal of progress towards providing
adequate wastewater treatment and maintaining satisfactory water
quality.
The
Department of Environmental Facilities, was created in 1971, replacing the Division of
Sewers in the Public Works Department, to meet the increased needs
of the County due to federal and state mandates. Using the
1968 Comprehensive Sewage Study as a guide for developing an overall
water pollution control plan for the County, the department began
upgrading wastewater treatment and disposal facilities.
The
Water Agency, created in 1953 as a result of a serious
water supply deficit, was brought under the administration of the
Department of Environmental Facilities. It oversaw four water
districts in the County and handled all matters and issues related
to the county's drinking water supply. The agency is now under the
administration of the county Planning Department.
The
Solid Waste Division, originally
part of the Department of Public Works, was established to develop
an environmentally safe regional plan for the disposal of
municipally collected solid waste (MSW) in Westchester. It was
also charged with managing the various solid waste facilities in an
environmentally sound and cost-efficient manner and to promote
recycling and waste reduction in Westchester. In 1992, the
Division of Solid Waste Management was transferred to the Department
of Environmental Facilities to provide a more effective county
operation of the transportation and disposal of municipally
collected solid waste.
Today, 103 years
after the formation of the Bronx Valley Sewer Commission, the
County, through the Department of Environmental Facilities, operates
7 wastewater treatment plants, 41 pumping stations and 194 miles of
trunk sewers serving 13 County Sanitary Sewer Districts. In
addition, the county solid waste disposal system consists of 3
transfer stations, a waste-to-energy plant Wheelabrator Westchester,
L.P., a recyclable
materials recovery facility (MRF), an ashfill, a fleet of tractors,
transfer trailers, recyclable containers and various equipment for
organic yard waste processing and transport.