![sewage-1108.jpg](http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/sewage-1108.jpg)
New York State and New York City can agree on one thing: how to upgrade the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, the state's largest such plant, to comply with environmental laws. According to a press release yesterday, NYC will complete a "comprehensive environmental audit" to identify and correct violations. It'll put the $27.4 million judgment against New York City into escrow, to be returned if all goes well, but another $16 million in fines will be levied if the improvement program isn't carried through. The other big news: $10 million in local environmental benefit projects "to install green infrastructure; create or improve open space, public parks and waterfront access; create ecological stewardship and education programs; retrofit diesel buses and trucks; and implement energy efficiency programs in low-income housing." And perhaps it will smell better, too?
Photo by Gerald Reisner.