Since joining DEP as the Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Public Affairs and Communications (BPAC) nearly three years ago, one of the more enlightening and gratifying experiences has been to learn the full breadth of the work done by our Education team, and specifically by the Director of Education, Kim Estes-Fradis. Kim has been with DEP for more than 30 years and has been fundamental in developing our Office of Education and working to advance the field of environmental education throughout New York City and the upstate watersheds.

Over the years, Kim has helped to develop longstanding educational partnerships with schools, universities, City agencies, environmental organizations, and cultural institutions. Most notably, she has helped to launch dynamic education programs such as the annual Water Resources Art & Poetry Contest now in its 34th year, and the Trout in the Classroom program, which has now grown to more than 200 schools. Through customized classroom visits, field experiences, and trips to DEP facilities, Kim and her team have worked to engage more than 40,000 pre-Kindergarten through college students every year. Kim also played a central role in the development and design of the Visitor Center at the Newtown Creek Wastewater

Resource Recovery Facility, a focal point for much of DEP’s education programming.Kim has made it a priority for DEP to become a support network for thousands of New York City and Watershed teachers, school administrators, parent coordinators, and non-formal educators. Planning the annual Watershed Forestry Bus Tour for more than 50 educators to explore NYC’s watershed forests, farms, reservoirs, and communities, has always been one of her favorite experiences. Such professional learning opportunities multiply the reach of DEP’s programming. Throughout her time with DEP, Kim has focused on creating comprehensive education resources that align with New York State learning standards and provide educators accessible teaching tools, including maps, books, workbooks, exhibits, and curriculum.Kim is a native New Yorker—having grown up in Queens and now residing in Manhattan, and she has always enjoyed

exploring all there is to do in New York City and our upstate watersheds. Her passion has transcended her work, helping to touch the future of young people and inspiring a love for the conservation and protection for our watershed lands, streams, and important water resources. Kim’s dedication to DEP and the field of environmental education in New York will continue to have a lasting impact on the many students and educators she has met, as well as her friends and colleagues at DEP. She would be the first to remind me that much of her work has been accomplished due to the collaboration and expertise of DEP’s extraordinary staff, including the talented team of education professionals within BPAC that will no doubt continue the strong tradition that she has created. Kim will be retiring from City service this week, and so it is with tremendous gratitude that we will send her off into her post-DEP life and wish her all of the best in the next chapter.

Volume XI • Issue 525January 28, 2020PIPELINEWEEKLY

Bill de Blasio, MayorVincent Sapienza, P.E., Commissioner

At DEP, everyone is responsible for safety. If you or anyone on your team is concerned about your working conditions, it’s okay to ask your supervisor or your bureau’s EHS liaison how they can help. If you’ve still got questions, you can call the EHS Employee Concerns Hotline. It’s DEP’s responsibility to acknowledge and fix unsafe situations, procedures, and practices. With your help, we’ll not only get the job done, we’ll make it safer for ourselves, our coworkers, our families, and our city. CALL (800) 897-9677 OR SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH PIPELINE. HELP IS ON THE WAY.

Freezing temperatures can pose serious health hazards for those who work outdoors if they are not properly prepared, such as hypothermia and frostbite. Hypothermia can begin if a per-son’s body temperature drops to or below 95 degrees Fahrenheit; symptoms can include shivering, slurred speech, numb hands, and confusion. Frostbite is damage to the skin and underlying tissue, and symptoms include numb-ness, painful loss of feeling, and white or blue appearance of the skin. These are serious and can be fatal.Remember, cold stress hazards can be prevented by taking proper precautions, including the following:

• be aware of weather fore-casts, especially the wind chill factor

• work in pairs and monitor oth-er worker’s conditions

• wear proper clothing, includ-ing hats and gloves

• layer clothing to adjust to the temperature

If you suspect someone is suf-fering from any of these con-ditions alert a supervisor, call 911, and move the victim into a warm area. Follow the safety guidelines in DEP’s “Exposure to Extreme Heat and Cold” Guidance and OSHA’s Cold Stress page.

Working in Extreme Cold Weather

Spotlight on Safety

Special Guest Commissioner’s CornerMichael DeLoachDeputy CommissionerPublic Affairs and Communications

We welcome your feedback! To submit an announcement or suggestion, please email us at:

newsletter@dep.nyc.gov.

On Tuesday, BWT Deputy Commissioner Pam Elardo was featured on NY1 talking with reporter Roger Clark to promote the extremely popular Valentine’s Day Tours of the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility. Within 20 minutes of reservations being open to the public, all spots for the tour were gone! The tours will be held on Saturday, February 8 at 12:30 pm, 3 pm, and 5:30 pm and will include a short overview of the wastewater treatment process followed by a visit to the 120-foot high observation deck located atop the iconic digester eggs. There, visitors will enjoy scenic views of the New York City skyline. Located in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, the Newtown Creek facility went into operation in 1967 and serves approximately 1 million residents in a drainage area of more than 15,000 acres (25 square miles), including portions of Manhattan, western Queens, and northern Brooklyn. The plant is the city’s largest wastewater resource recovery facility and has also been honored by The New York City Public Design Commission with two Awards for Excellence in Design.

Construction recently wrapped up on the floating dock at Whale Creek, which provides safe harbor for BWT Marine Section vessels near their main office at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility. The Marine Section operates eight vessels for CSO Floatables, Marine Science and Shoreline Monitoring programs.The Marine Sciences group will use the new dock as part of their mission to monitor water quality in and around the waters of New York City. Their water sampling mission requires them to operate year-round, adding to a water quality database spanning nearly 100 years. The continued collection of water samples of various types, at specific locations, and at various frequencies, is a regulatory requirement that has become more complex and demanding over time. The upgraded dock cost approximately $2.2 million and was overseen by Joel Dungca, P.E., from the Bureau of Engineering, Design and Construction. Dungca started with DEP in 1987 and covered multiple roles in this project, including inspection and project engineer.

Floating Dock Completed at Whale CreekValentine’s Day Tour Sell Out

The City recently announced the launch of CityScanner, a pilot program that will use city fleet vehicles to test local air quality. Using a new technology developed by the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, five vehicles that service the South Bronx will be equipped with sensors that collect air quality data. Air quality data is often used by city government to identify problem areas, determine causes of poor air quality, and make policy decisions to improve air quality. The existing municipal fixed-sensor network—the New York City Community Air Survey—tracks six different kinds of air pollution and how levels vary by neighborhood across the city. Mobile sensors have the potential to augment this existing air quality surveillance by collecting hyper-local data on fine particulates—street by street—at low cost.

On Monday, 16 new employees attended orientation and received an overview of the department from the Deputy Director of HR Grace Pigott and HR Generalist Harold Kim. We hope everyone will join us in welcoming them to DEP!Michelle Brown and Gabrielle Varghese with BEPA; Latoya Clay, Richard Grello and Annette Ramirez with BWS; Maria Colon, Sekayi Curtis, Mira Daoud and Renuka Maharaj with BWSO; Madouna Gorgi and Jamie Medina with BWT; Jeffrey Lynch with BCS; Francis McCarton with EXEC; Mohammed Rahman with BEC; Yevgeniy Reznikov with BPS, and Racine Robinson with BPAC.

City Fleet to Monitor Air QualityWelcome Aboard!