New York Governor approves city water treatment plant

July 25, 2003 -- Gov. Geoge E. Pataki has signed legislation that will let New York City build a water filtration plant in the Bronx area.

The $1.3 billion treatment facility will be built in Van Cortlandt Park and will use water from the Croton Reservoir, the New York Times reported. The decision ends years of debate and fines for failure to meet federal drinking water standards.

The law was delayed until Gov. Pataki secured agreements which allow the city to avoid some environmental studies. The city will also spend about $240 million in the area to lessen the impact of the plant in the area.

The city was placed under a consent decree between state and federal governments in 1998 to filter water from the Croton Reservoir.