Giant "Bladder" Being Installed Underground in Dumbo

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection is in the process of attaching what was first described to us as a “giant bladder” (their term was so boring we forgot it) to a sewage pipe beneath Gold Street in Dumbo. The balloon, with the capacity to hold 2 million gallons, would inflate during heavy rains to prevent sewage overflows into the East River. When the sewage pipe is no longer above capacity, the balloon would deflate and send the nasty oil and poop cocktail along to the Red Hook Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is actually at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The treatment plant was the subject of a lawsuit when millions of gallons of raw sewage poured into the East River following the 2003 blackouts. The cause was power loss at the treatment facility, so we originally thought this bladder was being installed to help remedy situations like those. Turns out, this thing won’t work during a blackout. It’s only meant to capture the first five minutes of excess runoff during a typical storm and the department was mandated to install it 14 years ago. A resident of the Farragut Houses asked if this would help prevent sewage from overflowing into their ground-floor daycare during heavy rains. Her hopes were swiftly extinguished. We were later told it will only reduce overflows into the river, not anyone’s basement, that’s someone else’s department. A few blocks of Gold Street near Plymouth Street is being dug up to install this “giant bladder,” which we really hope can’t burst.