Queensborough Will Study Storm Water Runoff at Little Neck Bay

Queensborough Community College students will study the effects of storm water runoff at Little Neck Bay through a grant from the City University of New York, a spokeswoman for the Bayside school said.

Excess water and pollutants enter the bay as well as the Long Island Sound because asphalt surfaces in northeast Queens do not absorb rain water, said Arthur Perkins, assistant dean for campus facilities.

Students from Queensborough, which is located at 222-05 56^th Ave. in Bayside, will replace asphalt in one of the college's parking lots with porous asphalt as well as add landscape planting that will retain rain water.

"Our goal is to create a sustainable re-design that will have a significant, positive impact on the local environment," Perkins said.

Funding for the initiative will be provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Storm water runoff has long been a problem in Douglaston. The city's Department of Environmental Protection is in the process of completing a massive project along Northern Boulevard that would retain sewer overflow and storm water in a large tank before filtering it and sending it back to a water treatment plant.

Queensborough's Biological Sciences and Geology Department students will also monitor storm water runoff from the school's parking lots to determine its quality. They will also measure the amounts of various pollutants in the samples.

Mary Bandziukas, who is one of the coordinators on the project, said the initiative will enable students to "gain practical experience in a rapidly growing field of employment."