Sandy Victims Charged for Unused Water

Several days ago I received the below email from one of my neighbors on W12th Road regarding her water bill for a home that has been uninhabitable since Sandy struck our area.

Pete: The latest from the NYC "insult to injury dept..."

I just got an estimated water bill for $300 from DEP. My water has been shut off. They haven't even bothered to get a reading, using an old estimate. I believe my meter and the pipes under the house were destroyed. I haven't been using water since October, but since I didn't know about having a plumber shut off the tap, DEP is charging me for minimum use since Sandy. 

The rep. I spoke to mentioned that other folks have been calling with the same issue. She said it would cost $500 to have a plumber cut off service; she advised it would be cheaper to(shut up and) pay my water bill....

If there are other folks not living in their homes, and using water, I'm happy to run with the ball, get info,
start a committee, whatever.
Thanks for any info-
Joan Marie Delahunt
W.12th Road
Broad Channel, NY

I called the DEP and basically received the same response that Joan did, to wit: "Just pay the bill because it will cost you a lot more to disconnect your service yourself." 

Earlier today, one of my post Sandy neighborhood contacts in Staten Island provided me with the below story regarding this same issue from NBCNews.com....

SI Sandy Victims Charged for Unused Water

By JONATHAN VIGLIOTTI

NBCNewYork.com

Staten Island residents whose homes were devastated by Sandy say the city is charging them hundreds of dollars for water they haven't used since the storm.

Some of the bills have been as high as $500, which Rep. Michael Grimm calls ridiculous.

"That's $500 these people could use to replace a washer or dryer or refrigerator swept out to sea during Sandy," Grimm said at a press conference Saturday.

The Department of Environmental Protection sent a letter to residents saying they were subject to a minimum charge of $1.19 a day even if they weren't using water in their homes.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, $320 for water," said Stephanie Argento about a bill she got for her South Beach house, which she hasn't been living in. "That's money I could put to my rent."

Grimm said he has contacted the Department of Environmental Protection and asked them to waive the charges but has yet to hear back.

Last November DEP suspended billing and interest for more than 9,000 homes that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy and each account has since been carefully reviewed and more than half a million dollars in leak forgiveness has been granted, Ted Timbers, a Department of Environmental Protection spokesman told NBC 4 New York.

The Department of Environmental Protection told NBC 4 New York that billing hasn't resumed if a home is uninhabitable. 

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The interesting part of this story is that, according to NBC 4, DEP maintains that  "...billing hasn't resumed if a home is uninhabitable."

If that is true, how did Joan receive her bill for water service to a residence that has been uninhabitable since Hurricane Sandy's storm surge destroyed it?