Bought and Forgotten: How MTA Spends Millions of Dollars on Useful Things It Doesn't Use

New York City Transportation Administration (MTA) officials spent $ 1,5 million in a federal grant in the wake of Hurricane Sandy on drainage pumps to mitigate the effects of subway floods, according to a new report. But they have never been used until now. At least two of them were in bus depots that were hit hard by the August 31 floods caused by Hurricane Ida, but the pumps were not in use. New York Post.

According to a report by the MTA Inspector General's Office Caroline Pokorny, the 12 pumps purchased with a federal grant in 2017 and delivered in 2018 "were not properly installed and maintained to keep them working."

MTA used a federal grant to purchase pumps for transportation depots that were hit by significant flooding during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. However, during the inspection, the inspectors discovered that the workers had never been taught how to use them. Training is currently scheduled for the end of this year.

Pumps not used during Hurricane Ida

“Failure to operate the pumps when needed negates the reason for buying pumps,” the report says.

“The depot staff responsible for operating the pumps in the event of flooding say they have not been trained to operate the pump. They haven't even seen how it works. This inexplicable lack of instructions puts critical facilities at risk of flooding, ”the document says.

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Sources said that on August 31st during Hurricane Ida, these pumps were in at least two depots that were badly hit by floods. But the staff did not use them. One of these depots was flooded with water from 30 to 60 cm high.

At another site, Castleton Depot on Staten Island, Hurricane Ida caused water levels to reach 120 cm. Flooding damaged 28 buses - 12% of the depot's total fleet. It cost the MTA at least $ 8 million.

Sources said both of these bus depots had pumps, but nobody knew how to use them.

“Such a pump could completely pump it out of vital areas,” said one source in the transport administration.

An MTA spokesman said that "most" of the damaged buses are to be repaired. Officials from the department do not believe that the correct installation and use of pumps would prevent flooding at any of the depots.

8 billion from the federal budget

The money for the pumps came from a federal grant of nearly $ 8 billion. The grant was given to the MTA in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy to bolster its infrastructure in the event of floods.

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“The units that have been tested are only part of a large system of hundreds of water pumps. They are part of an expanded and modernized climate change mitigation program in New York, ”said Aaron Donovan, AIT spokesman.