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In a move that could halt development, state environmentalregulators have threatened to impose a moratorium on new sewerhookups in parts of Manhattan and the Bronx because the Wards Island sewage treatment plant is operating at more than 25 percent above its recommended capacity.
Richard Newman, regional water program director of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said "This is a serious threat. Unless the city can show us they are involved in a . . . study to cut the usage, this would go into effect."
But, a spokeswoman for the city's Department of Environmental Protection called the likelihood of a moratorium "very remote." Newman said yesterday that such a moratorium would block development in Manhattan north of East 72nd Street and in the western half of the Bronx if a draft state permit for the plants goes into effect as written. That draft calls for a moratorium on new hookups that add to the sewage...