October 29, 2022 marked the 10th anniversary of Superstorm Sandy making landfall in New Jersey (at approximately 7:30 pm in Brigantine). Sandy was the most destructive, most deadly and one of the most costly natural disasters in the history of the United States. The intensity at landfall in New Jersey was estimated at 80 miles per hour. The highest winds were recorded along the shore, but the storm’s gale-force winds extended well inland, through New Jersey and even well into eastern Pennsylvania.

Sandy hit PVSC’s district in the form of an historic, 12-foot storm surge propelled from the Atlantic Ocean. It slammed into New York Harbor and Newark Bay and then into the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers.

The surge knocked PVSC completely offline for almost three days, causing hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage to be released into area waterways. About 200 million gallons of combined bay, rain and wastewater inundated PVSC’s 5,000-foot underground utility tunnels. That destroyed much of PVSC’s critical process equipment.

Ten years after Sandy, though, PVSC is the model of recovery and resiliency. PVSCs many hard-working and dedicated employees were resolute in coming together to meet significant challenges head-on. Together, they rose to the occasion to help us reconstruct the plant and come back stronger and more unified than ever before.

To access a complete list of PVSC's accomplishments, please visit: 10 Years After Superstorm Sandy