May 24
2013
Sewer overflows now public
The stinky truth is finally public. The state Department of Environmental Conservation has begun publishing sewer overflow reports from across New York. The reports, which are in Excel format, are posted here. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the “Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law” in August. The law requires public sewage treatment plants and sewer systems to notify the DEC whenever there is a sewer overflow of untreated or partially treated sewage and stormwater into waterways. Combined sewer systems, like the one in Buffalo, take both untreated sewage and stormwater into one pipe before making its way to a treatment plant. But[...]