New York Harbor's In Deep Shit -- Three Billion Gallons, To Be Precise

[xchrom]

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/11/new_york_harbor.php




Just in case you needed another reason to not take a dip in New York Harbor, it's currently getting filled with billions of gallons of partially treated human waste.

During last month's hurricane, a 12-foot surge of ocean water crashed into a Newark treatment plant, causing a leak that is yet to be repaired. Since then, the plant has pumped more than three billion gallons of human waste into New York City waterways.

The plant is just east of the Statue of Liberty, and pathogens in the waste can be pretty harmful to humans.

Given the potential health risks, the Department of Environmental Protection has put a ban on fishing, crabbing, and shellfishing in the tainted waters.

[marmar]

1. You know, I was thinking about this after Sandy hit.....

...... I haven't heard much discussion about it on the MSM. The long-term environmental and economic costs of this will be tremendous.

[xchrom]

2. this was always a problem with the russian river

when i lived in nor cali.

so it's always something i'm aware of.

and you're right -- not much discussion of damage to waste treatment plants or over flow.

[piratefish08]

3. sewage is a HUGE national problem that is affecting 40 million Americans.........

"Every time it rains in New York City, billions of gallons of raw sewage are piped directly into the Hudson River. Superstorms like Hurricane Sandy only magnify the issue by flooding New York's waterways with even more human feces. It's a direct effect of the way New York City's wastewater pipes were built, and it's the same basic infrastructure problem facing over 40 million people in 700 American cities.

In the first part of a three-part series on freshwater in America, Emerson Rosenthal takes a dip in the grand Hudson River to find out just how far we've swum up shit's creek."

[xchrom]

4. +1

[nc4bo]

7. ugh. stupid humans......

We shit where we eat and drink.

Can't drink it. Can't swim in it. Can't eat anything that lives in it. And then when forced to disclose to the public we can't do any of those things, we want to hide it. Seems that's the norm not the exception.

[marmar]

5. LOL. I just took another look at the story. The Village Voice's topic category.....

...... above the story is "Shit". The Voice is a shell of its former self, but it still has its moments.

[FarCenter]

6. Art Carney - Song of the Sewer 1955

[felix_numinous]

8. Our infrastructure needs to be updated--we need a new WPA for the 21st century!

The humanure movement:

http://humanurehandbook.com/

We can create wetlands and gardens that break down raw sewage--and once again live in a symbiotic relationship with the Earth. Putting raw sewage in our waterways is such a waste of resources. I never understood why this movement didn't take off.

Like this:
The Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Refuge lies at the edge of Humboldt Bay on California’s northern coast, a few blocks from the center of my adopted hometown, Arcata, population 17,000. It’s a rich habitat for creatures of all kinds, from aquatic worms to frogs to shorebirds, grebes, ducks, and pere-grine falcons. And sewage runs through it.

The waters that feed this lush wetlands flow out of Arcata’s municipal treatment plant, which uses conventional technologies, including settling tanks and oxidation ponds, to treat the town’s sewage. But unlike most cities, Arcata has also harnessed marsh plants and microbes to help clean its wastewater. Several treatment marshes, thick with cattails and bulrushes, filter wastewater that has already been through the conventional process before it passes into the wildlife refuge and then into Humboldt Bay. The creation of this system has improved the quality of the effluent released to the bay while restoring 154 acres of habitat vital to migratory birds and an array of other native species. The marsh is also a sanctuary for hikers, picnickers, and birders—though many of them don’t realize this bucolic spot has anything to do with sewage.

http://archive.audubonmagazine.org/solutions/solutions0703.html

It is beyond time for us humans to put our bickering aside and get to work on our infrastructure...because THIS is something we actually have in common. There really is a lot of work to be done. Roads, railroads, bridges, sewage systems, green energy system, upgrading our electrical grid--WHY isn't this a priority?