Duhigg, Charles. “As Sewers Fill, Waste Poisons Waterways.” The New York Times. 22 Nov. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
The author, a reporter for the New York Times, writes about the sewage overflow problem that the USA faces, concentrating on New York City because of the magnitude of the problem and the costliness of fixing it. The overall message of the piece seems to be that despite the expense, the problem is a necessary fix for health reasons, and because as it remains unchecked it will only get worse. He speaks briefly about the EPA and the Clean Water Act, both of which are meant to enforce regulations on treatment plant operations and overflow, but are not giving out fines in numbers comparable to the frequency of offenses. This makes environmental advocacy groups angry, but it seems there is little point to fining treatment plants that aren’t fixing their problems because they already have no money.
This article could be useful to us because it gives a good sense of the scope of the problem. It also brings up interesting points that might be worth following up: For example, does the EPA “look the other way” when treatment plants break overflow rules because of politics? Or is it simply because the infrastructure already in place is so imbedded that it would cost billions to fix? Can we trace any records of overflow into the Gowanus being the cause of illness outbreaks?
Interesting article and you raise good questions to follow up on.