While the water surrounding New York City continues, to this day, to have a negative reputation as being a dirty, sewage infested waterway, the historical information presented by this chapter makes it very clear how much the rivers and ponds in and around the city have improved, with the improvement starting in the 1920’s and gaining power after the 1970’s. Perhaps the most difficult thing to think about is the idea is that the Harlem river in the past suffered from anoxia and had absolutely no ability to serve as a proper habitat for fish or life. It is obvious, given the numerous examples of legislation in the chapter, that laws and regulation passed by the government have been the main reason behind these improvements. It is noted that despite many laws being passed, it was not really until after the 1970’s that legislation started to get enforced, mostly because it was only after numerous environmental disasters caused in New York waters by corporations that the public became aware of the true causes behind the pollution of the city water.
This perhaps can serve as an important case study in how public awareness can affect the rigidity and enforcement of laws. The reality is that while the environmental damages that corporations are causing today are not nearly as overt and as a result, companies can often skirt laws with a problem, history shows that eventually the public catches up to these methods and changes are made. It is similar to how it was only after the public became awareness of the negatives associated with pesticides with the release of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring that legislation was not only passed but actually enforced by the government. This shows the importance of journalism and education with regards to the public and environmental issues. What is really worrying is that it was often decades after the passing of laws that they were enforced and corporations paid the consequences in court. However, the damages had already been done by then. In the future, steps have to be taken to make sure that regulation can somehow become a realistic goal from the moment that laws are passed.
