100 Search Results for sewer

Oct 3

2013

Troubled waters at Gallagher Beach?

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Opening Gallagher Beach for swimming is “probably impractical from a public health standpoint” because of stormwater pollution, sediment contamination and neighboring toxic sites, a consultant for the Erie County Health Department has concluded. The consultant’s analysis, obtained under the Freedom of Information Law, and subsequent reporting by Investigative Post raises serious concerns about a plan being pushed by U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Byron Brown. They want to open the beach for public swimming as part of a larger plan to develop the Outer Harbor into a state park. Higgins, a champion of opening the city’s[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Jul 10

2013

Toronto flooding aftermath

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A Lake Ontario Waterkeeper member estimated that more than 200 million gallons of sewer overflowed into Lake Ontatio after a drenching of rain in Toronto flooded streets and overwhelmed the sewer systems there. City water officials contested the estimate.

Posted 11 years ago

Jul 1

2013

Tests not best gauge of beach pollution

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Tests used to determine if water at beaches is safe to swim in may not be accurate, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo and Mercyhurst University. The problem: The most commonly used test fails to distinguish from toxic and more benign forms of contaminants. As a result, authorities sometimes close beaches when they don’t need to, or keep them open when they shouldn’t. Health departments in Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua counties take water samples from 22 beaches – Erie on a daily basis at six major beaches – and test for fecal coliform and E. coli.[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Jun 21

2013

DEC’s sewage discharge reports lack details

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The intent of the Sewage Pollution Right to Know law passed 10 months ago was to inform state residents within four hours of sewage overflows into waterways to protect them from the dangers of swimming or fishing in tainted water. Not only would residents know the estimated amount of all overflows, they would know where it happened, the duration, what time, the reason and a description of steps taken to control it from happening again. But only half of the disclosure is happening 45 days since the law went into effect.   The Department of Environmental Conservation and environmental advocates are[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Apr 4

2013

Asian carp invasion of Great Lakes looms

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By Justin Sondel Two boys stood at the end of a dock off the shore of Grand Island on a hot day last July casting fishing lines into the shallow water, time after time pulling up small rock bass from the edges of the Niagara River. The boys are Parker and Connor Cinelli, two of Chris Cinelli’s sons. They are waiting for their dad to finish preparing his 2025 Lund Pro V, which Chris describes as the Cadillac of fishing boats, before they head out onto the largest freshwater system in the world for an afternoon of angling. Chris, a[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Mar 13

2013

Buffalo a little greener in Lower West Side

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In the summer it is not unusual to see children swimming in Black Rock Canal directly across from a pipe that can spew untreated sewer, storm runoff and toxic industrial chemicals into the water. As gross and dangerous as that sounds, the following details may not be for those with weak stomachs. Consider yourself warned. Each year about 52 million gallons of untreated storm runoff, industrial waste water and sewage enter Black Rock Canal. There are 14 permitted overflow pipes in this canal alone. Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper says some of the bacteria tests it conducted in the canal showed E. coli[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Dec 20

2012

The Great Lakes are stressing out

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This map shows a sea of red off of Buffalo and many other Rust Belt cities where environmental stressors are harming the nation’s largest fresh water source, the Great Lakes. People can heed the data and maps as a warning — the red doesn’t mean death, but it helps point people to where the focus needs to be to reverse the impacts of these environmental stressors, said the chief researcher for the project,  J. David Allen, a professor of aquatic sciences at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. Other Great Lakes experts might argue that the places[...]

Posted 11 years ago

Nov 8

2012

Trash is worth something

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The New York Times Green blog has an interesting story about what a market in Mexico City does to increase recycling efforts. Here’s a snippet of the blog post: Part bottle depot, part farmers’ market, part family outing, the Mercado de Trueque, or barter market, promotes recycling in a region with serious waste management and water issues. Problems range from a lack of landfill space to litter that plugs storm sewers and results in flooding. The barter market’s coordinator, Paola de María y Campos, describes it as an educational project. “We’re trying to show people that trash is worth something,” he[...]

Posted 12 years ago