Hudson River Sewage Outfall Remediation: Reaction to Seeing CSO Discharge

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Reaction to Seeing CSO Discharge

This is how this research project began, seeing and smelling combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharge. The discharge includes fecal matter, used condoms, feminine products, and other materials that do not belong in any natural body of water.

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Project Abstract

Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) have contaminated the Hudson River with large volumes of raw sewage and other materials for decades. The issue is becoming more urgent as an estimated 2,000 new chemicals are manufactured and released into the environment each year. Hazardous chemicals, prescription and illicit drugs, antibiotic resistant microorganisms, and increasingly pathogenic strains of viruses pose new threats to environmental and human health.

The “Albany Pool” includes 92 permitted discharges from towns ranging from Waterford to Rensselaer, and has established a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to mitigate negative impacts of CSOs on water quality . This plan, created by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, fails to consider new classes of chemical and microbiological contaminants that now threaten the Hudson River and other freshwater resources throughout the New York State.

Our proposed research seeks to assess the frequency, volume, and, to the extent possible, chemical and microbiological composition of CSOs within the Albany Pool. Initial samples taken from an outfall in Troy, NY revealed the presence of condoms, tampon applicators, feces, and other visibly identifiable materials. We plan to identify microorganisms present within CSOs using established genomic approaches and will attempt to evaluate and identify select chemicals of emerging concern, such as PFOA. The information gained from this research will increase scientific knowledge and public awareness of real and emerging threats to Hudson River water quality.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Reaction to Seeing CSO Discharge

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