Clean & Safe Water

Table of Contents | Download Document [PDF 2 MB, 28 pp]

Water Quality

Two pieces of legislation in the early 1970’s – the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act – have contributed mightily to the quality of the water we drink, fish and swim in today. Prior to enactment of these landmark laws, as much as two-thirds of the surface water in the United States was considered polluted. Today, that number has been reduced.

Water resources are central to the region’s aesthetics, economics and health. There are some 60,000 miles of rivers and streams in Region 2, including waterways of major importance such as the Hudson and Passaic Rivers, the ports of San Juan and the New York/New Jersey Harbor, Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls and the St. Lawrence Seaway. New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have a combined 685 miles of ocean coastline, as well. Clean and safe water is essential to the health and ivelihood of the region’s 31 million residents.

Improving the Delaware Estuary

Estuaries are the places where freshwater from streams and rivers flows into the ocean, mixing with saltwater. A wide variety of birds, fish, vegetation and other wildlife inhabit and/or depend on estuaries. The protection of our estuaries and their ecosystems is vital to the health of our region’s most important waterways. There are 28 EPA-sponsored national estuary programs in the country organized for that purpose.

In Region 2, the Delaware Estuary has been designated “impaired” because elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been found in fish tissues. As a result, one of the estuary’s prime designated uses –fishing – is in jeopardy.

In order to address this impairment, regulatory tools known as “total maximum daily loads” (TMDLs) are being developed using a staged approach. TMDLs are calculations of the maximum amount of a pollutant that a water body can receive daily and still meet water quality standards. The calculation includes all sources of PCBs to the estuary including nonpoint sources like overland runoff and runoff from contaminated sites, as well as regulated point sources like storm water, municipal wastewater treatment plants and industrial facilities. In addition, an Implementation Advisory Committee has been established to create an action plan for reducing PCBs. EPA has approved the Stage 1 TMDL for the Delaware Estuary. Additional data gathered during Stage 1 will enable a more refined analysis to be used as the basis of the next stage.

Lead in Drinking Water

Sixty-two percent of the region gets its drinking water from surface water sources such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers and rain catchments, with the remaining population served by groundwater. Approximately 3,800 community water systems provide drinking water to most Region 2 inhabitants.

Lead in drinking water can be a threat to a child’s health, but fortunately it is one of the most preventable. To ensure that children are not exposed to lead from older pipes and solder, EPA works closely with school systems, where children spend a good portion of their day. In Region 2, the Agency has targeted school systems with the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning – New York City, Syracuse and Rochester in New York State, and Newark and Paterson in New Jersey.

In Syracuse, 1,300 sinks and fountains were tested in 52 schools. High lead levels were found in 120 of these outlets and they were
immediately shut off and only put back into service when filters were installed or older pipes replaced. Thousands of Syracuse schoolchildren are now drinking cleaner, safer water from school fountains and sinks. Similar actions and results took place in other high risk cities.

Clean Water Highlight

During the summer months, when millions of residents and tourists are attracted to our beaches, EPA monitors the water quality of the New York/New Jersey Harbor and the New Jersey and Long Island coastal ocean waters. From late May through early September, the EPA helicopter surveys inshore waters looking for “slicks” of floatable debris that could wash up on the beaches. This activity is part of an inter-agency “Floatables Action Plan” that has significantly reduced the amount of floating debris escaping the harbor and, therefore, reduced beach closures.

The helicopter is also used for sampling during the summer months at more than 120 ocean stations along the New Jersey and New York shores and back bays. Data collected is compared to water quality standards in coordination with other federal and state agencies to provide the beach-going public with water quality trends.

Clean Drinking Water Highlight

A grant of $579,000 was awarded in 2004 to the Seneca Nation of Indians to improve its drinking water infrastructure. A variety of improvements will be made to the pump house and distribution systems of the Jimersontown and Steamburg Water Systems on Allegheny Territory. Together, the systems serve approximately 1,000 people. Both are owned and operated by the Seneca Nation and both systems have a groundwater supply.

The Seneca Nation also received $198,000 to replace a ground level water storage tank at the Steamburg Water System. Funding was provided through an Interagency Agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service.