Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO)
June 17, 2009
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CSOs are one of the primary reasons we still have dangerous spikes of sewage contamination in the Hudson. This one is from Manhattan (there are 500 of them in NYC alone), but we see the same thing in Troy and CSOs exist at many communities in between. Generally CSOs only discharge untreated sewage when there has been a rain event that overloads the system – but not always. These sewage discharges are “permitted” by NYS but it’s unacceptable that we still have these problems 37 years after passage of the Clean Water Act. It doesn’t have to continue this way. The public has to demand better – then polluters will lose permits and funding to repair the system will be found.