Results tagged “Polluted Water”

Via AOL News

Charles Duhigg of The New York Times today delivered the latest unsettling news about the nation's water supply: It's not as clean as you might think. An analysis of federal data from the last five years revealed that more than 20 percent of the nation's water-treatment systems have broken provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the standards enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency. The result? As many as 19 million Americans are sickened each year.

Over the years, the EPA has identified many substances in water supplies far and wide. Here are nine unexpected things that they've spotted.

Arsenic

A naturally occurring element found in soil and minerals, arsenic is used as a pesticide and wood sealant. Ingesting high levels of arsenic, Madame Bovary can tell you, is deadly. At lower levels, over longer periods of time, it can darken skin and spur corns and warts. A carcinogen, arsenic can increase the risk of skin, liver, bladder and lung cancers.
The EPA has said that more than 3 million Americans have been exposed to water with illegal concentrations of arsenic since 2005.

Uranium

The element Iran insists on enriching despite howls from the U.S. and other Western nations, it is also used in helicopters, airplanes, armor, fertilizer and household items like certain microwaves. After it's mined and processed, some of it is released back into the environment in waste material, called mill tailings. Large amounts of uranium can lead to kidney disease and cancer, though naturally occurring uranium is much less radioactive.

The EPA says levels of uranium in drinking water are usually low and safe, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. However, the 3 million Americans exposed to illegal amounts of arsenic were also exposed to illegal amounts of radioactive substances.

Radium

This radioactive metal has been used to treat cancer, for scientific research and in instrument calibration. Everyone is exposed to low levels of the substance, but higher levels are found near uranium mines, coal-burning industries and sometimes in drinking water that comes from wells. Radium can cause anemia and cataracts. At high levels, it is a carcinogen, causing increased bone, liver and breast cancer.

The EPA has reported that levels of radium were 2,000 times the legal limit in water flowing in some areas.

Continue reading @ AOL News

When does it end? That's what Stuy Town residents forced to bath in brackish water want to know. A resident sent us this clip posted on YouTube of the nasty water that pours into the bathtub. The clip gives a whole new meaning to the term "viral video."

The tenant writes:

"This was what came out of my bathtub faucet this morning. It's been happening almost daily for the past two weeks, and frequently for the past several months."

As usual Stuyvesant Town has no explanation as to why they continually have a hard time supplying fresh water to their residents.

Who says Tishman Speyer is pure evil? Well, we know, everyone says it. But Stuy Town's most infamous slum lords are trying to get back on the good side of the tenants they have been terrorizing since 2006 by offering a new amenity just in time for the holidays. Free homemade turkey brine!

That's right! Never mind those complicated Martha Stewart recipes or even Rachael Ray's "whatever, I'm a cutter" approach to the holidays. All this week Tishman Speyer is pumping turkey brine into their Stuyvesant Town apartments free of charge. They hope the brine bonanza will help tenants warm up to them in the wake of the three year campaign to force them out of their apartments. So far residents love it! "I keep forgetting about the high quality, nutritious broth pouring from my tub," says Molly Meghan. "This morning I gave my baby a bath and he came out looking like Suze Orman. We all had a laugh."

Let's hope this Thanksgiving goes smoother than last year!

Stuy Town's brown water problem is back, and just in time! What soon-to-be foreclosed property wouldn't be complete without unusable, brown sludge pouring from the drains - Speyer-style! Seasoned Lux Living readers may remember the brown water epidemic that plagued Stuy Town last year. Tish-Spey and the DEP blamed the problem on everything from broken water pipes to the Croton water source for the mess.

One vocal Stuy Town tenant who was hit the hardest by the brown water - a woman living with cancer who was forced to bath with bottled water for months - passed away earlier this year. The DEP Deputy Commissioner, Anne Canty, said the water may look "unappealing" but there is "nothing in that water that is harmful to your health." Riiight.

A Stuy Town resident "living" at 653 East 14th Street loves to start her day with a warm, delicious glass of cancer AKA Stuyvesant Town's tap water. After all, the best part of waking up IS a malignant tumor in your cup! 

"I thought you might be interested in this photo I just took of the sewage backwash I find in my tub almost every night recently.  Water and crud creep up from the drain, the water eventually recedes, leaving the sewage to dry and cake on to my tub.   This has been a cyclical problem in my apartment for each of the 6 years I've lived here.  All the plumbers ever do is snake the drain, which clearly isn't solving the bigger problem here."

To prove that market rate tenants in Stuyvesant Town don't get preferential treatment, lawsuit ladened Tishman Speyer welcomed this new resident with their signature bubblin' crude! The newly disgusted tenant at 6 Stuyvesant Oval was treated to Tish-Spy's sludgy sloppy seconds only one day after moving into to his $3000 + a month apartment. If only the leasing office's tour guides ran the tap water during their presentations at the model apartment at 447 East 14th Street, then at least the new tenants would know to buy Mr. Bubble and hazmat suits for their new digs.

SSDD...the brackish water is safe to drink....run your faucets indefinitely.

Via Stuy Town's Resident website:

"Updated statement on discolored water by DEP:

Due to a broken water main, brown water conditions may be affecting Peter Cooper Village residents. The Department of Environmental Protection will replace this main within the next week. Although discolored water presents no health risks, the DEP recommends that the faucet is allowed to run until the water is clear.

If you are experiencing discolored water and would like updates, you can call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/advisories/discolored_water_statement.shtml."

The newest amenity that Stuy Town residents loathe? Brown water that gives them fevers!:

"4 days of fever, still can't take a bath. I just contacted the Clean Water Action Group in Washington. I told them "between the city and our slumlord we can rarely take a bath or drink from the tap." I asked how they are getting away with this. She is going to have someone give me a call.
 
Also I made contact with someone at a local agency. He is ordering an inspection of the water towers here. TURNS OUT THERE WAS SOME PROBLEM WITH THE CITY AGAIN. HE GOT A FEW CALLS YESTERDAY.

I JUST LEFT A MESSAGE WITH AN INFECTIOUS DISEASE M.D. IS THAT THE RIGHT SPECIALIST FOR DIAGNOSING ENVIRONMENTAL ILLNESS? I CANNOT TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS. I AM TOO SICK/TOO LONG. HAS ANYONE ELSE GOTTEN SICK THAT YOU KNOW OF. THIS IS THE 7TH 103 FEVER SINCE THIS CITY WATER STARTED. I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT BLOWING DOWN THE LINE EITHER.

Anyone who has been ill or just stressed from the constant negligence of TS causing brown hot water can call Ralph Sacardi at (718) 595-6373."

Via Cnet



"Similar claims of mysterious brown tap water rolled in from Urlesque blogger Kelly Reeves, Dodgeball founder Dennis Crowley, Gawker Media finance guy Scott Kidder, as well as a handful of people I don't know who follow my Twitter account.

The dozen or so responses indicated that the tainted tap water had proliferated around Manhattan's East Side, with most of it in the downtown East Village, but with a few scattered claims in the Murray Hill and Upper East Side neighborhoods, further north.

One neighbor sent me a Twitter direct-message informing me that his landlord had said a water main was getting flushed out. Another response came from a woman who said she'd heard that some underground utilities work was responsible for the screwup that caused it.

Either way, within a few hours, the brown water was gone, for one reason or another. According to real-estate blog Curbed later on Thursday, this issue seems to hit the Stuyvesant Town neighborhood, due north of the East Village, every once in a while--and city authorities always assure us that it's safe to drink. Um, right."

In which Twitter tells me what my landlord can't [cnet]

Follow Lux Living on Twitter and be notified of site updates, gossip, etc.

A Peter Cooper Village resident sent us this rather nasty video of the brown, coffee-colored water pouring from his tap. He writes:

"I thought I was lucky to only have the banging pipes and cold apartment issues from the laundry list of problems I've read on your site. Lo and behold, I come home to a lovely brown water scenario to top it off. I've attached a video of the aftermath of a few minutes of running the water. I highly doubt that's safe to drink no matter what the DEP says."

A one bedroom apartment in Peter Cooper Village will set you back $3,400 a month. "Space. Service. Setting. Style. Finally, a home where you compromise nothing and get everything," so says their gracious copy writer. We're still wondering if the "everything" you get are various diseases / infections.

Are you living this luxuriously in Stuy Town or Peter Cooper Village? E-mail us your videos and photos because misery does love company.

It's unfortunate that when Tishman Speyer snatched up Stuy Town like some rogue pirate stealing bounty, their top priority was replacing the foliage and not the 60+ year old plumbing. Is this their first time at bat? We thought they've done this sort of thing before. Anyway...

Let's hope this Stuy Town resident's Christmas isn't a repeat of her Thanksgiving! The impromptu sink-stew maker writes:

"I thought I'd do pre-cooking prep for Thanksgiving day and maybe even paint the entrance way. Wait. What's this? The water is not going down. Strange. Is this a back up?


 Hmmm. Let me check the other sink. Hmmm. Sure looks like a back up that backed back out to me.  Sucks I had to turn the stove off and put the sink cover on it in my 3x5 foot kitchen but this isn't looking too bad, certainly not that other nightmare...


Wait. I see bubbles. Good. No, bad. The water isn't going DOWN. It's coming UP! And now the other sink too!
 

I tried to get through to somebody at management --told them this was an EMERGENCY--waited--called security and told them this was a maintenance EMERGENCY--waited--some poor bastard shows up with a plunger--"you need plumber!"  (No f*cking sh*t but thank you for coming.)

"There used to be 20 of us but now there are only ten," he says.
 
 Oh, did I mention I got an eviction notice (number 8? 9? 10?) a day or two later? Not relevant to the event but those 311 calls for no heat?  Not to worry.  Still here 7 years later and never hired a lawyer."

Step 1. Use water aerator for 60 days.
Step 2. Remove aerator.
Step 3. Serve chilled!

Serving Suggestion: Overnight stay at Beth Israel Hospital

Recipe requires Stuyvesant Town residence. Courtesy of 441 East 20th Street.

Letter to the Editor, Town & Villager
December 11, 2008

Via the Stuyvesant Town Resident Website:

"Updated statement on Discolored Water by DEP:

Beginning Friday, December 5, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will deactivate the Croton water supply and bring parts of Manhattan to the Catskill and Delaware water systems.

This move to the Catskill and Delaware systems means some residents in New York City may experience discolored water. When the direction of water changes in the pipes, it is normal for sediment to be stirred up, causing discoloration in affected households.

Although discolored water presents no health risks, the DEP recommends that the faucet is allowed to run until the water is clear.

The DEP anticipates that the switch to the Catskill & Delaware systems will be complete in the next couple of weeks. However, if you are experiencing discolored water and would like updates, you can call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/advisories/discolored_water_statement.shtml."

Published in Town & Village, December 4th, 2008
By Sabina Mollot

Despite ongoing efforts by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection to end a brown water problem that's been plaguing neighborhood residents for weeks, numerous residents have still been reporting seeing spurts of brown water coming out of their faucets.

The brown water, believed to be caused by the reactivation of the Croton water source in October, has affected residents in various parts of Manhattan as well as the Bronx. However, residents in Manhattan's Community Board 6 area - Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village especially - have been hit hard.

Last week, the DEP reported a decrease in brown water complaints from the area as it conducted a study on local water pipes. However, as of this week, brown and discolored water was still a problem for some of the community.

"Generally the problem is better, but it's still a problem," said Kate Doyle, a resident of 605 East 14th Street. "I've realized that my bathing/showering water was spewing out spurts of the brown water again. Then the water goes clean again, then the brown returns back a minute later."

A resident of 450 East 20th Street said within the past week he's seen water so brown in his bathtub that "if you put your hand in it, after five inches you couldn't see it."

"The water, which residents have reported has ranged in color from slightly discolored to "chocolate" could be going undetected, if it's only some-what discolored, according to one resident.

A woman living at 622 East 20th Street, who recently had discolored water in her apartment, said, "For those who claim that they don't have discolored water - they should fill up an empty clear bottle and hold it next to a bottled water. Mine looks like it is running clear until I compare them."

According to Mike Sacier, a spokesperson for the DEP, New Yorkers should see an end to the brown water after the department reactivates the Catskill/Delaware system, which is the area's regular water source. "The switch back will be occurring soon," said Saucier. "We're stil monitoring it. We're very aware of the complaints."

He added that it helps the DEP's ongoing investigation in pinpointing sources of the problem if residents call 311. The DEP has already identified some likely sources of the brown water such as regulators and valves being in incorrect positions.

Published in Town & Village, November 27th, 2008
By Sabina Mollot


"It may look unappealing," said DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."

Representatives of the City Department of Environmental Protection met with Council Member Dan Garodnick and George Hatzmann, managing director for Tishman Speyer on Friday in the hopes of doing something about the brown water that has been coming out of the sinks, showers and even showing up in the toilets in the apartments of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village residents.

The problem has persisted for weeks in certain areas of Manhattan as well as the Bronx, but has been especially persistent in the Community Board 6 area, which runs from 14th Street to 59th Street on the East Side.

The meeting was held at the request of Garodnick, whose office has steadily received complaints from affected residents, mostly in ST/PCV. The problem has been blamed on the reactivation of the Croton water source, which recently replaced the Catskills/Delaware reservoir as a temporary water source for many city residents. NYC has three water sources, which get rotated as ongoing maintenance work demands and currently, the DEP is doing work to prepare for repairs on the Delaware Aqueduct.

Although the DEP was unable to provide a timetable for how much longer residents would have to live with brown water, DEP Deputy Commissioner Anne Canty, who, along with several department engineers, attended the meeting, said that residents in the CB6 area will once again be getting their water from the Catskills/Delaware system in about two weeks time.

When that happens, residents will likely see brown water coming out of their faucets again, but this time, it isn't expected to last more than a day. To pinpoint the source of the current problem in the CB6 area, the DEP has been investigating local water pipes. "We've been opening manholes and checking to make sure regulators and vales are in the correct position," said Canty.

So far, some valves that should have been in an open position were found to be closed.
According to the DEP, residents should expect to see brown water when construction projects are going on near their buildings. When told about ongoing Con Ed work on the 14th Street Loop at Avenue A, Canty said, "we're looking at everything, but that hasn't been identified to us."

One of the purposes of the Friday meeting was to see if there was anything Tishman Speyer should have been doing to alleviate the brown water in ST/PCV, but according to Canty, the owner has in fact been doing everything possible. "They are very rigorous in maintaining the system," she said.

Yesterday, a spokesperson for Tishman Speyer described the meeting as "very productive." "While the water condition is directly related to the city's water supply system and has affected many communities in Manhattan, we are doing everything we can to ensure that all systems within the property are functioning properly, including blowing down risers within buildings and cleaning water tanks," said the rep.

In the whole CB6 area, complains decreased significantly this week according to Garodnick as well as the DEP. Residents who are still seeing brown water are asked by the DEP to report the problem by calling 311. Complaints are forwarded to the department and those received so far have been crucial to the investigation, according to DEP spokesperson Mike Sacier.

"Absolutely they should report it. That's what helped inform us," said Saucier on Tuesday.
According to Canty, the brown water residents have been seeing is safe to drink, although the DEP recommends that anyone who sees brown water wait until the tap runs clear before drinking the water.

"It may look unappealing," said Canty, "but there is nothing in that water that is harmful to your health."

Stuyvesant Town residents are starting to understand why Tishman Speyer is distancing the complex from their failed "luxury living" marketing campaign. A resident living in one of the Oval buildings shows us there's nothing really luxurious about gravel-sized sediment pouring into your bathtub.

"I think you should take a jug of that sh*t-like water over to the Management Office and dump it all over Ms. Habersham's desk!"

- Cold and Miserable, in response to "Brown Water Affects Another Stuy Town Building"

DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
BY ADAM LISBERG
Thursday, November 13th 2008, 4:00 AM

Brown water has been pouring from East Siders' faucets for weeks, and the Department of Environmental Protection doesn't know why.

Problems started when the agency shut down one aqueduct for maintenance and began drawing water from the Croton system last month. That usually stirs up sediment and causes cloudy water for a day or two - but experts are stumped why it has persisted, on and off, for weeks.

"They claim it's drinkable. How do I know? You don't want to drink it," said Susan London, 63, who lives on E. 24th St. "It just makes me concerned about my health."

Crews hunting the problem found an unexpectedly open valve on the lower East Side last night, said DEP Deputy Commissioner Jim Roberts.

"They'll go in some cases hydrant by hydrant to determine the pressure," Roberts said. "There might be pockets of problems now."

The water has passed all health and safety checks so far, city and state officials say, but DEP says the sediment may stain clothes in washing machines - and that people should let sediment settle out of their water before drinking it.

The water is close to exceeding allowable sediment standards, said James Tierney, the state's assistant commissioner for water.

"They passed muster just barely in October, but November is looking pretty cloudy," Tierney said. "We're always making sure that things are monitored for safety."

Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) said he has received complaints from all up and down the East Side from people frustrated at DEP's lack of answers.

"They give no timetables," Garodnick said. "They don't explain what makes it brown."

Unclear why E. Side water runs brown [NY Daily News]