wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Comments

• [1] Philippe Castagner from Brooklyn August 10, 2007 - 10:21AM

  No doubt we will be hearing about how rain can overwhelm the system. I paddle and often fush on Jamaica Bay in a kayak several times a week, and sometimes I fish all night. I have personally observed Paerdegat Basin change from relatively normal looking to a cloudy blue-green-white, oily, stinky, sinister looking consistency overnight this spring. This happened on a day with no rain, and it happened sometime after I launched and before dawn, when I returned. These conditions have often been accompanied by floating fecal matter, used feminine hygiene products, latex condoms, and the like.

  The issue is not just overflow from rain. It is a habitual use of public waterways as a toilet.

  
  
• [2] chestine from NY August 10, 2007 - 10:30AM

  eew to the above (and thank you) and is anyone aware of the ancient city of Petra and its brilliant flash-flood capturers?

  I think there ought to be trees where all teh banks are.

  
  
• [3] Andrew Clarke from New York August 10, 2007 - 10:32AM

  Why aren't the systems seperated. Stop sending the rainwater into the sewer!

  
  
• [4] Andrew from Ridgewood NJ August 10, 2007 - 10:33AM

  I work at Turner Construction Company....Many of the newer, green buildings we build (Hearst Tower, The Solaire, The Verdesian) capture their rainwater and use it as grey water for flushing toilets, etc.

  
  
• [5] TMuir August 10, 2007 - 10:34AM

  I agree with ther caller who said some of these "green" suggestions sound absurd in the city. Where is my elderly mother supposed to put a rain barrel, and how is she then to transport the collected water to where she supposedly will need it?

  
  
• [6] Jim Buckley from The Bronx August 10, 2007 - 10:37AM

  Green plans should be pursued in part to try to reduce the capital costs involved with heavy construction. The debt service component of the Water Board's budget is growing steadily and as a result is having a major impact on the costs to consumers. Since the rates are set to have the rate payers pay for the entire cost of the system, rates are rising sharply. The 11.5% increase this past year passed by the Water Board will be followed by similar increases for at least the next three years based on DEP's own estimates. Less costly, greener methods must be sought and adopted.

  
  
• [7] Jon Young from Staten Island August 10, 2007 - 10:37AM

  I have a rain barrel system that can capture about eighty gallons of water. It is mosquito safe and cost me about $50 to install.

  
  
• [8] Rachel deAragon from manhattan August 10, 2007 - 10:38AM

  This discussion as per the trees, gardens rain-barrels etc. ignores, as does most of the mayor's office replies to this emergency,that the up-keep of the system has been deep-sixed for decades!! Bloomberg will try everything other than understand that the base of any system is the at the bottom.. daily work and funding the basic up-keep.This amount of rain has never done this before... why not say that clearly!

  It rains often, very often, in this part of the continent!! If the drains are not kept clean, they back up! This weeks rain is not a new happening.. keeping up the system is absolutly needed. Up keep. Up keep. Up Keep! If youdon't clean your house, its really a no brainer as to what will occur.

  
  
• [9] Andrew Clarke from New York August 10, 2007 - 10:38AM

  The green street system being suggested will not take any water when the ground is frozen - it will run off just the same as concrete. Don't get me wrong I am all for a green city but these are very cosmetic ideas. Creat a seperate stormwater system that treats the first flush of a rain storm (collecting polutants) and send the rest back into the river system.

  
  
• [10] Gary Ostroff from Teaneck, NJ August 10, 2007 - 10:41AM

  Green, source reduction solutions are great, and only a long-term plan (glacial) can address the issue, but there are two points that have not been made:

  Global warming, if it continues to occur, will raise sea levels (which are rising already) and that will make the stormwater system of NYC dysfunctional (because of the tidegates at the outfalls. Therefore, there is too much discussion of the pollution impacts of the CSOs, and not enough of the flooding problem.

  Second - the impact of CSOs, for the most part, is transitory and small. It's not good, but the flooding is a much bigger problem.

  
  
• [11] alex from queens August 10, 2007 - 10:45AM

  it's hard enough keeping plants from dying when they are in the ground. Rooftop plants

  have the added disdvantage of wind and heat to deal with. dead plants can't absorb water.....

  
  
• [12] Sunphat Yau from X-nyc-LA 4a bit August 10, 2007 - 10:45AM

  Funny because that is exactly what plagues LA. Every time it rains here, and most all of CA they warn you to not enter the water for 72 hours as most storm drains end up in the beautiful Pacific and the bacteria levels skyrocket. Truly antiquated and short sighted engineering. I believe that the answer is a combination of both of the guests ideas.

  
  
• [13] Jeff Hook from East Orange, NJ August 10, 2007 - 11:08AM

  Marty Goldenson introduced this topic by reminding listeners that development of this area has *eliminated* the absorption of storm water by the landscape. Urban listeners are expected to be concerned about the public engineering and public health implications of municipal storm water management. In such a highly "built" place, listeners aren't expected to know as much about the natural operation of the living landscape, or to be concerned about it. Marty, you clearly understand the history of the alteration of this natural process, and it seems you understand the environmental implications of that alteration. Thanks for beginning this "segment" with the type of brief environmental explanation which the public needs to hear, to see, and to read in the "media" until knowledge and understanding are more universal.