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Army Corps to begin Scajaquada Creek cleanup study

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Army Corps to begin Scajaquada Creek cleanup study

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Lawmakers, clean water advocates and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers all seem to agree: the 13-mile-long Scajaquada Creek that flows through Buffalo's eastern suburbs and the city is gross.

"Fecal bacteria in the creek is at levels that are 20 times the threshold that are considered safe for human consumption,” Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster, said. “Contaminated sludge is up to five feet deep at some places and the avian botulism has been estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of birds in our region.”

The pollution, they said, is largely the result of abuse, alterations and poor infrastructure choices which have led to regular sewage runoff into the creek. Tuesday, Buffalo Waterkeeper and the Army Corps signed a cost-sharing agreement to cover a $600,000 restoration feasibility study.

"What it really means is that in the coming years we will be making significant progress in the actual restoration and changing and improvement segments of this creek system. It's what we've been talking about for decades," Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper Executive Director Jill Jedlicka said.

NPR

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3M reaches $10.3 billion settlement over contamination of water systems : NPR

— Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said Thursday.

The deal would compensate water providers for pollution with per- and polyfluorinated substances, known collectively as PFAS — a broad class of chemicals used in nonstick, water- and grease-resistant products such as clothing and cookware.

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Wastewater surveillance tracks COVID trends and other pathogens : Shots – Health News : NPR

The best time of day to collect a wastewater sample is in the morning. That's according to Raul Gonzalez, an environmental scientist who's an expert on how people's hygiene habits intersect with the flow of sewage.

Gonzalez runs the wastewater surveillance program at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, a Virginia Beach, Va., sewage treatment operation that processes waste for 20% of the state's population. He and his team were early adopters of wastewater surveillance – a way of tracking the concentration of viruses, bacteria and infectious diseases in sewage to watch for infectious disease outbreaks.

NY health officials move to expand wastewater monitoring

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NY health officials move to expand wastewater monitoring

Public health officials in New York are planning an expansion of infectious disease monitoring in wastewater in order to detect more illnesses that may be otherwise quietly spreading through a community.

The state Department of Health on Monday announced its plan through $21.6 million in funding, including a $6.6 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Under a series of pilot programs, health officials will begin testing for Influenza A, RSV, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, and antimicrobial-resistant genes. The initial monitoring programs will begin in Erie, Onondaga, Jefferson and Westchester counties.