Gotham Gazette

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Department of Environmental Protection

Department of Environmental Protection

  • Public Health Week: Get the Lead Out

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    (Photo by Dineshraj Goomany)


    After nearly three years of grappling with contaminated drinking water, the citizens of Flint, Michigan finally obtained some relief as a federal court approved a settlement mandating replacement of lead pipes. 

    As we mark Public Health Week in New York, we must confront the sobering need to “get the lead out” here as well.

    Lead is a potent neurotoxin. It is particularly damaging to children, who absorb as much as 90 percent more lead into their bodies than adults.

    ...
  • Increasingly Popular, Design-Build for City Relies on Albany

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    New NY Bridge Construction (photo: New York State Transit Authority)


    Every day, approximately 140,000 vehicles travel an elevated stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that runs through Brooklyn Heights between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. In addition to being one of New York’s busiest roads, one

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  • Reducing Organic Waste Without Increasing Costs

    composting sanitation

    photo via NYC Sanitation


    Today, the New York City Council will hold an oversight hearing on the Department of Sanitation's organic waste program started in 2013. The focus on organic waste is merited by the size of the waste stream (more than 1 million tons annually) and environmental benefits of reducing greenhouse gases through use of alternative disposal strategies, such as composting, rather than transport to distant landfills. The City plans to expand the pilot program citywide; however, ...