Philadelphia’s outdated sewer system is spilling 12.7 billion gallons of sewage into the Delaware River watershed yearly, leaving native waters unsafe for months.

Philadelphia’s waterways are really nasty. According to a current report, town dumps greater than 12.7 billion gallons of raw and diluted sewage into flooding into the Delaware River’s watershed annually. And, to make it worse, close by Camden County is including to the filthy mess, in accordance with a brand new report from environmental watchdog group PennEnvironment.

The 1972 Clean Water Act had a objective of secure and swimmable water, however a lot of the Delaware River and its tributaries stay unsafe. It is not only the Hudson and New York our bodies of water, in accordance with the report. Roughly 60% of Philadelphia is served by a mixed sewer system that spews polluted sewer stuff into native waterways. The Philadelphia Water Department has apparently tried to battle this off with the Green City, Clean Waters initiative, which is a a 25-year, multibillion-dollar plan. But clearly it has not performed sufficient.

The report research from 2016 to 2024. Before the large push, the waste was about 15 billion gallons a yr as cited in PennEnvironment’s 2023 report. About half the air pollution got here from simply 10 locations, with some waterways, together with the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers, experiencing quite a few overflow occasions per yr. That’s a number of waste.

Camden County, NJ is just not a lot better. PennEnvironment says that each cities usually are not doing what they should do in an effort to shield the atmosphere. Local environmental advocates demand federal funding and a decent deadline.

“Unfortunately, our new report on sewage pollution in Philadelphia shows that on far too many days each year, the Philadelphia Water Department’s pipes and sewer systems dump huge volumes of raw sewage into our beautiful waters, harming our environment and depriving the public of a safe place to fish, boat, and float,” mentioned Hanna Felber, clear water advocate at PennEnvironment.

I believe I have to look into what is occurring in New York City and NJ, as a result of that is deeply troubling!

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