Bronx leaders blast state proposal to exempt Harlem River from clean water rules

Bronx clean water advocates sounded the alarm Tuesday at a press conference in Mill Pond Park over a state proposal that would exempt the Harlem River from meeting certain clean water standards—effectively locking in poor water quality for decades to come.

Advocates accused the state of shirking its responsibility to clean up the river, choosing instead to seek a regulatory workaround that would spare it from making costly improvements.

The proposed exemption would allow an estimated 1.9 billion gallons of sewage and polluted stormwater to continue entering the Harlem River each year. These discharges occur during even moderate rainfall, when the borough’s outdated combined sewer system overflows and dumps untreated waste into the waterway.