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• Overview
• Arrangement
• Scope and Contents
• Related Material
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• Access Restrictions
• Access Terms
• Detailed Description

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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Office of Counsel Water Pollution Control Case Files

Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources

Overview of the Records

Arrangement

Alphabetical by first letter of accused party name.

Scope and Content Note

This is an incomplete series of case files documenting legal action brought by the state against water polluters, usually municipalities or businesses (companies' names fall between F and L). The bulk of the files are legal documents sent between state personnel and counsel to the municipality, corporation, or individual accused of polluting state waters, and in most cases, the files document the entire enforcement process.

The files contain notices of hearings, findings, correspondence, transcripts of hearings, memoranda, rough notes from meetings, maps, case reports, petitions, complaints, registered mail receipts, and a small number of photographs. The whereabouts of the remaining case files are unknown.

Originally the Health Department compiled these case files in response to legislation of 1953 requiring that reasonable standards of water purity be maintained through prevention and abatement of water pollution, specifically including legal recourse as a means of enforcement. This statute was repealed in 1972 when the Department of Environmental Conservation assumed responsibility for its enforcement by Article 17 of the Conservation Law.

Maps: The maps found in the series are primarily single whiteprint copies, some of which are annotated in color, or simple unannotated photocopies. Maps are sometimes included on plans, along with details and profiles, or as plates from engineering reports. Title, scale, legend, and date information is often present on the copies, particularly on the plans, although annotation dates of the copies are unknown. The maps and plans range in size from 28 x 22 cm to 66 x 175 cm. There is one distinct group of photocopies of printed topographic U.S. Geological Survey quadrangle maps (reduced in size) that appear in a table of classification and standards of quality and purity of water within the Hudson River Drainage Basin. In this case a general location map of the basin (Albany, Columbia, Greene, and Rensselaer counties) is also present, as is an index map of the quadrangle arrangement within the basin area.

Other examples of maps, plans, and related representations occurring in the series include: a hand-drawn location sketch of facilities for industrial and domestic waste treatment and sampling; a cross section and plan, including a typical layout of an earth banked settling basin for a waste treatment plant at a duck farm, and a key map; general area maps for various sewage treatment plants, along with plans and hydraulic profiles, found as exhibits to reports on proposed remodeling and expansion of the treatment plants; preliminary plans, with flow diagrams and locations of various units, of sewage treatment plants; plates from engineering reports, including preliminary layouts of sewerage facilities, regional sewage treatment plants site plans, flow diagrams and hydraulic profiles, and plans and sections for main pumping stations; and a map with insert sketch showing reputed ownership of power lines, along with a description of land affected by easements given to the Hooker Chemical Corporation.

Alternate Formats Available

This series has been microfilmed on 9 rolls, available for use at the New York State Archives or through inter-library loan.

Related Material

A1122 Pure Water Files, contains information on the Department of Environmental Conservation's regulatory efforts with water pollution.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Access Terms

Detailed Description