Seinfeld Declassified Episode 50: What is the most polluted river on the eastern seaboard?

Hello, Newman & welcome back to another episode. So today’s episode follows the further adventures of the k man as he attempts to swim the east river after finding it hard to use the pool during the geriatric water aerobics (because apparently there was no other time he could go for a swim despite having no job or life of any kind). But anyway, this leads to the assertion that the norfolk river is the most polluted on the eastern seaboard (with east being a close second) but is there any truth to this statement? Well, we sent our researchers out into the field & this is what they found.

There does appear to be some validity to this statement. In fact, experts found that sewage was pumped into the Norfolk’s river more than 4000 times last year alone. That’s around 5 billion gallons of waste per year. Apparently, it is perfectly legal for water companies to dump their waste into the waterways during heavy rainfall & this has led to it becoming one of the most polluted rivers in the nation.

But as far the east is concerned, the answer is not so simple. You see, it is true at the time it was one of the most polluted rivers on the east coast but times have changed. In 1972, the clean water act was enacted into law in an effort to curb the amount of pollution in our waterways but prior to that, it was used as a dumping ground for all kinds of waste & toxic chemicals. That’s why it was tragic but not surprising when in 2013, a dolphin died from swimming into one of the most polluted sections of the river. But despite its history of being essentially the underwater version of chernobyl, it seems the river may yet be on an upswing.

In recent years, many efforts have been made to restore the river to its former glory & as such, it is currently the cleanest it’s been in over a century. In fact, the city has spent an estimated $45 billion over the past four decades in an effort to improve water quality in & around NYC . While it is physically impossible for them to revert the water back to its original state, there has been a lot of progress made over the years. There even seems to be a push to return to the water. While there are still some new yorkers apprehensive about ever setting foot in that river again, many believe it will soon be clean enough to swim in safely. It’s only a matter of time.

So that’s pretty much allI have for you guys today but thank you so much for reading. Have a great weekend & I will see you back here next week for a brand new episode of Seinfeld Declassified. Until then, this is the x factor signing off.