City dumping snow in Schuylkill

This information just in from a perceptive citizen.

Despite Mayor Nutter’s promise that the city would not rely on an old, environmentally unfriendly tactic – road crews are dumping dirty, trash laden, salted snow into the Schuylkill River from the Market St. Bridge.

This comes just a couple days after the Academy of Natural Sciences thanks the city for refraining from dumping. 
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/84290052.html

“Our policy is that we do not dump snow in the river,” said Luke Butler, a spokesman for Nutter after reviewing the photographs. “The incident in the pictures is an isolated one” as far as the city knows, he said. “The crew has been notified of the policy.”

Delaware Riverkeeper Maya K. van Rossum was incensed.

“Dirty snow doesn’t belong in Philadelphia’s rivers – the rivers that supply our drinking water, support our fish, and are vital to the health and beauty of our City. It is pretty outrageous that the City would engage in such a practice, particularly after the Mayor sought and secured regional and even national praise for not dumping dirty snow into our Rivers,” she said 
“The Mayor needs to reprimand those who have apparently betrayed his commitment to the city and region; and to demand the practice stop. And the Philadelphia Water Department and DEP need to take immediate enforcement action against the City. This must never be allowed to happen again.”

Butler continued, “Due to the nature of shift patterns there are sometimes difficulties notifying all workers of the official policy, but we use every opportunity to make sure that everyone is aware of the policy.”

View photostream

What’s even more amazing is the city contracted out this winter to replace damaged balustrades on the same bridge.