Conservation Commission. 37 



Sewage Contamination. 



That oysters polluted by sewage contamination are a menace to 

 health is no longer an open question. Many acres of shellfish 

 lands lie in waters that are receiving the untreated sewage of some 

 of the most populated districts of the State. A sanitary survey of 

 Jamaica bay made under the direction of this department during 

 the year shows that upwards of 40,000,000 gallons of raw sewage 

 are daily discharged into its waters — subject to the action of wind 

 and tide. These waters cover 2,600 acres of oyster bottoms, as 

 well as an extensive area of natural clamming lands. The growth 

 of population in the metropolitan district, particularly on Long 

 Island, has made the question of sewage contamination one of 

 ever-increasing seriousness. While polluted areas may be utilized 

 within a proper limit in oyster culture, no shellfish showing con- 

 tamination to a degree dangerous to health should be marketed 

 from such districts. The report of the Metropolitan Sewer Com- 

 mission for the year 1912, recently published, contains an exhaus- 

 tive study of the subject of the contamination of the waters adja- 

 cent to New York, and embodies the findings of a committee of 

 experts acting for the municipal authorities. Their work will 

 undoubtedly find practical expression in a system of sewage treat- 

 ment and disposal that will be most effective in the elimination of 

 the nuisance. The example of the city of Baltimore in protecting 

 its harbor and the valuable oyster bottoms adjacent thereto by 

 means of a system of sewage-disposal plants is a splendid illustra- 

 tion of the results possible of accomplishment by modern methods. 

 Undoubtedly, many sensational reports have been current concern- 

 ing the oyster as a typhoid carrier, the majority of which were 

 without foundation in fact. Nevertheless, enough has been dem- 

 onstrated to make impossible of denial the assertion that the 

 disease has been positively traced to this bivalve. The problem 

 of sewage disposal is primarily a matter of local regulation. 



Sanitary Examination. 



Pollution cannot be eliminated at best until after the lapse of 

 a considerable period, but in the meantime it is imperative that 

 the Conservation Law be amended to provide for the sanitary 



