As New Yorkers, we take pride in our tap water. Well, we should. Mayor Bloomberg called it “the lifeblood of our city” after it rated first in statewide quality in 2008. But that might not last forever, if Governor Paterson has his way.
It would seem the Gov’ is still considering authorizing drilling for natural gas in the Catskills, the watershed that provides us with our delicious, delicious tap water. Extracting natural gas like this would very likely lead to toxic wastewater seeping right into the watershed; the price tag for filtering out these chemicals would be $10 billion for a filtration plant, plus another $100 million per year to keep it up and running. Shockingly, no one has come forward offering to pay for this.
So drink it while you can, fellow citizens.