Since its founding in 1988, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) has championed the rights of our communities to a Delaware River and tributary streams that are free-flowing, clean, healthy, and abundant with a diversity of life.
For over 25 years, Maya van Rossum has led DRN. Under her guidance, DRN has grown into a leading environmental organization. DRN works throughout the four states of the Delaware River watershed and at the federal level when issues that impact the health of our watershed play out on a national stage. As of 2023, DRN's support and community extends across 23,000 members in nearly 21,000 households.
DRN empowers communities with the engaged interaction and information needed to succeed in protecting our River and region, now and into the future. Through independent advocacy, and the use of accurate facts, science and law, DRN gives voice, strength, and protection to the communities and waterways of the Delaware River.
Pennsylvania continues to allow raw sewage to flow into our rivers and streams at an alarming rate, devastating waterways and depriving communities from the promises of the Clean Water Act. While just 1 in 25 Americans are Pennsylvanians, nearly 1 in 5 sewer overflow communities are in Pennsylvania, exposing Pennsylvanians to raw sewage overflows at a rate that is five times the national average .
While Pennsylvania certainly has a long and storied history - in part explaining the antiquated facilities for handling raw sewage - the promises of the “elimination” of pollution from the 1972 Clean Water Act appear to be dismissed or excused by the state and federal agencies with oversight of these sewage facilities. These failings appear particularly concentrated in under-resourced communities and communities of color. No one should be exposed to raw sewage a half-century after the investments and restoration under the Clean Water Act; the injustices of such exposure among Americans represents a major failing in a program that is largely hailed as an American success story.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network seeks a detailed analysis of the data and the policies surrounding “combined sewage overflows” (CSOs) in Pennsylvania, and the policy recommendations for eliminating the disparities from raw sewage exposure, particularly in communities of color and environmental justice settings. Why does Pennsylvania permit such a disproportionate number of the nation’s CSOs?
What are the distributions of CSOs among urban and rural communities, rich and poor, and communities of color? What prevents the full elimination of CSOs in even small and affluent communities? What is the trajectory of CSO elimination through time, and how does that vary among the commonwealth’s communities?
The successful candidate will produce a summary report detailing the current status of CSO policy in Pennsylvania, including a comparison of the commonwealth to other Clean Water Act jurisdictions (particularly states in the region). The report and recommendations will be supported by data and data analyses in the form of appendices and project files that can be used to support advocacy and accelerate the elimination of raw sewage exposure everywhere in Pennsylvania.
The standard Fels Capstone timeline, with students working from January through July and completing their project by August, will work well for the project and DRN.
