New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Division of Water Pure Water Files

Organized into three parts: a subject file, a transcript file, and an index file.

Subject file: Alphabetical by subject.

Transcript file: Chronological.

Index file: Alphabetical

This series reveals a part of the State's effort to control water pollution. It contains memoranda, correspondence, transcripts of public hearings, maps, letters from citizens complaining of polluted lakes or streams, and the documentation from investigations and, usually, litigation against the accused polluters.

Over time, three separate government organizations performed this function, and records from all three may be found within the series. The Department of Health's Division of Environmental Health Studies generated most of the files, but files from the organization's predecessor, the Bureau of Environmental Sanitation, and successor, Division of Water, an agency within the Department of Environmental Conservation, can be found.

In the first part of the series, the Subject Files contain information on specific polluted waters, studies on the causes of water pollution, and status reports on sewerage systems. The series also contains transcripts from the 1966 Water Resources Commission and Department of Health hearings held in municipalities around the state concerning groundwater regulations and possible amendments to them. The index file details how the office files were maintained and may provide evidence about other aspects of the office not documented here.

Maps: The few maps found in the series are all photocopies (with the exception of one blueprint copy) and are entirely illustrative in nature. Almost all of them are simple printed outline maps of New York State, often with counties designated, that are annotated to show the state drainage basins. The bulk of the maps measure 22 x 28 cm; the largest map is 60 x 90 cm. The same kind of map appears consistently, sometimes with hand colored annotations and at other times simply as straight photocopies. The maps were apparently produced as part of the Department of Health's Water Pollution Control Program, and many are preceded by sheets referring to a "table" entitled "Drainage Basins of New York State (after the Office of Water Data Coordination, 1966)". The maps show: drainage basins in New York State, sometimes including names of major rivers, boundaries of the major drainage basins, and designated drainage basin area numbers; the counties of the state annotated with D.E.C. region numbers (1-9); the faulted area of New York State; potential disposal well areas in the U.S. (for deep well waste injection systems); and regional areas of interstate drainage basins, including the New England Compact Area, Chesapeake Bay Drainage Basin, and the Susquehanna River Basin.

Microfilm is available for use at the New York State Archives or through interlibrary loan.

10407Series 10407, Department of Health Office of Counsel Pollution Enforcement Case Files, contains information on legal actions taken against water polluters.

Folder list is available at the repository.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.