DEC Clean Water Act internship. by John Floryshak
May 13, 2025
Open gallery
In Spring 2025 I worked as a ‘Clean Water Act’ intern at the Department of Environmental Conservation. My training and duties pertained to upholding the standards set by New York State’s Environmental Conservation Law, and the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System program. The SPDES program was created to protect New York waters and maintain the highest water quality possible by eliminating pollution at the source. This is accomplished through infrastructure and preventative measures that all contribute to keeping contaminants out of water bodies. My responsibility as an intern was to learn how to enforce these standards, which the department accomplishes by requiring business owners and operators which use or interact with state water to apply for and abide by a permit.
My time at the Department of Water was split into office and field days. On office days I would assist in the permit writing process. If a contractor wants to start an excavation project, or a hotel wants to install a new septic tank system, we check over their engineering plans to ensure they are implementing the appropriate measures to prevent pollutants from contaminating stormwater or groundwater, respectively. If an applicant’s site plans are satisfactory, a permit will be issued, which would require continuous preventative measures to be enacted on their part.
My field days would consist of inspections of permitted sites to ensure they are abiding by their permit regulations. If our inspection was at a construction site, we would have to confirm that no sediment or construction debris was making its way into nearby waterbodies or storm drains. If we were inspecting a wastewater treatment plant, an engineer would need to show proof of functioning infrastructure. As an intern, I gained an inside perspective on just how much goes into protecting our state’s waters, and how the unseen proactive measures make the difference in keeping our water clean.