State officials say oil spill cleanup efforts under Greenpoint are seriously picking up speed. “In terms of oil recovery, we’re more than a third of the way there,” state Department of Environmental Conservation project manager Ed Hampston told the Brooklyn Paper. With the help of new sludge-sucking pumps (and at the urging of subway artists), workers removed 880,000 gallons of oil last year, more than twice as much as in 2008. Since 2000, the year the cleanup began, 10.8 million gallons of petroleum product have been extracted. more ›

With 300,000 cubic yards of sludge being carted from the recently designated Gowanus Superfund site, a project manager for the effort has an admittedly "out there" idea. Through the process of vitrification he wants to pack and heat the waste, until it's transformed into big glass cubes. "You could construct an aquarium," Christos Tsiamis told the News, adding that "It creates an absolutely safe byproduct," so the fish tanks won't stink. Maybe a Mac store could go in one of them? more ›

Apparently New Yorkers make so much waste that the city's Department of Environmental Protection has to ship NYC sludge to the Garden State. According to the Daily News, "Sludge production at the Newtown Creek sewage treatment plant - the last of the city's 14 plants to upgrade its systems - has shot up 28% in five years." City Councilman David Yassky is concerned that the Newtown Creek upgrade will end up costing $5 billion, over twice its initial estimate, and said, "There is just something very wrong with DEP's management of its construction projects." At any rate, the DEP thinks the deal with NJ was necessary (and it also means that less waste will go into the East River); deputy commissioner of wastewater treatment Doug Greeley joked, "[Otherwise] It would be constipating New York City." more ›