经济学家译文.doc

Trees grow in Brooklyn A natural form of relief for overworked city sewers 为减轻城市对下水道的过度使用的一种自然办法 Nov 11th 2010 | New York and Philadelphia LIKE other post-industrial areas in the city, New York’s Gowanus neighbourhood is getting stylish. But those who venture there after a heavy rainstorm might rethink their plans to buy that loft. When the city’s ageing sewerage system is overwhelmed, untreated storm-water and sewage flood into local waterways, including the Gowanus Canal. The resulting whiff is sure to keep property prices at a level starving Brooklyn artists can afford. 同纽约其他后工业区一样，高万斯区也变得日渐时尚，但在一场暴雨之后那些投资兴建艺术中心的人大概要重新考虑他们的计划了。暴雨使城市老化的排水系统不堪重负，未经处理的雨水和污水直接涌入当地水系，其中就包括高万斯运河，产生的气味无疑使房价低到哪些食不果腹的布鲁克林的艺术家们也付得起。 New York has a serious sewer problem. The city spills more than 27 billion gallons (102 billion litres) of untreated overflow into its harbour each year, according to Riverkeeper, a local advocacy group. And New York is not alone. Nearly 800 American cities rely on decrepit systems that collect storm-water run-off, industrial waste and human sewage in the same pipes. Usually these pipes take waste water to treatment plants. But any overflow is released into rivers and streams. 纽约有很严重的污水问题。据当地的一个促进组织----河流保护协会纰漏，每年都会有270亿加仑（1020亿升）的未处理污水流入港口。这种现象并不仅仅出现在纽约，在美国有将近800 个城市依靠破旧的排水系统，使用同一个管道来收集暴雨径流水，工业废水和人用污水。通常这些管道都将污水送往污水处理厂，但还有些污水溢流到河流和小溪之中。 Time, erosion and increasingly erratic weather have made this a national issue. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal body in charge of monitoring water standards, says the country needs to invest $300 billion over the next 20 years to update or replace existing sewer infrastructure. But except for the money for improvements set aside in the 2009 stimulus bill—a not-ungenerous $6 billion—the federal government has left states to their own devices. Some cash-strapped cities have decided to get creative. 在当今日趋变化无常气候下，治理污水的长期性，腐蚀性，更是受到全国瞩目。负责监管水的质量标准的联邦机构---美国环境保护署宣称要在未来的20年内投资3000亿美元，来更新和更换现有的污水处理设备。改善设