KINGS COUNTY, NEW YORK

AN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DIAGNOSIS by Zaid Ashar 4rd grade, Boght Hills Elementary

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS KINGS COUNTY? Abstract The aim of this study is to find out problems that Kings County has and to see how the county is working on these problems. The methods and data that I used for this research included information from internet websites, news articles, and government sources like the soil and water district and the Department of Environmental Conservation for New York. The result of my study finds that Kings County has a lot of pollution. People should care about what I am writing because there is not much information on counties. It is also important because many people don’t know about counties and counties are important.

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METHODS It is important to study counties because it is important to know which areas of New York have more problems than others. There are 62 counties in New York State. They are all different – some are more rural and others are more urban. They are also different because they use different water sources, energy sources, pollutants, and much more. Some questions that researchers can ask to understand the environmental health of a county are listed below: – How often is the watershed accessed? – What types of activities are held in the watershed? – What types of energy are being used in the county? – What type of energy plants do they have planned?

PARTS OF A COUNTY: HABITATS There are many different habitats in Brooklyn (Kings County), including cities, state parks, and lakes. In cities, different types of birds live, such as pigeons and falcons. In state parks, birds, deer, and other various animals might live there. In lakes, different types of fish might live. Challenges: - litter - air pollution Solutions: - Throw trash away - Use bicycles instead of driving cars

PARTS OF A COUNTY: WATER & SOIL The river that runs through my county is the Hudson River. The Watershed that my county uses is The Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound Watershed. Some activities that could ruin the watershed are motor boating, crude oil shipments and fishing. Challenges: - Long Island Sound hypoxia - Toxic industry waste - Urban storm water runoff Solutions: - Check industry waste before it is drained into the river - Stop sewage overflow - Develop plans for storm water runoff

PARTS OF A COUNTY: INDUSTRIES Important industries in Kings County are transportation and warehousing, health care and social assistance, and finally educational services. Challenges: - Public transit air pollution - Global warming - Disposal of dangerous chemicals Solutions: - Use electric buses instead of diesel - Encourage people to bike and walk - Schools can use wind or solar power to reduce pollution - Develop a good waste disposal plan

PARTS OF A COUNTY: ENERGY The energy resources in Kings County are bad because they use a lot of Nuclear, Oil, and gas energy but they are still not releasing as many pollutants as the national energy mixture. First of all Kings county uses too much nuclear energy, oil energy, and gas energy. This is polluting the environment and also wasting energy. Second, they are releasing too many pollutants even if the amount of pollutants for the nation is higher. Kings County only has 1% renewable energy and the rest is non-renewable. These are some of the challenges in Kings County. Challenges: - Too many nonrenewable energy sources Solutions: - Use more renewable energy sources, like cellulosic biomass

PARTS OF A COUNTY: WASTE The different types of waste facilities in Kings County include transfer stations, waste-to-energy stations, recycling facilities, and composting facilities. Two of the major transfer stations in Kings County are Brooklyn Transfer LLC and also Hi- Tech Resource Recovery Inc. There are no smaller transfer stations in Kings County. There is one waste–to-energy station called Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility. There is a recycling facility called Sims Recycling Facility. There is one composting place called Halsey Community Garden. Challenges: - Lack of space - Money to maintain sites Solutions: - Teach people to compost - Fundraise

ENVIROINDICATORS: WATERSHED HEALTH WATERSHED HEALTH Watershed name: The Atlantic Ocean/Long Island Sound Watershed What percentage of rivers has poor water quality? What percentage of lakes has poor water quality? Overall percentage with poor water quality? 30%8%38% What percentage of rivers has good water quality? What percentage of lakes has good water quality? Overall percentage with good water quality? 17%1%18% Caption: My watershed has more poor water than good water.

ENVIROINDICATORS: ENERGY ENERGY What region is your county located in? NPCC NYC/Westchester Type of Energy% of County Energy Composition Renewable1% Hydroelectric0% Nuclear39.9% Oil1.3% Gas57.4% Coal0%

OTHER ENVIROINDICATORS CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITIES Are there climate smart communities in your County?: No -What is a climate smart community? I think the definition of a climate smart community is a community that tries to prevent climate change. For example, by getting only local vegetables you are preventing the emission of CO 2 coming from the trucks being driven to get the fresh vegetables from outside the city to you -Why wouldn’t a community work to become a climate smart community? Here are some reasons a community wouldn’t work to become a climate smart community: 1.They might not have enough money 2.They might not have enough people to work together with. 3.It might be cold where they live and they want it to warm up 4.They might not have the materials -What steps could citizens take in order to persuade people in the county to work to become climate smart communities? If it were my job to persuade people in Kings County to work to become climate smart communities, I would say: “Do you think we should become a climate smart community? It will help the environment stay safe and it will also help us. Think about it. We are so close to the sea and if climate change continues, That’s right. The sea level will rise and cause floods. Another impact climate change causes is health problems such as asthma, lung cancer, and other heart problems caused from CO 2 emissions. So do you want to become a climate Smart community?” ENVIROTHON COMPETITION Have any high schools in your county competed in the Envirothon competition? If yes, list them: Yes, I got the information from my soil and water district’s website. -What is the Envirothon competition? It is an environmental education program that teaches kids countrywide on how to make the environment better. -How do you think environmental education helps the environmental health of your county? I think it will help by getting more and more people to be friendly to the environment. It will reduce the amount of air pollution, water pollution, and CO 2.

TIMELINE Around 21,000 Years Ago – The landmass of Long Island was formed Around 1600 AD – Poospatuck Indians lived in Kings County 1664 – Brooklyn became part of the Province of New York November 1, 1683 – Kings County was founded from six Old Dutch towns 1801 – The Brooklyn Navy Yard was built and used 24 hours a day during WWII 1883 – Start of Gothic Revival in Brooklyn April 26, 2012 – New York City awards $4.6 million in watershed protection grants September 2, 2012 – park and “living reef” designed for the mouth of Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal that could use oysters to clean up toxins and pollutants from water

BACKGROUND Kings County is located on Long Island and is often referred to as Brooklyn. Kings County is a flat area with mostly suburban features and some urban features. It was established in In 1648, the Dutch West India Company developed the village of Breuckelen (now Brooklyn). Kings County was founded in 1683 because the British took it from the Dutch and organized it differently. My county is a county with one very big town called Brooklyn. It can also be known as an urban city. My county is the most densely populated county in New York. The population of Kings County is million people. Downtown Brooklyn is more densely populated than any other area in my county. One other interesting fact is that all of Kings County is the city of Brooklyn.

RECOMMENDATIONS Kings County should have the whole community work together on pollution and the Kings County government should improve its laws on pollution. They should rely on more efficient energy sources, such as a cellulosic biomass plant. They should also try to gain more money for environmental programs.

ABOUT ECOED & MENTORS Rensselaer's EcoEd Research Group involves faculty and students in the development and delivery of creative, interdisciplinary environmental education to K-12 students. The goal is to extend the broad impact of humanities and social science research on environmental problems through translation into hands-on exercises through which young students develop capacity to deal effectively with environmental problems, and with complex problems in general - integrating many types of knowledge. In EcoEd’s Upper Elementary School Research Program, young students are assigned an RPI student mentor, and with them move through a nine-week exploration of a research topic, culminating in a substantial written report and formal oral presentation.

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