ohn Paul admits that he was "pretty nervous" the day he stood in federal district court and argued that New York City's Department of Environmental Protection was guilty of violating the Clean Water Act. There was good reason for his trepidation: Paul isn't a lawyer (yet). He was, however, one of four students arguing the case for academic credit at Pace University Law School. In the end, the students won: The judge slapped the agency with a $5.7 million penalty.

On some days, up to 600 million gallons of silt and clay pour from a city-owned reservoir upstate into a city-owned water tunnel, then empty into the Esopus Creek, a historic trout stream. Because the murk impairs the trout's ability to find food, the fish downstream of the city's tunnel were significantly smaller than those upstream.

The DEP has appealed the verdict, but should the ruling stand, the agency will have to install a filtration system that will protect the beauty of the Esopus and the health of its brook, rainbow, and brown trout.
-- Joel Gershon