Throwback Thursday: In 1980, EPA Spent $1M to Preserve Sewer as Historical Monument

In 1980, the Environmental Protection Agency wasted between $1 million and $1.2 million — $3.5 million to $4.2 million in 2022 dollars — to preserve an underground sewer as a historical monument.

Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, awarded the EPA his Golden Fleece Award for flushing tax dollars down the drain.

In 1975, the EPA required the City of Trenton, New Jersey to upgrade its sewer system and sanitation plant.

Trenton planned to build the new sewers through part of an existing 100-year-old brick Lamberton Street sewer.

Their historical preservation officer, however, found that it wasn’t usable but still wanted to preserve it.

She wrote to the EPA to express her concern that destroying this hidden, underground sewer would constitute a loss of “a symbol and expression of America’s former engineers, engineering, urban life, and planning.”

Given this information, the EPA issued another edict: the City of Trenton now had to preserve the old sewer and build a new sewer parallel to the old.

By requiring the construction of a new sewer next to the old, as well as hiring an archeologist to ensure the old sewer would be properly preserved during construction, the EPA cost the City of Trenton (and taxpayers) an additional $1 million to $1.2 million.

The sewer is not on display, is not accessible to the public, and was full of mud and sludge. In fact, it was only viewed twice in 23 years prior to 1980.

Luckily, the city of Trenton added plaques above ground at each end of the sewer to alert pedestrians of its existence, so visitors could enjoy the historic Lamberton Street sewer for years to come.

The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by the forensic auditors at OpenTheBooks.com.