New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced landmark settlements with five health care facilities, four in Delaware County and one in Putnam County, to stop their disposal of pharmaceutical waste into the New York City watershed.

The hospitals and nursing homes in the settlement all cooperated with the investigation and were found to have flushed pharmaceutical wastes down sinks and toilets, which violated various provisions of The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the federal Clean Water Act. Antibiotics, anti-depressants, hormones and painkillers were all potentially introduced in to the New York City watershed. The watershed provides drinking water to residents of New York City, Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, and Orange Counties.

Studies have shown that low levels of drugs harm aquatic wildlife. Concerns have also been raised about the public health consequences of low-level exposures to synthetic hormones, psychoactive drugs, and other waste pharmaceuticals. New York is not alone; a nationwide study published in 2008 found that water supplies all over the U.S. are facing pharmaceutical contamination.

Cuomo's settlement states that each health care facility is to ensure that it complies fully with all laws and regulations related to waste management and clean water, pays for past violations of the law and costs incurred by the state in the investigation, and implements pharmaceutical "take back programs" to ensure the collection and proper disposal of pharmaceutical wastes generated by area households.