Runoff from sewer overflows into the waters around New York City deprives millions of the chance to enjoy the waters for recreation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to blame for not forcing the state to update clean water rules, a coalition of environmental groups allege in a new lawsuit.

When it rains in New York City, stormwater washes into the city's combined sewer system and mixes with sewage and overloads the system; the cocktail then bypasses treatment plants and runs into waterways.

In a suit filed on June 29, nine environmental groups that include Riverkeeper Inc. and the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation still uses total and fecal chloroform as its criteria for measuring water quality that the EPA has not supported since 1986.