Pollution of waterways growing as facilities claim exemptions
Thursday, 04 March 2010 21:23
The New York Times reported recently that as many as 1,500 investigations of major polluters have been stopped in the last four years as a result of Supreme Court rulings that have left uncertainty over which waterways are to be protected under the Clean Water Act. The New York Times reports that as a result, a number of companies are stating that they no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act and as a result pollution rates are rising. According to the Times:
The decisions “reduce E.P.A.’s ability to do what the law intends — to protect water quality, the environment and public health,” wrote Peter S. Silva, the E.P.A.’s assistant administrator for the Office of Water, in response to questions.
About 117 million Americans get their drinking water from sources fed by waters that are vulnerable to exclusion from the Clean Water Act, according to E.P.A. reports.
The E.P.A. said in a statement that it did not automatically concede that any significant water body was outside the authority of the Clean Water Act. “Jurisdictional determinations must be made on a case-by-case basis,” the agency wrote. Officials added that they believed that even many streams that go dry for long periods were within the act’s jurisdiction.
However, some at the EPA estimate that as many as 45 percent of major polluters fall outside of the jurisdiction, or in areas that are very difficult to prove jurisdiction. Furthermore, legislation that would repair the harm done by the court interpretations are being waylaid by people playing off the fears of property owners that a rewriting of the law would allow the government to regulate puddles and rain gutters. Until a new law can be passed, or the E.P.A. steps in to take action, the pollution stream will continue to grow.
You can read more from The New York Times.
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