By Don Hopey
On the 30th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act, more than 200
industrial and municipal sites in Pennsylvania and thousands across the
nation are repeatedly and egregiously violating pollution discharge
limits while enforcement agencies do little to stop them, according to
a new report by the environmental group, PennEnvironment.
The
report, based on statistics submitted to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency by the industries themselves, lists Pennsylvania
among the 10 states or territories that registered the most instances
when federal pollution limits were exceeded as well as the greatest
number of gross violations -- when discharges go at least five times
over the limits.
"Pennsylvania
is not doing enough to follow either the letter or spirit of the Clean
Water Act," said David Masur, director of PennEnvironment. "When a
state has so many egregious violations it's not doing enough to hinder
polluters, either by setting fines high enough or revoking the permits
of repeat violators."
The
list of Pennsylvania companies repeatedly exceeding discharge permits
includes U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works, which discharges into Peters
Creek and the Monongahela River, and Reliant Energy's coal-fired power
plant in East Wheatfield, Indiana County, which discharges into the
Conemaugh River.
The
Clean Water Act, signed into law on Oct. 18, 1972, set the overly
ambitious goals of making all waterways "fishable and swimmable" by
1983 and totally eliminating the discharge of pollutants by 1985.
The
act has lead to important and widespread water quality improvements,
but 39 percent of rivers in the United States, 51 percent of estuaries
and 46 percent of lakes remain too polluted for safe fishing or
swimming.
