Clean Water News

PHILDELPHIA—Over fifty-seven percent of industrial and municipal facilities across Pennsylvania discharged more pollution into the state’s waterways than their Clean Water Act permits allow between July 2003 and December 2004, according to "Troubled Waters: An Analysis Of Clean Water Act Compliance," a new report released today by PennEnvironment.

“Polluters are using America’s waters as their dumping ground. Instead of solving the problem, the Bush administration is slashing the EPA’s budget and weakening critical clean water programs,” said David Masur, PennEnvironment Director.

While the 1972 Clean Water Act has made significant strides in cleaning up U.S. waterways, the law’s goals of eliminating the discharge of pollutants into waterways by 1985 and making all U.S. waters safe for fishing, swimming and other uses by 1983 have not been reached. Today, more than 40 percent of U.S. waterways are unsafe for swimming and fishing. In Pennsylvania, more than 10,000 miles of streams, rivers and other waterways are impaired.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, PennEnvironment obtained data on facilities’ compliance with the Clean Water Act between July 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004. PennEnvironment researchers found that polluters repeatedly exceeded their permit limits, often by egregious amounts.

Additional findings include:

• Nationally, 62 percent of all major industrial and municipal facilities discharged more pollution into U.S. waterways than their permits allow at least once during the 18-month period studied. The average facility exceeded its pollution permit limit by more than 275 percent, or almost four times the legal limit.

• More than fifty-seven percent of Pennsylvania’s industrial and municipal facilities exceeded their Clean Water Act permits at least once between July 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004.

• 383 facilities in Pennsylvania reported nearly 2,000 exceedances of their Clean Water Act permits during the 18-month period, ranking the state fourth in the country for the most exceedances.

• On average, Pennsylvania facilities exceeding their Clean Water Act permits did so by nearly 155%.

• Polluters in Pennsylvania reported 154 instances in which they exceeded their Clean Water Act permit by at least 500 percent over the legal limit. This is the third worst ranking in the nation behind Indiana (178) and Ohio (205).

• Many Pennsylvania counties ranked in the nation’s worst one-percentile for the number of facilities found within their boundaries violating the Clean Water Act. In Western Pennsylvania, 19 facilities found in Allegheny County exceeded their Clean Water Act permit at least once during this period ranking fourth worst for any county in the nation while Beaver County had 16 facilities exceeding their permit at least once during this period ranking ninth worst in the nation.

• Westmoreland County had ten facilities found within the counties’ borders that exceeded their permits at least once during this time period, tied for fortieth worst in the country. In Eastern Pennsylvania, Montgomery Country tied for twentieth worst in the U.S. with thirteen facilities violating their clean water permits at least once in this timeframe and Bucks County tied for thirty-second worst in nation with twelve facilities in its borders exceeding their clean water permit at least once during the time period in question.

“All Americans deserve clean water to drink and safe places to swim and fish. To clean up our waterways, this continuing pollution must stop,” said Masur.

Masur noted that the findings are likely conservative, since the data that PennEnvironment analyzed includes only “major” facilities and does not include pollution discharged into waters by the hundreds of thousands of minor facilities across the country.

"We should not be proud of Pennsylvania's high scores in water pollution violations. Many of these companies, like Allegheny Ludlum, Shenango, and Reliant Energy, have had a long history of repeated violations. It's time for state and federal officials to get the environmental cops back on the beat and enforcing the Clean Water Act." stated Myron Arnowitt, Western PA Director for Clean Water Action.

PennEnvironment called on the Bush administration to back off its efforts to weaken the Clean Water Act and to commit to strengthening enforcement of this landmark legislation.

In addition, PennEnvironment applauded Representatives Fattah, Fitzpatrick and Schwartz for sponsoring the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, which ensures all U.S. waters are protected by the Clean Water Act, and called for Congressmen Brady, Gerlach and Weldon to support this important bill.

In order to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act, PennEnvironment recommended federal and state officials do the following:

• Increase EPA Funding to put more environmental cops on the beat to identify and punish polluters violating their Clean Water Act permits, and to fully fund the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to help communities upgrade their sewer systems.
• Protect all U.S. waters by withdrawing the Bush administration’s 2003 “No Protection” policy that eliminates Clean Water Act protections for many small streams and wetlands that feed and clean great waters, and supporting passage of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act.
• Strengthen the Clean Water Act by preventing polluters from profiting from pollution, tightening permitted pollution limits, revoking the permits of repeat violators, and ensuring citizens full access to the courts.

“To protect public health and the environment, the Bush administration and state officials must hold polluters accountable for their contamination of America’s waterways,” concluded Masur.