Poisoned Waters
Posted April 20, 2009 in Curbing Pollution
PBS Frontline has put together a very interesting show about the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound that will be broadcast on the evening of April 21. While I haven't seen the whole thing yet, two particular segments caught my attention - the one on factory farms and the one on stormwater. The segment on factory farms graphically depicts the huge volume of raw animal waste that goes into waterways from chicken farms in the Chesapeake Bay and the sorry conditions under which those chickens live, but it doesn't really emphasize EPA's wholesale failure to live up to its obligations under the Clean Water Act in dealing with this problem. Just last year, EPA issued rules that create another huge loophole for these industrialized operations to claim that they don't discharge into waterways and so don't need to be regulated - at all. It sounds ludicrous, but, in fact, it's true. NRDC, the Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Sierra Club have challenged this rule, but EPA has not yet agreed to revise it. The first step in cleaning up this mess is to require factory farms to come into the regulatory system. Congress asked EPA to do that in 1972. The Bay is still waiting for EPA to comply.
The other piece that interested me is the one on stormwater, which I think is growing faster than any other source of water pollution in the country. The shots of the underground pipes discharging filthy water from storm drains are amazing. The segment is mostly about land preservation - and smart growth is a piece of the solution - but there are also lots of ways to capture stormwater on site and put it in the ground so that it doesn't pollute the Bay or the Sound, such as rain gardens, green roofs, and permeable pavement. Check out NRDC's Rooftops to Rivers report, or EPA's green infrastructure web site, to learn more.
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Comments
Konstantin Stamatov — Apr 25 2009 05:01 PM
Nancy,
I just watched the recorded show on PBS.org. I really found it very educational and alarming at the same time. I knew that we are paying a price for our style of leaving but not in a such extend.
I was most alarmed by the fact that there are so many conteminants left after in the tap water. I think EPA should put those new chemicals on the harmulf list in order to regulate them. Further, we should tax all those agricultural, and industrial pollutants so they can have insentive not to dupm it in the rivers.
I was rather supprised on the runoff waters part. I think we should restrict the development where a forest has to perish and gas station build. Unfortunately this will be the most difficult to fix since the government has to build the filtration systems on points of entry into the water ways.
Again, all those new chemicals are our own creation as humans and only we as a community ought to participate for their removal.
Melanie Mantenieks — Apr 27 2009 10:20 PM
I, too, watched the Frontline show and am wondering how the chicken lobbyists are able to become so powerful and how the EPA is 'allowed' to be so incredibly inept.
It's despicable.
Also, why aren't drug stores like Walgreen's and CVS required by law to post local drug recycling centers so that everyone in the public knows where to take their old medications instead of throwing them in the trash, where they will ultimately end up in our drinking water?
Walgreen's, CVS, and other stores that have pharmacies who dispense meds should be required not only to post this information, but to promote drug recycling - it's just that important. And since these companies and the big pharma machines make a lot of money off of these drugs, they should take some of the responsibility. How can NRDC help to start this ball rolling and put pressure on these companies and the pharma industry to start doing much more to promote drug recycling?
Thanks for all that you do,
Melanie