Tomorrow, Tuesday, Frontline will air Poisoned Waters, a two-hour documentary on the continuing pollution of American waterways (9pm on many PBS stations; check your local listings). Having seen part of the program, I recommend it. Watching a bulldozer move chicken manure – much of which will end up in the Chesapeake Bay – and seeing filthy stormwater drains pouring into Puget Sound serve as stark reminders for why fighting for clean water matters.
Six-legged frogs swim in the Potomac River. The oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay is decimated, only two percent of what it was fifty years ago. Approximately 150,000 pounds of untreated toxins drain into Puget Sound every day. One large industrial hog farm produces the same amount of waste as a city the size of Philadelphia annually – and much of this waste runs off into our rivers. The ways our waters are in trouble go on and on.
Poisoned Waters reminds us that, while much has been done to clean up our waterways in the 37 years since the Clean Water Act was passed, much more must be done. Old problems such as agricultural pollution were never squarely addressed by the Act. New problems such as climate change and pharmaceutical contamination have emerged.
Meanwhile, as we discussed in a report last year, our drinking water infrastructure is aging. As the New York Times reported on Sunday, approximately $334.8 billion will be needed over the next two decades to improve water distribution systems – the $2 billion in the stimulus package allocated for this purpose is only a start. Similarly, approximately 850 billion gallons of raw sewage overflow into our waters yearly because of aging sewage systems, yet funding for upgrades and the construction of new plants decreased in recent years.
Films such as Poisoned Waters are no fun. The problems seem so big, the answers hard to come by. But we should also remember that we have made great strides for clean water in the past, and we can do so again. Before Congress passed the Clean Water Act, only about 30% of our waters were safe for fishing and swimming. That number has risen to 60 to 70 percent today. We made that happen.
Poisoned Waters does an excellent job showing that we have a long way to go, and that the problems are harder today. But here’s hoping that Poisoned Waters also reminds us that state and federal action, public investment, and individual commitment are the anecdotes to the poisons in our waters. We developed some pretty strong medicine with the Clean Water Act in 1972. We can do it again.
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Shana Campbell Jones | April 20, 2009
Tomorrow, Tuesday, Frontline will air Poisoned Waters, a two-hour documentary on the continuing pollution of American waterways (9pm on many PBS stations; check your local listings). Having seen part of the program, I recommend it. Watching a bulldozer move chicken manure – much of which will end up in the Chesapeake Bay – and seeing […]
Daniel Farber | April 17, 2009
Today, EPA gave notice that it intends to regulate greenhouse gases under the federal Clean Air Act. Technically, the notice is a proposed finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health. When it becomes final after EPA has had a chance to consider public comments, this finding will trigger other regulatory requirements that will move the […]
Daniel Farber | April 17, 2009
As ClimateWire reported (available via nytimes.com) the other week, government agencies are struggling with how to fit climate change into the process of environmental review (such as for licensing energy facilities or expanding offshore oil drilling). At one level, this is a no-brainer. Greenhouse gases contribute to climate change, and climate change is the biggest […]
Nina Mendelson | April 16, 2009
On Friday, the Washington Times went A1 above-the-fold with “Climate bill could trigger lawsuit landslide.” Environmentalists say the measure was narrowly crafted to give citizens the unusual standing to sue the U.S. government as a way to force action on curbing emissions. But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sees a new cottage industry for lawyers. […]
Matt Shudtz | April 15, 2009
Avery DeGroh, a three-year old from Illinois, had a defibrillator implanted in her heart to deal with a congenital condition called “long QT syndrome.” It was a brand-new model with a specially designed wire (or “lead”) that is thinner and easier for doctors to install. Unfortunately, due to a problem with the new lead, one […]
Rena Steinzor | April 14, 2009
Say you live in an urban neighborhood where crime is worrisome but not overwhelming. The police are chronically understaffed, with no money to walk the beat, and instead depend on what we might call a “deterrence-based enforcement system” – making high-profile arrests, prosecuting the worst violators, and relying on the resulting publicity to frighten others […]
Yee Huang | April 13, 2009
A recent article in the Los Angeles Times described the latest absurdity in the never-ending search to quench the thirst for water: ownership of rainwater and, more precisely, the illegality of rainwater harvesting. Residents and communities in parts of Colorado are turning to this ancient practice of collecting and storing rain to fulfill their domestic […]
William Buzbee | April 10, 2009
On Tuesday, March 31, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) released a “discussion draft” of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 — a climate change bill that will serve as the starting point for long-delayed congressional action on the world’s most pressing environmental program. […]
James Goodwin | April 8, 2009
The large earthquake that struck central Italy on Monday is devastating not only for the immense human suffering—people killed and injured, and communities disrupted—but also for the priceless losses of Italian cultural heritage. The Italian Ministry of culture has reported that the earthquake damaged a number of buildings of immeasurable historical significance, including the Basilica di […]