DENVER—
More than 48 percent of industrial and municipal facilities across
Colorado discharged more pollution into our 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 Environment Colorado.
“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 Environment Colorado
Associate Pam Kiely.
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.
Using
the Freedom of Information Act, Environment Colorado obtained data on
facilities’ compliance with the Clean Water Act between July 1, 2003
and December 31, 2004. Environment Colorado 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 48% of Colorado’s industrial and municipal facilities
exceeded their Clean Water Act permits at least once between July 1,
2003 and December 31, 2004.
• 52 facilities in Colorado reported more than 160 exceedances of their Clean Water Act permits during the 18-month period.
• On average, Colorado facilities exceeding their Clean Water Act permits did so by 213%, or by over 3 times the legal limit.
•
Polluters in Colorado reported 16 instances in which they exceeded
their Clean Water Act permit by at least 500 percent over the legal
limit.
“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 Kiely.
Kiely
noted that the findings are likely conservative, since the data that
Environment Colorado analyzed includes only “major” facilities and does
not include pollution discharged into waters by the hundreds of
thousands of minor facilities across the country.
Environment
Colorado 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, Environment Colorado applauded Representatives Udall and
DeGette for sponsoring the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, which
ensures all U.S. waters are protected by the Clean Water Act, and
called for the rest of Colorado’s congressional delegation to support
this important bill.
In
order to achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act, Environment Colorado
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 Kiely.
