For Immediate Release       For more information:
6 August 2002           Amber Hard, Iowa PIRG 515-282-4193
                Susan Heathcote, Iowa Environmental Council,
                    515/244.1194


30% of Municipal Facilities in Iowa in Violation of Clean Water Permits
Government Faulted In Lax Enforcement of Clean Water Act


Nearly 1 in 3 of the nation's largest industrial, municipal, and
federal facilities were in serious violation of their Clean Water Act
permits at least once during a recent 15-month period, including
almost 13% of Iowa's largest industrial facilities and almost 30% of
our largest municipal facilities, according to a report released
today by Iowa PIRG.

Permit to Pollute: How the Government's Lax Enforcement of the Clean
Water Act is Poisoning Our Waters describes many shortcomings in the
monitoring of water pollution and efforts to deter polluters, at the
same time that the Bush administration has proposed cutting the EPA's
budget for enforcement, which will result in fewer inspections, fewer
staff, and more pollution.

"It is outrageous that, with nearly one in three polluting facilities
breaking the law, and state budgets already in a pinch, the Bush
Administration is proposing to slash enforcement budgets," said Amber
Hard of Iowa PIRG.  "To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the
Clean Water Act, we should start by requiring polluters to obey the
law," continued Hard.

Under the Freedom of Information Act, Iowa PIRG's Washington DC
office obtained and analyzed the behavior of water polluters in Iowa
by reviewing violations of the Clean Water Act between January 2000
and March 2001, as recorded in the U.S. EPA's Permit Compliance
System database.

Other key findings of the report include:

. 32 Iowa facilities were in violation of their Clean Water Act
permits for discharging a significant amount over the legal limit,
including the Army Ammunition Plant, two MidAmerican Power Plants,
and many municipal Sewage Treatment Plants from Sioux City to
Burlington
. Iowa ranks 15th in the nation for number of major municipal
facilities in violation of their clean water permits.
. Nationally, 134 major facilities were in Significant Non-Compliance
during the entire 15 month period. Fortunately, only one Iowa
facility was in Significant Non-Compliance for all 5 quarters during
the period, the West Liberty Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant.

"Non-point source pollution-from farm chemicals and livestock
manure-is a top concern in Iowa.  But this report reminds us of the
tremendous work yet to be done on point-source pollution from
municipal and industrial sources," said Susan Heathcote, Research
Director for the Iowa Environmental Council.

The most recent Toxic Release Inventory shows that nationally
facilities reported discharging more than 7 billion pounds of toxic
chemicals into the environment in 2000, with more than 260 million
pounds going into our waterways alone.  "Non-point source pollution
provides the majority of contamination in our waterways, but point
source pollution is the easiest to clean up," said Hard. "By looking
at known sources of toxic pollution and known violators of our clean
water laws, this report demonstrates common-sense steps that should
be taken to address our water quality problems," she added.

To increase compliance with permits and move toward the
zero-discharge goals of the Clean Water Act, the groups recommend(s)
the following:

1) Tough penalties should be set.  Penalties should prevent polluters
from profiting by breaking the law and deter lawbreaking in the first
place.

2) Citizens should have full access to the courts. Obstacles to
citizen suits should be removed, including allowing citizens to sue
Federal facilities.

3) Improve the public's right to know. The public should have greater
access to information about enforcement, including requiring
submissions of comprehensive data by facilities that discharge into
waterways and making such data available online.

"The solution to these problems is not lowering pollution standards
for permits or by granting variances-and thereby avoiding violations.
The solution is hard.  It means protecting clean waters, and cleaning
up the waters we've already fouled.  And that's a big job," said
Heathcote.

"We urge Congress, the President, and the DNR to listen to the
public's demands for clean water, and ensure strict enforcement of
the law," concluded Hard.

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