For Immediate Release:
May 17, 2006
Contact:
David
Willett,
202-675-6698
111 MILLION AMERICANS' DRINKING WATER AT RISK
New Report Gives
State-by-State Impacts of EPA's Destructive Water Policy
Washington, DC:
The drinking water sources of more than 111 million
Americans could be at
risk because of the Environmental Protection Agency's
policy to withhold
Clean Water Act protections from headwater and seasonal
streams. A Sierra
Club report released today, based on EPA data, provides
state-by-state
information on drinking water supplies which rely, at least
in part, on these
small streams.
The report is available at:
http://sierraclubplus.org/downloads/2006-05/drinkingwater.pdfThe
states with the largest percentage of people relying on drinking
water
sources that are at risk are Utah (90%); Colorado (83%); Kentucky
(77%);
Massachusetts (75%); and Maryland (70%).
This information comes
just as Congress is about to have the chance to
block this weakening of our
anti-pollution safeguards.
"The EPA's policy directive puts our drinking
water sources at risk from
waste disposal, sewage discharges, oil spills,
development projects and
other polluting activities," said Navis Bermudez,
Washington
Representative, and author of the report. "Congress should
stop this
destructive policy and ensure that the EPA protects our drinking
water
sources to the fullest extent of the law."
Representatives
Oberstar (D-MN), Leach (R-IA) and Dingell (D-MI) have
announced that they
intend to offer an amendment to block funding for
implementation of the EPA
policy directive. The House of Representatives
is expected to consider
the EPA appropriations bill later this week or next
week.
On January
15, 2003, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers announced a
new policy
directive to remove Clean Water Act protections for many
streams, wetlands,
ponds, lakes and other waters. This "no protection"
policy effectively
directed federal regulators to withhold protection from
millions of acres of
wetlands, thousands of streams and other waters on
grounds that are
"isolated," unless they first get permission from their
national headquarters
in Washington, DC. Since most states lack effective
protections for
these waters, failing to enforce the provisions of the
Clean Water Act in
these waters means that sewage, chemical and mining
waste, fill materials and
other pollutants may be dumped without any
permit.
"By failing to
protect our headwater streams, our drinking water sources
are at risk
for pollution and destruction," Bermudez said. "That imposes
an unfair
burden on drinking water providers, and ultimately ratepayers,
who must treat
dirtier water to provide the public with safe drinking
water."
Sierra
Club's report also documents how EPA's policy directive puts at risk
drinking
water sources in a half-dozen communities, based primarily on
concerns raised
by regional EPA staff. These communities include New York
City; parts
of southern California; central Arizona; southwestern New
Mexico; Boise; and
the City of Rancho Cordova, California.
EPA regional staff worried that
any changes to the types of waters covered
under the Clean Water Act could
cause pollution of groundwater water and
drinking water quality. For
example, they expressed concern about
California's Santa Ana River, the
source of drinking water for most of
Orange County's residents. If a
significant portion of the watershed's
streams which do not flow year-around
were excluded from Clean Water Act
protections, regional EPA staff predicted
poorer quality drinking water
supplies and higher treatment costs.
The
report is available at:
http://sierraclubplus.org/downloads/2006-05/drinkingwater.pdf###
David
Willett
National Press Secretary
Sierra Club
(202) 675-6698
(w)
(202) 491-6919 (m)
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