Clean Water Act & WOTUS

 

Industry's Pitch: Limit Stream Protections By Flow. According to E&E News, “In a request that could leave fewer streams with federal protection, industry groups are asking the Trump administration to further limit the number of streams regulated by the Clean Water Act. The Trump administration’s Waters of the U.S., or WOTUS, rule would limit federal protections to streams that flow continuously or intermittently if they are fed by groundwater. It would erase protections for so-called ephemeral streams that flow only following rainfall or snowmelt, which account for at least 18% of streams nationwide, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. But the proposal does not outline a clear path for landowners to determine whether streams are fed by groundwater or rainwater, saying only that protected intermittent streams must have surface water flowing continuously during ‘certain times of a typical year’ (Greenwire, Feb. 18). Now, industry groups generally happy with the WOTUS rule are asking the administration to protect streams that flow only for a minimum number of days or with a minimum amount of water in them. In written comments filed last week, multiple trade organizations representing the building, energy and agriculture industries are asking EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to institute minimum flow requirements for streams regulated under the Clean Water Act. The groups, which have generally been supportive of the Trump administration’s rollback, say such requirements would add clarity to the proposal.” [E&E News, 4/24/19 (=)]

 

Coal Ash

 

Environmental Group Highlights Pensacola's Crist Plant In Report On Coal Ash Contamination. According to Pensacola News Journal, “A recently released report by the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice includes details of past groundwater contamination and ongoing monitoring of Pensacola’s Crist Plant landfill. Earthjustice, a San Francisco-based legal advocacy group, teamed with other environmental organizations to gather data on 733 coal ash disposal sites in 43 states and Puerto Rico. The report marks the first time such wide-ranging information has been complied in a single database for public review, the organizations said. The report lists 24 sites where coal ash ponds, landfills and fill sites have contaminated private drinking water wells. The only Florida site on the list is in Tampa. The only Pensacola-area coal ash disposal site included in the comprehensive report is the Crist Plant coal ash landfill. Located on Governor’s Island, directly across from Gulf Power’s Crist Plant, the unlined landfill dates to the early 1970s. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined Gulf Power $32,500 in 2018 for violating state law after a test indicated wastewater from the site could be leaking into the Escambia River.” [Pensacola News Journal, 4/24/19 (=)]

 

FACT CHECK: Coal Ash Ponds In Missouri Are Causing Groundwater Contamination. According to Missourian, “In a Feb. 24 article published by St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Maxine Lipeles, director of Washington University’s Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, made a jarring statement about the condition of Missouri’s groundwater as a result of coal ash contamination. ‘All the ponds in Missouri for which we have data are causing groundwater contamination ... This is a statewide issue,’ Lipeles said. Lipeles is specifically referencing coal ash ponds, engineered ponds used for the disposal of coal ash waste, in her statement. Lipeles was responding to an effort by the Missouri legislature to shift oversight of coal ash disposal from the federal level to the state level. According to the Energy Information Administration, coal fueled 81 percent of Missouri’s electricity generation in 2017, and more coal is consumed for electricity generation in Missouri than in all but two other states. Coal ash is the resulting waste when coal is burned for electricity. Currently, there are 16 coal-fired power plants and 41 coal ash ponds in Missouri, according to a 2019 Washington University Law report. Lipeles’ statement may have you second-guessing yourself anytime you reach for your kitchen faucet. We checked Lipeles’ claim to see if it, in fact, holds water.” [Missourian, 4/24/19 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Court Limits Landmark Tribal Groundwater Case. According to E&E News, “A California court has sided with a Southern California water district in a high-stakes case with a Native American tribe over access to groundwater. The ruling follows a 2017 decision that found the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians had reserved water rights to groundwater under its lands. But federal Judge Jesus Bernal said the nearby Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency have not harmed the tribe with their groundwater pumping because the reservation has sufficient water for its needs. The tribe, Bernal wrote, has not shown it has suffered any sort of water shortage due to the district’s management of the aquifer and thus does not have standing to bring its claims. ‘The Court finds the use needs of the Tribe — current and future — critical to an inquiry concerning actual or imminent injury to the reserved right,’ Bernal wrote. The ruling is one phase in the multipronged litigation concerning an overdrafted aquifer in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs. There are five tribes in the valley, including the Agua Caliente, whose 31,000-acre reservation was established by presidential orders in 1876 and 1877.” [E&E News, 4/24/19 (=)]

 

AP | Feds: Worker Falsified Test Results At NASA Site. According to E&E News, “Federal authorities say an employee for a NASA contractor falsified pollution test results at a NASA facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Court documents filed Monday identified the now ex-employee as Monica Borowicz. The contractor wasn’t named. Borowicz had worked at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island. It’s home to research planes and a launchpad that sometimes sends unmanned cargo rockets to the International Space Station. The tests monitored Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen, or TKN, which is pollution associated with stormwater runoff and sewage. It contributes to algae blooms and depleted oxygen in waterways including the Chesapeake Bay. The attorney listed for Borowicz, James Richard Theuer, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. NASA spokesman Jeremy Eggers said in a statement that Borowicz hasn’t worked at Wallops since April 2018.” [E&E News, 4/24/19 (=)]

 

Anheuser-Busch Preps For Disasters With Pre-Shipped Water. According to E&E News, “Anheuser-Busch InBev SA used to wait until after a natural disaster hit before delivering cans of emergency drinking water. But the shifting realities of climate change mean it’s now pre-shipping to disaster-prone areas, with the assumption another event is always right around the corner. The beer maker announced yesterday that for the first time, it will send 1 million cans of water to volunteer firefighters in vulnerable areas of California, Colorado, Arizona and other states before the West Coast wildfire season begins again June 1. ‘The reality is there are more wildfires,’ said Adam Warrington, vice president of corporate social responsibility for the maker of Budweiser and Michelob Ultra. ‘Hydration needs before, during and after them have evolved.’ Anheuser-Busch donates anywhere from 1 million to 4 million cans of water each year to communities after disasters, but after 2017’s massive Hurricane Harvey, it started to forecast increased demand, Warrington said. There were 14 separate billion-dollar disaster weather events in 2018 in the U.S. alone.” [E&E News, 4/25/19 (=)]

 

 

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