Clean Water Act & WOTUS

 

Judges Toss Fracking Wastewater Lawsuit Against EPA. According to E&E News, “A federal appeals court last week dismissed environmental groups’ dispute over permits allowing oil companies to dump hydraulic fracturing wastewater in the Gulf of Mexico. Groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and the Gulf Restoration Network alleged in a lawsuit last year that EPA failed to sufficiently examine the impacts of fracking discharge on sea life after new information on the oil and gas extraction method surfaced (Energywire, April 4). A panel of judges for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week dismissed the challenge on the grounds that neither the green groups nor their members would be affected by the outcome. ‘Because Petitioners lack standing, we do not reach the merits of their claims,’ Judge Andrew Oldham, a Trump pick, wrote in an opinion filed Friday. ‘Some may find that unsatisfying. But the standing doctrine ‘is not just an empty formality’ that we can ignore when a case seems important.’ Judges Edith Jones and James Ho, appointed by Reagan and Trump, respectively, also joined the decision. The lawsuit came in response to EPA issuing a Clean Water Act permit in 2017 for all new and existing fracking operations in the Gulf. The permits were similar to ones EPA had previously issued, said Center for Biological Diversity attorney Kristen Monsell, but environmentalists argued that the agency leaned on an outdated environmental review to support the approvals.” [E&E News, 9/4/19 (=)]

 

Coal Ash

 

West Michigan Residents Fear Coal Ash Contaminating Drinking Water Wells. According to Midwest Energy News, “State environmental officials are reviewing claims by multiple West Michigan residents that a coal ash storage site near Lake Michigan is contaminating drinking water wells. The Michigan chapter of the Sierra Club this summer helped four homes near the J.H. Campbell coal plant outside Holland obtain water samples that tested for contaminants linked with coal ash pollution, including arsenic and lead. One home’s well tested arsenic levels at 2.5 times the federal safe level for drinking, according to a report provided to the Energy News Network. ‘Certainly we’re looking into this and hope to get a look at their data,’ said Margie Ring, solid waste engineering coordinator for the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Ring said this is the first instance the department has heard from residents claiming their wells may be contaminated from coal ash. Michigan has 37 coal ash ponds statewide, a majority of which show groundwater contamination levels exceeding federal pollution standards, according to a report last year by the Michigan Environmental Council. The four storage pits at Campbell are inactive, and the plant’s coal ash waste is sent to an onsite landfill or is reused in other products.” [Midwest Energy News, 9/4/19 (=)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

Toxic Algae Contaminating Shellfish, Could Cause Paralysis. According to Associated Press, “A large algae bloom near the San Juan Islands is causing a dangerous type of toxin to get inside local shellfish that could paralyze or even kill a person, if eaten. KOMO-TV reports the Skagit County Public Health Department says the water is showing high levels of ‘Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning,’ or PSP. It’s a biotoxin living inside the clams, oysters, mussels and scallops. Polly Dubbel, with the health department, says the toxin can have immediate impacts on health. PSP can kill someone if they ate enough shellfish, which is why the county has closed the area to shellfish harvesters until toxin levels have significantly gone down. According to Washington’s Department of Health, all of Padilla and Samish Bays in the county have toxins in the water and in the shellfish.” [Associated Press, 9/2/19 (=)]

 

PFAS

 

PFAS Push. According to Politico, “As leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees push to reach a final deal on the annual defense authorization bill, more than 150 House members are urging them to take an inclusive approach to PFAS provisions passed by each chamber. Recall: Both the House and Senate passed major PFAS packages as part of their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act, although the two packages were significantly different, with the House including a controversial amendment that would require EPA to designate all PFAS as hazardous for the purposes of Superfund cleanups. In a letter sent today the chairmen and ranking members of the two committees, the bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) called for the major provisions passed by each chamber to be included in a final deal. ‘By retaining these critical measures in a conference agreement, Congress can protect Americans’ health and protect our servicemembers from the dangers of PFAS,’ they wrote.” [Politico, 9/4/19 (=)]

 

Industry Battle Brews Over Calls For Narrow PFAS Liability Waivers. According to Inside EPA, “Chemical manufacturers and other industrial waste generators are signaling they plan to fight efforts by water utilities, airport operators and other groups that are seeking narrow, sector-specific waivers from cleanup liability should policymakers list per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as ‘hazardous substances’ under the Superfund law. ‘3M is not aware of a compelling reason to create exemptions from [Superfund’s] existing liability provisions,’ says a spokeswoman for the Minnesota-based chemical giant, which was an early manufacturer of the chemicals. While industry groups have not, until now, voiced opposition to such carve-outs, an industry source believes potentially liable parties -- including chemical manufacturers, the oil and gas industry, the Defense Department and firefighting foam producers -- would likely step up their opposition if policymakers move closer to granting such waivers. The source says waste generators and other potentially liable parties would oppose any carve-outs for municipal entities because it would significantly increase their liability because of the law’s strict retroactive and joint-and-several liability system. A carve-out for municipal entities would mean ‘sky-high liability’ for remaining parties, the industry source says. Such statements come amid growing calls for policymakers to provide some exemptions should they designate some or all PFAS as ‘hazardous substances’ under the Superfund law, or Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA), a step that would impose cleanup liability on parties at waste sites.” [Inside EPA, 9/3/19 (=)]

 

POTWs’ Legal Uncertainty Drives Fear Over PFAS Superfund Designation. According to Inside EPA, “As Congress weighs defense authorization legislation that would designate perfluorinated chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, wastewater utilities are opposing the language, fearing it would impose significant liability due to the presence of the chemicals in the biosolids they generate Some industry officials say they are seeking to kill the House-passed amendment, which would require EPA to declare within one year that all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), citing the need for legal certainty amid concerns about unintended consequences if the provision survives a House-Senate conference. CERCLA already includes language that some experts say provides liability protection for publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) that land apply biosolids, or use treated wastewater sludge as fertilizer. But other POTW sources say this language has never been tested in court and note that some states, such as Maine, are already prohibiting the land application of biosolids that contain PFAS above certain levels. As such, maintaining the CERCLA language contained in the House version of the fiscal year 2020 defense authorization bill would just exacerbate this legal uncertainty, these sources say.” [Inside EPA, 9/3/19 (=)]

 

Denmark Set To Ban Certain PFAS Products. According to E&E News, “Denmark is set to be the first country to ban a class of toxic chemicals used to make food packaging, effective July 2020. Cardboard and paper made for food wrappings such as microwave popcorn and baking sheets are typically treated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The chemicals are known for their nonstick and grease- and water-repellent properties. Multiples studies, however, have linked PFAS to various health problems, including thyroid issues, birth defects and even cancer (Greenwire, July 23). The chemicals class of nearly 5,000 is a health problem, Denmark’s food minister, Mogens Jensen, said in a statement. He added that the country should not wait for the European Union to issue a ban. ‘I do not want to accept the risk of harmful fluorinated substances migrating from the packaging and into our food,’ Jensen said. Arlene Blum, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, said she hopes the European Union and the United States will follow Denmark’s lead. She founded the Green Science Policy Institute to provide businesses and regulators with unbiased research so they can make purchasing and policy decisions that reduce the use of chemicals that are harmful to human health and the environment. ‘We think it’s going to really move the E.U. toward doing this, and hopefully, the U.S.,’ she said.” [E&E News, 9/3/19 (=)]

 

Plastic Pollution

 

Could Recreating Freshwater Lakes Help Trial Plastic Alternatives? According to Phys.org, “In the first experiment of its kind, scientists are looking at new ways to test how plastics degrade in water—which could be used to trial plastic alternatives. The Mac2Mic project is investigating whether mesocosms—artificial environments which simulate marine and freshwater systems like oceans and lakes—can be used to test plastic degradation and help develop a standardised method for identifying the age of plastics. … Claire Gwinnett, Professor of Forensic and Environmental Science at Staffordshire University, explained: ‘Current attempts at degradation studies have focussed on one mechanism of degradation only, for example UV exposure, and therefore do not realistically represent the environment of a lake or ocean. The nearest we can possibly get to a realistic environment is by using equipment like limnotrons which are specifically designed to mimic that environment. ‘If these experiments are successful then we can build protocols for testing how plastics degrade in freshwater. This will lead to methods that can be employed by the plastic industry to test new alternatives to plastics for their degradation properties—something that could be instrumental in the fight against plastic pollution.’” [Phys.org, 9/3/19 (+)]

 

Human-Centered Plastics Recycling Interventions Can Help Combat Climate Change. According to The Hill, “It is snowing plastics in the arctic — a team of German researchers found more than 10,000 micro-plastics in one liter of snow. This is a wakeup call to anyone who ever doubted the harmful effects of climate change. Equally alarming, there have been instances when plastics were found in dead marine animals. In 2019 a whale in the Philippines had 40 kilograms of plastics in stomach; in 2018 an eight-month old Seal pup in Scotland also had plastic in its stomach; and more than 800 micro-plastics found in all 102 turtles assessed in a research. Plastics are piling up in the West since 2018 when China placed a ban on accepting 7 million tonnes of plastic wastes from some of world’s most industrialized nations including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Ireland. Based on a 2016 McArthur Foundation and World Economic Forum report, if current trends continue there would be more plastics than fishes in oceans by 2050. Of course, climate change has serious impact on health and wellbeing, something I’ve seen directly in my work at Nigeria Health Watch, particularly around nutrition. One of our recent projects entailed visiting Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) camps to interview mothers of severely malnourished children and health workers treating them, advocating to the Nigerian states to include budget lines for nutrition, and promoting the use of locally available nutritious foods. Yet, because of climate change, food security is threatened, and this could worsen the malnutrition crisis in Nigeria.” [The Hill, 9/3/19 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Fixing Leaky Irrigation System Is Trickier Than It Sounds. According to E&E News, “Though preventing leaky canals from losing water doesn’t seem like a particularly controversial idea, irrigators in central Oregon have found out otherwise. The plan appears to be a win-win for agriculture and the environment: Replacing open canals with piping will save 40% of the water that would otherwise seep into the ground, enhancing the aquatic habitat of the threatened Oregon spotted frog. Changing the traditional way of doing things is often complicated, however, and modernizing irrigation systems across the arid West is no exception. More efficient systems have clear benefits but can cause disruptions, such as reducing the amount of irrigation water that previously recharged aquifers or returned flows to rivers late in the summer. One of the obstructions for the Central Oregon Irrigation District has turned out to be the scenic value created by a 1.5-mile stretch of open canal that runs through a well-heeled neighborhood of Bend, Ore. ‘If you want to talk hurdles, I’ve got a lot of them,’ said Craig Horrell, the managing director of the district, which provides water to 45,000 acres in the region. Neighbors intent on preserving the canal have nominated it as a historic site, potentially triggering a land-use fight that could cost millions of dollars in litigation. The irrigation district plans to bypass that stretch of open canal by burying the pipe along another path, though the dispute has yet to be fully resolved.” [E&E News, 9/3/19 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Pa. Efforts To Curb Chesapeake Pollution Have Stalled, Leaving The Bay At Risk. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, “This summer, the Chesapeake Bay has one of its largest dead zones in the last 30 years. And Pennsylvania pollution is a significant contributor to that problem. One river, the Susquehanna, flowing mostly through Pennsylvania, is responsible for nearly 50 percent of the flow into the Chesapeake Bay. Frustratingly, pollution that has been entering the Susquehanna continues to flow downstream into the bay at levels that are putting the entire bay recovery at risk. The affected states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can no longer stand by and let that happen. The Chesapeake Bay’s restoration is at a pivotal moment. Every state needs to do its fair share, and the federal government needs to do its job to hold all accountable, to reduce the pollution that has been flowing down state waterways and choking the bay. Clean water for 18 million people and an estimated $130 billion in annual natural resources benefits hang in the balance. The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary, a vast system of freshwater streams, tidal rivers, and coastal wetlands across a 64,000­-square-mile watershed. It’s not just worth protecting, it must be protected.” [The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/3/19 (+)]