Clean Water Act

 

NWPR & WOTUS

 

‘Disruptive’ Shutdown Seen As Crippling EPA Powers And Economy. According to Bloomberg Law, “A shutdown would force the EPA to put its pencils down on pending regulations, ‘which can cause issues to achieving administration goals,’ said Matt Leopold, the former EPA general counsel during the Trump administration. Extending uncertainty on big-ticket rulemakings, such as tougher auto emissions standards or a new definition of Waters of the United States, isn’t good for regulated entities or the administration’s agenda, said Brian Israel, a partner with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP who leads the firm’s environmental practice group. ‘We’re already in an era of uncertainty, because you have a change in administration and a change in agenda,’ Israel said. ‘Add to that the uncertainty caused by a shutdown of indeterminate length, and it’s disruptive, to say the least.’ Under its 2019 contingency plan, the EPA would continue enforcing its rules, supporting criminal investigations, providing emergency and disaster assistance, carrying out Superfund work in cases where a stoppage of operations would threaten human life, and preserving ongoing experiments. But the agency would stop doing most civil enforcement inspections, issuing permits, publishing regulations and guidance, approving pending state requests such as State Implementation Plans, and releasing new interagency agreements, according to the shutdown plan.” [Bloomberg Law, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Permits & Certifications

 

Enbridge Completes Construction On Line 3 Pipeline. According to Politico, “Details: Enbridge said oil would start flowing later this week through the roughly 1,000-mile pipeline connecting wells in Alberta, Canada, to Superior, Wisconsin. The project, which replaces an older system, was first started nearly a decade ago but ran into opposition from environmental groups and native tribes concerned about the dangers of potential oil spills from the 760,000 barrels-a-day pipeline. ‘After more than eight years of many people working together, extensive community engagement, and thorough environmental, regulatory and legal review, we are pleased that Line 3 is complete and will soon deliver the low cost and reliable energy that people depend on every day,’ Enbridge Chief Executive Al Monaco said in a press release. The Sierra Club, one of the environmental groups that has led the legal opposition to the pipeline, called out President Joe Biden as not having done enough to stop the project. ‘President Biden and the other politicians who chose to do nothing as treaty rights were violated, waterways were polluted, and peaceful protesters were brutalized have placed themselves on the wrong side of history,’ Sierra Club North Star Chapter Director Margaret Levin said in a statement. ‘We will continue to seek to hold them accountable for failing to prioritize the best interests of our communities over the desires of a foreign oil company.’” [Politico, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

TMDL

 

Editorial: Saving Lake Erie. According to Toledo Blade, “Just as we know the water in the Maumee will surely flow to Lake Erie, we have known for years that eventually all the arguments over what to do about the toxic algae blooms that plague the lake each year would lead to one solution: A pollution diet for the river’s watershed. And now it seems, finally, that diet will be coming. Attorneys for a coalition of environmental groups and Lucas County, who sued over the algae-fueling pollution, have come to an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a legally binding settlement. The details of that plan will be released after the judge in the case approves the deal. Observers believe the consent decree will force environmental regulators to formulate that pollution diet known as a total maximum daily load, or TMDL. This is, at last, the answer to what ails Lake Erie. It is the only way to save the lake, save our source of clean drinking water, save the state’s fishing and tourism industries, and save the quality of life for the region. The plan calls for identifying sources of pollution and then setting site-specific limits on the agricultural businesses and other sources of pollution that has been flowing down the Maumee. Once phosphorus from these sources reaches Lake Erie, it fuels the algae growing in the lake each year. For many, the most alarming evidence of the threat these blooms pose was the 2014 Toledo water crisis when a toxic bloom settled over the city water system’s only water intake the lake, making the water for more than 500,000 water customers unusable for three days that Augus.” [Toledo Blade, 9/29/21 (+)]

 

Water Pollution

 

Drinking Water

 

Nationwide Tests Find Lead In More Than Half Of U.S. Children. According to Politico, “A first-of-its-kind national study found more than half the children tested had detectable levels of lead in their blood, a scourge researchers say is tied to contaminated paint, water pipes and soil in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. An investigation published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics earlier this week revealed the detectable lead levels in more than half of the 1 million children under 6 years old who received blood tests in recent years from Quest Diagnostics, one of the largest clinical laboratories operating in the U.S. Detectable levels of lead were significantly increased in children with public insurance and those living in communities with pre-1950s housing and high poverty rates. The study also found trends based on ZIP codes and race, with almost 58 percent of children in predominantly Black neighborhoods and 56 percent of children in predominantly Hispanic areas showing detectable lead levels, compared with 49 percent of children in white neighborhoods. But authors also found the associations between lead exposure and elevated levels in children living in ZIP codes with predominantly Black or Hispanic and Latino neighborhoods were ‘not consistent’ and more research is needed.” [Politico, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Toxic Algae

 

EPA Debates Options For PFAS Groupings But Faces Severe Data Limits. According to InsideEPA, “EPA officials are actively discussing a series of options for addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as a group, including potentially categorizing them by toxicity or by ‘remediation’ approaches as the agency works on developing regulations, an EPA Region 5 official says, though she and others say data for such groupings are limited. During a Sept. 29 webcast sponsored by Michigan’s environmental regulatory department, Kim Harris, EPA Region 5’s PFAS advisor, said EPA is acknowledging that it is ‘difficult to manage and regulate PFAS on a contaminant-by-contaminant group,’ noting that there are thousands of PFAS compounds and industry is continuously developing novel PFAS. ‘So there is acknowledgment that we can’t look at this on an individual-by-individual basis,’ she said, adding that within EPA, ‘there’s quite a bit of discussion on looking at PFAS as a group. But then we have to try to think about what’s the intended goal of looking at PFAS as a group,’ she said, noting that gets at the question of how to deal with this large group of chemicals. ‘We are looking at grouping PFAS by its toxicity, looking at PFAS grouping by remediation, and considering that as we work on regulatory development,’ she said.” [InsideEPA, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Watchdog: EPA Lacks Agencywide Plan To Tackle Algal Blooms. According to Politico, “EPA lacks an agencywide strategy for tackling harmful algal blooms even though Congress tapped the agency’s head to lead the federal response, according to a new watchdog report. EPA’s inspector general today released a report that calls on Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox to develop a strategic action plan laying out the agency’s work to forecast, monitor and respond to algal blooms that are plaguing the nation’s freshwater resources. The IG also called on EPA to fulfill its 2015 commitment to Congress to develop additional drinking water health advisories for cyanotoxins associated with some blooms as information becomes available. ‘In addition, the EPA needs to take further action to develop revised nitrogen and phosphorus numeric water quality criteria recommendations for states to adopt to better control levels of these nutrients in water bodies,’ the IG wrote.” [Politico, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

EPA Needs Strategy To Thwart Harmful Algae Blooms, Watchdog Says. According to Bloomberg Law, “The EPA needs a strategy for addressing harmful algal blooms, the agency’s internal watchdog said in a Wednesday report. An agency-wide plan would let the Environmental Protection Agency better define the problems it faces, perform risk assessments, assign and coordinate roles, implement cleanups, and meet its obligations under laws such as the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act, the Office of Inspector General said. A strategy would also let the agency avoid duplication of efforts and enable information exchange, the inspector’s report said.” [Bloomberg Law, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

For The First Time, Toxins Found In Blue-Green Algae Bloom In Inlet Of Lake Superior. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, “For the first time, toxic blue-green algae has been found in Lake Superior waters as part of a recent bloom that formed at a beach in the Duluth-Superior harbor. But officials caution the discovery of toxins in a relatively shallow and protected inlet of the lake doesn’t mean harmful blooms are likely to form in the lake’s open waters. The Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene analyzed a sample taken from a bloom at the Barker’s Island beach area in Superior on Sept. 10 to identify species of blue-green algae that were present and four types of toxins. The bloom contained three species of algae, one of which produced a toxin at levels considered unsafe for swimming. The lab found levels of the toxin microcystin at 8.7 micrograms per liter — slightly above the swimming advisory level of 8 micrograms per liter recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The discovery is a concerning progression in blooms that have been observed on Lake Superior, according to Robert Sterner, director of the Large Lakes Observatory at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. ‘We can no longer say that we haven’t seen any toxins in any of these in the lake or connected waters because now we have,’ said Sterner.” [Wisconsin Public Radio, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

OIG, EPA At Odds Over Push For Numeric Nutrient Criteria For Streams. According to InsideEPA, “EPA’s Inspector General and water office are at odds on whether the agency’s approach for combatting harmful algal blooms (HABs) should prioritize the development of numeric nitrogen and phosphorus water quality criteria for streams and rivers, with agency water chief Radhika Fox saying limited resources would best be spent on other activities. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) in a new report released Sept. 29 makes a total of four recommendations to the Office of Water (OW) on developing an agencywide strategic plan to address HABs, which occur when excess nutrients in water allow cyanobacteria to grow excessively. Some cyanobacteria algal blooms generate cyanotoxins, which are harmful to the health of the environment, animals and humans. OW has either completed or has a plan to address three of the recommendations that meet OIG’s approval, but the two offices remain in dispute over the remaining recommendation. For example, EPA Aug. 13 finalized numeric water quality criteria for nutrients in lakes, the first time the agency had updated the criteria in 20 years and marking a significant scientific advancement from the agency’s previous approach, according to former agency officials.” [InsideEPA, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Groundwater

 

Report Finds Contaminant Concern In Magic Valley Ground Water – Again. According to Public News Service, “An annual report finds poor groundwater quality continues to be an issue for the Magic Valley. The Idaho Conservation League analyzed state and federal data and research on agriculture pollution in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer for the third year in a row. Josh Johnson, central Idaho conservation associate for the League, said contamination, mainly from dairy operations and fertilizer use on farms, remains a concern. ‘Not a wildly different conclusion than we’ve had the first two groundwater reports, but we essentially just have increased confidence in that conclusion now, three years in,’ Johnson explained. ‘Any new data that we get continues to reinforce the groundwater contamination issue from nitrogen and phosphorus.’ The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer provides drinking water for 300,000 Idahoans. The report showed there is growing evidence long-term ingestion of nitrate in drinking water affects people’s health, in particular, increasing the risk of colorectal cancer. The report also noted adverse health effects occur at nitrate levels below the federal limit of ten milligrams per liter. Nearly one in five public water systems in the Magic Valley has average nitrate levels above five milligrams per liter, according to samples collected over the past five years.” [Public News Service, 9/30/21 (=)]

 

Wastewater

 

EPA: Water Samples From Plant Discharge Show No Health Risks. According to Associated Press, “Preliminary tests indicate iron-contaminated wastewater that leaked from a northwestern Indiana steel plant into a Lake Michigan tributary presents no risk to public health, the Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday. U.S. Steel Midwest idled the plant in Portage, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Chicago, as a precaution after it said a wastewater treatment facility experienced ‘an upset condition’ that sent the rusty colored plume containing elevated levels of lead into the Burns Waterway on Sunday. The EPA said it tested surface water samples taken near the plant’s outfall. Federal and state agencies were continuing to investigate the cause of the discharge, possible Clean Water Act compliance issues and impacts to the environment, the agency said. The plant was back up and running Wednesday, according to The (Northwest Indiana) Times. Indiana Dunes National Park also closed all of its beaches and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk until further notice and Indiana American Water shut down its Ogden Dunes treatment facility, both as a precaution.” [Associated Press, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Steel Plant Restarts After Discharge Into Indiana Waterway. According to Associated Press, “Operations resumed Wednesday at a steel plant in northwestern Indiana that was temporarily shut down after it leaked wastewater containing elevated levels of iron causing an orange plume in a Lake Michigan tributary. The U.S. Steel Midwest plant in Portage was back up and running Wednesday, according to The (Northwest Indiana) Times. U.S. Steel idled the plant about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Chicago as a precaution after it said a wastewater treatment facility experienced ‘an upset condition’ that sent the rusty colored plume into the waterway Sunday. Indiana Dunes National Park closed all of its beaches and the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk until further notice and Indiana American Water shut down its Ogden Dunes treatment facility, both as a precaution. The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are expected to release more details on the spill Wednesday, U.S. Steel spokeswoman Amanda Malkowski said.” [Associated Press, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Groups Allege Hog Farm Permits Violate Civil Rights Act. According to InsideEPA, “The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) is pursuing a new discrimination complaint with EPA’s civil rights office alleging that North Carolina discriminated against communities of color in Duplin and Sampson counties when it issued permits for hog operations it says will have a disparate negative impact on those residents. The Sept. 27 complaint was sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who led the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) until President Joe Biden tapped him to lead the agency early this year, and EPA’s External Civil Rights Compliance Office (ECRCO), which is charged with ensuring that recipients of EPA funds do not violate the rights law. ‘DEQ is fully capable of ensuring that its permitting program fulfills its primary purpose while also avoiding discriminatory effects,’ the petition says. ‘Its decision to forego [a disparate impacts analysis] here, despite comments and evidence suggesting that the decision to issue the Permits would cause disproportionate adverse impacts to Black and Latinx communities, violates Title VI’s requirement to administer programs in a non-discriminatory manner.’ … The permits allow Smithfield to capture gases from giant pits of hog waste -- which increases harmful ammonia emissions -- pump more harmful waste into open air pits and spray the sewage on nearby fields, increasing the risk of both water and air pollution that harms public health, SELC says in a press release.” [InsideEPA, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

Plastic Pollution

 

The Plastic Pollution Crisis. According to Forbes, “Just about anywhere you travel in the world, you will encounter plastic pollution. Even the beaches of remote tropical islands are littered with plastic waste. A recent study published in the journal Nature characterized 414 million pieces of plastic — 238 metric tons — on one remote island chain in the Indian Ocean. The study’s lead author, Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania’s Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, said this is an indicator of the staggering amount of plastic debris floating in the oceans: ‘Islands such as these are like canaries in a coal mine and it’s increasingly urgent that we act on the warnings they are giving us. Plastic pollution is now ubiquitous in our oceans, and remote islands are an ideal place to get an objective view of the volume of plastic debris now circling the globe.’ Many are familiar with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is a collection of several large areas of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. The total area of this garbage patch — consisting largely of plastic debris — covers an area that is estimated to be twice the size of Texas. The patch consists of more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic with an estimated weight of 80,000 metric tons, and it poses a serious threat to marine life such as whales, sea turtles, fish, and birds.” [Forbes, 9/30/21 (+)]

 

Western Water

 

Climate-Conscious Businesses Call For Passage Of Build Back Better Act. According to Public News Service, “A chorus of business leaders is speaking out in favor of the Build Back Better plan in Congress, including more than a dozen from California. More than 300 companies have signed a letter from the American Sustainable Business Council, asking Congress to use its reconciliation process to get the $3.5 billion package passed. Flip Brown, owner and founder of Business Culture Consultants, said he signed the letter because the billions in damage from fires, drought, severe storms and future sea-level rise are threats to the economy. ‘If there are economic impacts to climate change because of disruption to supply chains and worker well-being, that’s obviously going to affect our businesses,’ Brown contended. … The most recent state climate assessment predicted by the year 2100, the average daily temperature will rise between 5.5 and 8.8 degrees, and water from winter snowpack will decline by two-thirds.” [Public News Service, 9/30/21 (=)]

 

Desalination Can Make Saltwater Drinkable — But It Won’t Solve The U.S. Water Crisis. According to The Washington Post, “Wells are drying up in California. The Colorado River is thinning to a dribble. The levels of Lake Mead and Lake Powell — the two biggest reservoirs in the United States — are at record lows. There is precedent for large-scale desalination: Persian Gulf countries such as Qatar have precious little drinking water, and they have invested in the costly technology needed to filter the salt out of saltwater and pass the cleaned-up liquid to their entire society. ‘Desalination can be a sustainable way to replenish our water cycle,’ wrote the authors of a European Commission-backed study last year that argued for wider use of desalination around the world, in partnership with efforts to minimize its environmental impact. But the process is energy-intensive, costly and complicated to manage in an Earth-friendly way. Here’s what you need to know.” [The Washington Post, 9/28/21 (=)]

 

Misc. Waterways

 

Pa. Eyes $500M From Feds For Environmental Program. According to Politico, “A state Senate committee in Pennsylvania approved legislation yesterday to use federal coronavirus relief aid to revive a long-running program designed to help clean up waterways, fix up parks and preserve open space. The bill, approved 10-1, would inject the Growing Greener program with $500 million from the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden in March. The bill still requires approval from the full Senate and House before it could go to the desk of Gov. Tom Wolf (D). The money likely would have to come out of the $2.4 billion in money left over from the American Rescue Plan Act. That had been set aside to balance next year’s budget. Growing Greener, begun in 1999, has had prior injections of cash, but environmental advocates say what’s left is inadequate, considering long-term inflation and growing needs like preventing farmland runoff and stormwater drainage from flowing down the Susquehanna River into the Chesapeake Bay. … Eligible projects include improvements to state parks and forests, local parks and riverfronts, land preservation, flood prevention projects, and anti-pollution efforts, such as cleaning up abandoned coal mine lands and protecting waterways from storm runoff.” [Politico, 9/29/21 (=)]

 

 

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