Ann
Arbor, Mich.— More than 49%
percent of industrial and municipal facilities across Michigan
discharged more pollution into our waterways than their Clean Water Act permits
allow in 2005, according to Troubled
Waters: An analysis of Clean Water Act compliance, a new report released
today by Environment
Michigan Research
& Policy Center.
“As the Clean Water Act turns 35, polluters
continue to foul our rivers, lakes and streams,” said Abby Rubley, Field
Director with Environment
Michigan Research
& Policy Center.
“With so many
facilities dumping so much pollution, no one should be surprised that nearly
half of America’s
waterways are unsafe for swimming and fishing.
But we should be outraged.”
The goals of the 1972 Clean Water Act are to
eliminate the discharge of pollutants into waterways and make all U.S. waterways swimmable
and fishable. Over the last three and a
half decades, this landmark environmental law has made significant improvements
in water quality, but the original goals have yet to be met.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, Environment Michigan Research &
Policy Center
obtained data on facilities’ compliance with the Clean Water Act between
January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005. Environment Michigan Research &
Policy Center
researchers found that:
- 57%
of all major U.S. industrial
and municipal facilities discharged more pollution into U.S.
waterways than allowed by law at least once during 2005. The average
facility exceeded its pollution permit limit by 263 percent, discharging close
to four times the legal limit.
- 94 facilities
in Michigan reported more than 488 exceedances of their Clean
Water Act permits in 2005.
- On
average, Michigan facilities exceeding their
Clean Water Act permits did so by 324%.
- Polluters
in Michigan reported 44 instances in which they
exceeded their Clean Water Act permit by at least 500 percent over the legal limit.
“Facilities in Michigan and across the country continue to
dump more pollution into our waterways than is allowed by law,” said Abby
Rubley.
Rubley noted
that the findings are likely just the tip of the polluted iceberg, since the
data that Environment
Michigan Research
& Policy Center
analyzed includes only “major” facilities and does not include pollution
discharged into waters by the thousands of minor facilities across the
country.
Environment
Michigan Research
& Policy Center
is calling on the Bush administration to end its efforts to weaken federal
clean water safeguards and for Congress to pass the Clean Water Restoration
Act, legislation to ensure all U.S.
waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act.
“I
thank Environment Michigan for all their hard work on this very comprehensive
report. While, after 35 years of the Clean Water Act, our waters are
significantly cleaner than they were prior to 1972, this report clearly shows
we still have work to do to meet the goal of the Clean Water Act – that all
waters be swimmable and fishable,” said Congressman
John Dingell, an original sponsor of the Clean Water Act. “At this time, we need to refocus our efforts
on that goal and given the efforts of the Bush Administration to muddy the
jurisdictional waters, the best way we can do this is to pass the Clean Water
Restoration Act.
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