Industrial facilities continue to dump millions of pounds of
toxic chemicals into America’s
rivers, streams, lakes and ocean waters each year—threatening both the
environment and human health. According to the EPA, pollution from industrial
facilities is responsible for threatening or fouling water quality in more than
10,000 miles of rivers and more than 200,000 acres of lakes, ponds and
estuaries nationwide.
The continued release of large volumes of toxic chemicals
into the nation’s waterways shows that the nation needs to do more to reduce
the threat posed by toxic chemicals to our environment and our health and to
ensure that our waterways are fully protected against harmful pollution.
Industrial facilities dumped 232 million pounds of toxic
chemicals into American waterways in 2007, according to the federal
government’s Toxic Release Inventory.
Toxic chemicals were discharged to more than 1,900 waterways
in all 50 states. The Ohio River ranked first for toxic discharges in 2007, followed
by the New River and the Mississippi River.
Nitrate compounds— which can cause serious health problems
in infants if found in drinking water and which contribute to oxygen-depleted
“dead zones” in waterways – are by far the largest toxic releases in terms of
overall volume.
Large amounts of toxic chemicals linked to serious health
effects were released to America’s
waterways in 2007.
Industrial facilities discharged approximately 1.5 million
pounds of chemicals linked to cancer to more than 1,300 waterways during 2007.
The Ohio River received the greatest amount of cancer-causing chemical
discharges, followed by the Catawba River in North and South
Carolina and the Tennessee River.
Pulp and paper mills, along with coal-fired power plants, were among the
largest dischargers of cancer-causing chemicals.
About 456,000 pounds of chemicals linked to developmental disorders were
discharged into more than 1,200 waterways. The Alabama River led the way in
discharges of developmental toxicants, followed by the Verdigris
River in Kansas
and Oklahoma and the Mississippi
River.
Approximately 266,000 pounds of chemicals linked to
reproductive disorders were released to more than 1,150 waterways. The Ohio
River received the most discharges of reproductive toxicants, followed by the Verdigris River
and the Mississippi River.
Discharges of persistent bioaccumulative toxics (including
dioxin and mercury), organochlorines and phthalates are also widespread. Safer
industrial practices can reduce or eliminate discharges of these and other
dangerous substances to America’s
waterways.
To protect the public and the environment from toxic
releases, America should
prevent pollution by requiring industries to reduce their use of toxic
chemicals and restore and strengthen Clean Water Act protections for all of America’s
waterways.
The United
States should revise its strategy for
regulating toxic chemicals to encourage the development and use of safer
alternatives. Specifically, the nation should:
Require chemical manufacturers to test all chemicals for
their safety and submit the results of that testing to the government and the
public.
Regulate chemicals based on their intrinsic capacity to
cause harm to the environment or health, rather than basing regulation on resource-intensive
and flawed efforts to determine “safe” levels of exposure to those chemicals.
Require industries to disclose the amount of toxic chemicals
they use in their facilities – safeguarding local residents’ right to know
about potential public health threats in their communities and creating
incentives for industry to reduce its use of toxic chemicals.
Require safer alternatives to toxic chemicals, where
alternatives exist.
Phase out the worst toxic chemicals.
The United States
should restore Clean Water Act protections to all of America’s waterways and improve
enforcement of the Clean Water Act.
The federal government should clarify that the Clean Water
Act applies to headwaters streams, intermittent waterways, isolated wetlands
and other waterways for which jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act has been
called into question as a result of recent court decisions.
The EPA and the states should strengthen enforcement of the
Clean Water Act by, among other things, ratcheting down permitted pollution
levels from industrial facilities, ensuring that permits are renewed on time,
and requiring mandatory minimum penalties for polluters in violation of the
law.
The EPA should eliminate loopholes —such as the allowance of
“mixing zones” for persistent bioaccumulative toxic chemicals—that allow
greater discharge of toxic chemicals into waterways.
The EPA should issue strong limits on releases of toxic
heavy metals from power plants.
