The Clean Water Act -- for 30 years the most potent defender of our nation's waterways -- is under attack and needs your help if it is to retain its vital role.
Two Supreme Court rulings, and a number of Bush-EPA actions, have turned the law upside down, opening up loopholes that polluters are lining up to exploit. It will take an act of Congress to restore this law's integrity -- and that's where you come in.
Currently, polluters are seizing on the Supreme Court rulings to argue that the Clean Water Act only protects "navigable" waters such as major rivers, thus leaving unguarded an abundance of America's streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands. We can't allow industrial polluters access to these vulnerable waterways.
The Clean Water Restoration Act, as introduced in the 110th Congress, would protect all waters from these polluters. If adopted in the 111th Congress it would restore clear protections to water bodies that were covered before the Supreme Court rulings.
But, before the Clean Water Restoration Act can start protecting us, we have to do our part to get it introduced in Congress and then passed into law.
Email your congressional representatives today and urge them to support a bill that will clarify and restore the longstanding protections originally intended by Congress.
Volcanic ground is a challenging place to drill water wells. In central Nicaragua, situated on volcanic bedrock, only 3 of every 10 wells drilled produce sufficient water for even one household.
As part of a larger, National Science Foundation-funded research project titled "Remote Sensing for Hazards Mitigation and Resource Protection in Latin America," a Michigan Technological University graduate student in geological and mining engineering and sciences designed a map using remote sensing images to locate underground fractures.
Jill Bruning, who recently received her Master's degree from Michigan Tech; faculty advisor John Gierke, an associate professor of geological and mining engineering and sciences; and other students then took the map to Nicaragua for field testing. The goal of their research was to determine which data-processing tools work best with various types of remotely sensed images, field observations and other data to create an effective, efficient method for identifying the best places to drill in challenging terrain.
Michigan Technological University (2009, February 1). Drill Here! Locating Drinking Water Under Challenging Conditions. ScienceDaily.
(Credit: Image courtesy of Michigan Technological University)
The Clean Water Act, one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful environmental laws, is celebrating its 35th birthday on October 18, 2007!
And since this is October 18th it would be a great day for everyone to write a letter to their local government and remind those in office of the importance of this bill.
Science Daily published an article yesterday acknowledging that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not been doing all they should to protect certain areas of water around our country. The main area of concern is the Mississippi River. The article says the EPA needs to look at how the Chesapeake Bay watershed has been managed.
"In addressing water-quality problems in the river, EPA and the states should draw upon the useful experience in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where for decades the agency has been working together with states surrounding the bay to reduce nutrient pollution and improve water quality. EPA should demonstrate similar leadership for the Mississippi River."
Currently, there are no water-quality standards for nutrients for most of the Mississippi River. The article states, "To diminish nutrient pollution, EPA should exert the federal leadership that the Clean Water Act allows and work with states to develop water-quality standards that protect the Mississippi River and the northern Gulf of Mexico."
The Clean Water Act, if pushed and followed, can help to rid the nation's waterways of pollution. But we need to remind ourselves and our government of what it is meant to do. It is important that we take action and call for a stronger EPA leadership nationwide.
