feline01
Dec 30th, 2004, 01:50 PM
In the U.S., 300,000 miles of rivers and shorelines and 5 million acres of lakes
do not meet minimum water quality standards. Rather than cleaning up the water,
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed allowing sewage treatment
plants to dump inadequately treated sewage into our waters during rain storms.
The policy, which the EPA refers to as "blending", would permit sewage treatment
plants to mix partially treated sewage with fully treated waste and dump that
mixture into waters, including drinking water sources and fish habitat.
This policy not only poses a serious threat to public health and the environment
but also violates the Clean Water Act. Exposure to untreated sewage makes
people sick, causes beach closings, contaminates shellfish and kills other fish.
For almost 30 years, the Clean Water Act has mandated the biological treatment
of sewage. Sewage dumping bypasses this biological treatment, allowing
bacteria, viruses and parasites to end up in our waterways. Children, the
elderly and people who are already weakened by cancer and other illness will be
most harmed by increases of these disease causing organisms.
The public has reacted strongly against allowing more sewage in our waters. In
2003, when the EPA first proposed sewage dumping, state environmental agencies,
public health officials and tens of thousands of citizens made comments against
the policy. Despite this opposition, the EPA is preparing to finalize the
sewage dumping policy.
Please take a moment to tell the EPA to protect public health and the
environment by withdrawing the sewage dumping policy. Then ask your family and
friends to help by forwarding this email to them.
To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=2&id4=ES
do not meet minimum water quality standards. Rather than cleaning up the water,
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed allowing sewage treatment
plants to dump inadequately treated sewage into our waters during rain storms.
The policy, which the EPA refers to as "blending", would permit sewage treatment
plants to mix partially treated sewage with fully treated waste and dump that
mixture into waters, including drinking water sources and fish habitat.
This policy not only poses a serious threat to public health and the environment
but also violates the Clean Water Act. Exposure to untreated sewage makes
people sick, causes beach closings, contaminates shellfish and kills other fish.
For almost 30 years, the Clean Water Act has mandated the biological treatment
of sewage. Sewage dumping bypasses this biological treatment, allowing
bacteria, viruses and parasites to end up in our waterways. Children, the
elderly and people who are already weakened by cancer and other illness will be
most harmed by increases of these disease causing organisms.
The public has reacted strongly against allowing more sewage in our waters. In
2003, when the EPA first proposed sewage dumping, state environmental agencies,
public health officials and tens of thousands of citizens made comments against
the policy. Despite this opposition, the EPA is preparing to finalize the
sewage dumping policy.
Please take a moment to tell the EPA to protect public health and the
environment by withdrawing the sewage dumping policy. Then ask your family and
friends to help by forwarding this email to them.
To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=2&id4=ES