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Over 230 million pounds of toxic chemicals dumped into America's waterways annually
Industrial facilities dumped 232 million pounds of toxic chemicals into America's waterways, according to a report released today by Environment America: Wasting Our Waterways: Industrial Toxic Pollution and the Unfulfilled Promise of the Clean Water Act. The report also finds that toxic chemicals were discharged in 1,900 waterways across all 50 states.
"While nearly half of the rivers and lakes in the U.S. are considered too polluted for safe fishing or swimming, our report shows that polluters continue to use our waterways as dumping grounds for their toxic chemicals," said Piper Crowell, Clean Water Advocate for Environment America.
"On October 15, our Committee held a hearing to examine how the deterioration of the EPA's Clean Water Act enforcement program has set back our progress in achieving the central goals of the Clean Water Act," said Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.), Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "Today, we learned of the very frightening, tangible impacts on human health and the environment that occur when toxic substances are allowed to enter our waters. The fact that many industrial facilities are exploiting the system and using the nation's waterways as toxic dumping grounds is nothing less than a public health crisis."