Reply #142: Sorry it took so long. The Top is the flyer and with it are 2 fact sheets

[Tigress DEM]

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Common Sense Priorities On Clean Water

Common Sense says:
Clean water is essential to life on this planet.
Use it. Re-use it. Don't Abuse it.

Bush agenda says:
Clean water isn't as important as balancing my budget.
De-regulate, Deny, Defer the responsibility to the next guy.

Common Sense says:
Clean water doesn't happen by itself these days.
Huge corporate polluters should pay.
Aging facilities should be repaired, kept up.
Dumping raw sewage into public waterways should be avoided not encouraged.

Bush agenda says:
A little poisonus jet fuel, sewage, arsenic won't really hurt anyone.
DOD & Corporate polluters are above the law, don't worry about it.
The facilities are fine.
Only poor people swim in the lakes anyway, if they die off, so what?

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Supporting Documentation in case anyone asks you about this:

Environmental Integrity Project * Lake Michigan Federation Natural Resources Defense Council * The Ocean Conservancy Sierra Club * Tennessee Izaak Walton League * U.S. PIRG Waterkeeper Alliance

EPA’s Proposed Sewage Dumping Policy:
Environmental and Public Health Perspective

This document provides the response of the groups identified above to information that has been circulated by the sewage treatment industry concerning a proposed EPA policy to authorize the discharge of partially treated, or “blended,” sewage during rain events.

FACT: Blended sewage does not meet Clean Water Act regulatory requirements.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: Blended effluent must meet all of the permit limits for a wastewater treatment plant (also called a “publicly owned treatment works” or POTW).
TRUTH: Blending is illegal because it violates the long-standing “bypass rule” in the Clean Waer Act which prohibits diversion of sewage around treatment units where there are feasible alternatives. While discharges must meet the effluent limitations of the POTW, they do so by substituting dilution for full treatment.

FACT: EPA’s proposal relaxes restrictions on discharging inadequately treated sewage into waterways during rain events.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: EPA’s proposal does NOT change any regulations. Blending POTWs must at all times meet EPA’s current technology-based “secondary treatment” standard .
TRUTH: This guidance is illegal because it conflicts with the existing bypass regulation without actually changing it in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act. The bypass regulation is designed to prevent dischargers from meeting effluent limitations (such as those in the secondary treatment rule) through dilution. This guidance would allow dilution to substitute for effective treatment.

FACT: Blending is dangerous because it would allow sewage-infested wastewater to be discharged without removing most of the disease-causing pathogens and other pollutants.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: POTWs disinfect wastewater before discharge, which is the step that kills the pathogens that could lead to waterborne illness. EPA’s proposed policy is clear – blended effluent should be disinfected and POTWs should monitor for bacteria.
TRUTH: Not all POTWs disinfect their wastewater – for example, several major plants in Chicago do not -- and EPA’s proposed policy does not require disinfection. EPA’s proposed policy requires only primary treatment, which removes solids and floatable material. In addition, some states require POTWs to disinfect to meet state water quality standards. According to preliminary data from EPA, it appears that between 25 percent and 50 percent of sewage treatment plants are neither required to disinfect nor meet a discharge standard for pathogens.

FACT: Allowing polluters to discharge inadequately treated sewage into our nation’s waters will have adverse, long-term environmental consequences.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: Blending is a water quality safeguard. Without blending, POTW treatment units will “wash out,” leading to immediate and adverse water quality impacts, or increased sewage backups.
TRUTH: Blending is an expedient means of avoiding fixing the sewer system to provide effective sewage treatment. The sewage treatment industry supports providing partial treatment instead of none. The public supports (and the Clean Water Act requires) full treatment for sewage. To do that, we need to invest in sewer system storage, rehabilitation and repair, which bipartisan legislation in Congress provides some funds for every year, but not nearly enough.

FACT: EPA is lifting the requirement that facilities fully treat sewage, and will allow more viruses and parasites in the water Americans drink and swim in.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: EPA’s proposed policy restates more than 30 years of federal policy toward blending, and clears up confusion resulting from inconsistent approaches to blending across the country. EPA’s proposal clarifies how permitting authorities should document blending at POTWs and captures the “best practices” in use by state agencies and POTWs today.
TRUTH: Current law prohibits bypassing of treatment units unless there is no feasible alternative. 40 CFR 122.41 (bypass rule); 33 U.S.C. 1242(q) (requiring POTW permits to conform to the Combined Sewer Overflow Policy). EPA has brought a number of enforcement actions over the years to enforce these prohibitions. Now, instead of enforcing the law, EPA is proposing to change the law to allow unlawful and inadequate sewage treatment practices to continue. We note that industry does not dispute that this change will allow more viruses and parasites in the water Americans drink and swim in.

FACT: More Americans would get sick from waterborne illnesses because of this indefensible and illegal policy change.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: EPA’s policy must be finalized to provide national consistency and to further water quality. This long-standing wet weather policy is entirely legal and meets all permit requirements.
TRUTH: The treatment industry response does not contradict the public health risks that discharging inadequately treated sewage would pose. The choice between weakening the Clean Water Act and endangering public health or allowing the law to remain intact while working to promote more funding for safe and healthy water for all Americans is clear. EPA should enforce the law and disallow bypassing when there is a feasible alternative that will better protect public health and the environment.

FACT: This policy would allow sewage treatment plants to discharge largely untreated sewage in routine storm events.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: This policy applies only in major storm events.
TRUTH: Current law already allows discharges in major storm events when there is no feasible alternative. This policy would allow largely untreated sewage to be discharged during any sized rain event when the capacity of the secondary treatment unit is exceeded. This change would encourage shortsighted and sloppy practices.

FACT: This policy would cost the American public more in the long run by raising the cost of drinking water filtration, closing beaches, contaminating shellfish beds, and making people sick.
SEWAGE INDUSTRY “SPIN”: This policy would save $100 to $200 billion dollars in unnecessary costs.
TRUTH: EPA has not calculated the cost savings associated with blending and cannot do so because it does not have good information on which facilities blend and under what circumstances. EPA has said that the estimates of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies are “inaccurate.”

We ask you to oppose EPA’s proposed “blending” policy and to support effective sewage treatment consistent with longstanding Clean Water Act requirements.

For more information, call Betsy Otto at American Rivers at 202-347-7550 x3033 or Nancy Stoner at the Natural Resources Defense Council at 202-289-2394.



Poisonus Jet Fuel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press contact: Dr. Jennifer Sass, Erik Olson, or Elliott Negin, 202-289-2405; Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC San Francisco, 415-875-6100
If you are not a member of the press, please write to us at [email protected] or see our contact page.

ACADEMY SUCCUMBS TO PENTAGON-WHITE HOUSE-INDUSTRY PRESSURE, RECOMMENDS PERCHLORATE SAFETY LEVEL THAT FAILS TO PROTECT CHILDREN

NRDC Says Recommendation to Add Iodide to Prenatal Vitamins Is "Too Little, Too Late"

WASHINGTON (January 10, 2005) -- The National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) report released today, which concluded that a higher exposure level to the toxic rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate than recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency is not harmful, could threaten the health of millions of American children, said NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). The NAS report recommended a level that is about 23 times higher than the one proposed by EPA and several states.
According to documents released earlier today by the group, the NAS panel's recommendation was likely shaped by a covert campaign by the White House, Pentagon and defense contractors to twist the science and strong-arm the academy. (For more information on the campaign, click here.)
"This recommendation confirms our fear - that the White House, Pentagon and its contractors were able to unduly influence the academy," said Erik D. Olson, an NRDC senior attorney. "We've never seen such a brazen campaign to pressure the National Academy of Sciences to downplay the hazards of a chemical, but it fits the pattern of this administration manipulating science at the expense of public health."
The panel's recommendation for a level that would protect pregnant women and babies is based on one weak industry study that fed perchlorate at that level to only seven healthy adults for two weeks. "The industry study tells us nothing about effects on babies or long-term perchlorate exposure," said Dr. Jennifer Sass, a senior scientist at NRDC. "It dismissed the rest of the studies, which is beyond comprehension."
The panel also stated (on page 11 of the report) that "while studies are being conducted, the committee emphasizes the importance of ensuring that all pregnant women have adequate iodide intake and, as a first step, recommends that consideration be given to adding iodine to all prenatal vitamins."
"It's like exposing pregnant women to cigarette smoke and telling them to wear gas masks," said Dr. Gina Solomon, a physician and NRDC senior scientist. "To suggest that part of the solution for pregnant women is to take vitamins to protect their babies from perchlorate exposure is bizarre. It's too little, too late. The burden should be on polluters, not pregnant moms, to protect babies from this toxic chemical."
Even with the NAS panel's recommendation, it is still possible that EPA and states could set a drinking water standard for perchlorate at 1 parts per billion to 4 parts per billion, said Dr. Solomon. After considering total perchlorate exposure from all sources - including water, food and milk - and after adjusting for body weight of fetuses and newborns, drinking water standards for perchlorate could still wind up low.
The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has more than 1 million members and e-activists nationwide, served from offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Related NRDC Pages
White House, Pentagon, Industry Secretly Colluded to Skew NAS Perchlorate Report, Documents Show, Press Release
White House and Pentagon Bias National Academy Perchlorate Report, NRDC Backgrounder