Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 6
Brave New World
Trying to solve these [modern pollution] problems with the 1972 Clean Water Act
is like trying to use a 1972 auto repair manual to repair a 2008 electric hybrid.
—Paul Freedman, vice president of the Water Environment
Federation
SEEKING A PARADIGM SHIFT
When the Clean Water Act was signed into law by President Nixon on October 18, 1972,
it was hailed as landmark legislation. Over the next three decades, the law led to tangible,
significant improvements in the quality of American water. By its spelling out exactly
what kind of effluent could be discharged into which waterways, and in what quantities,
and by its clearly defining penalties, many rivers and watersheds were cleaned up. But
today the CWA and SDWA are fast becoming obsolete. While they remain the nation's
primary legal defenses against water pollution, hundreds of new chemicals are entering
waterways every year, and many of them are not regulated or even tested.
Lake Erie —the fourth largest of the Great Lakes—had become so grossly contamin-
ated in the 1960s that it was declared “dead.” But as a result of the CWA, the Safe Drink-
ing Water Act (signed into law by President Ford in 1974), and years of expensive re-
mediation, the lake now supports a fishery worth several hundred million dollars a year.
Lake Erie's comeback is remarkable and a major environmental victory, one the EPA
points to with justifiable pride. Yet, as is the case with many of the EPA's water-quality
improvements, its success is qualified.
The CWA was updated and enhanced by major amendments in 1977 and 1987; the
SDWA was amended in 1986 and 1996. But since then, those groundbreaking laws have
slowly slipped from the minds of Congress and the public, and neither has been signific-
antly updated in years.
Today Lake Erie still suffers from legacy pollutants and storm-water runoff, but it
is also afflicted by new problems—including invasive species such as grass carp and
zebra mussels, and so-called emerging contaminants , a new class of pollutants that in-
cludes synthetic estrogen, pharmaceuticals, narcotics, antimicrobial soaps, and lawn-care
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