Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Thursday, October 17, 2002
Companies, waste treatment plants exceed EPA pollution permits
By JOHN HEILPRIN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Four of five wastewater treatment plants and
chemical and industrial facilities in the United States pollute
waterways beyond what their federal permits allow, according to
government data compiled by an environmental group.
More than 90 percent of the plants and facilities in Connecticut,
Delaware, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Rhode
Island and West Virginia exceeded permit limits between 1999 and 2001,
said Thursday's report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
The average excess was 10 times what the permit called for, according
to the report in which U.S. PIRG analyzed Environmental Protection
Agency records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
"Polluters are breaking the law, not only frequently but flagrantly,"
said the report's author, Alison Cassady, research director for U.S.
PIRG.
EPA spokesman Joe Martyak said the report exaggerates the risks, for
example, by calculating facilities' performances monthly rather than
every six months as the EPA does. He said some violations are due to
circumstances like storm water runoff or equipment upgrades that are
unintentional.
"Yes, there's still room for work to be done but it is not a dire
situation as the PIRG report would have you believe," Martyak said.
A spokesman for operators of publicly owned sewage treatment plants
disputed some of the report's conclusions.
"This notion that you can simply enforce everything away is simply
untrue," said Adam Krantz of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies. "We are the guardians of the Clean Water Act. We are not
polluters."
Releases of the worst toxic chemicals, those known or suspected to
cause cancer and other serious health effects, averaged eight times more
than is permitted under the Clean Water Act, the report said.
For those chemicals, the states or territories with the highest
percentage of facilities in violation - each with more than a third out
of compliance - are Arizona, Massachusetts, Indian, New York, Ohio,
Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, the Virgin Islands, the District of Columbia
and West Virginia.
The report, released a day ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Clean
Water Act, found:
-81 percent, or 5,116 of 6,332 major facilities, exceeded their
permits at least once between 1999 and 2001.
-262 major facilities exceeded their permits for at least 10
reporting periods during that time.