Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - NACWA in the News
Wastewater Group to Join Lawsuit Against EPA for Violating BEACH Act
A national group representing sewage treatment plants intends to intervene on behalf of an environmental group that is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly violating a federal law designed to protect beachgoers from waterborne diseases.
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies will file its
motion to intervene, on the side of the Natural Resources Defense Council,
"probably in the next two weeks," Susan Bruninga, NACWA public affairs director,
told BNA Oct. 3.
The motion will be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California, where the NRDC sued EPA in August (Natural Resources Defense Council
v. Johnson, C.D. Cal., No. 06-cv-4843, 8/03/06; 150 DEN A-2, 8/4/06 ).
The NRDC sued EPA for allegedly violating the Beaches Environmental Assessment,
Cleanup, and Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act; Pub. L. No. 106-284) by failing to
issue revised water quality criteria for bacteria by the congressionally
mandated deadline of October 2005 and making states use "obsolete" water quality
criteria for bacteria to set standards.
EPA was required under the BEACH Act to study human illnesses caused by polluted
beach water by October 2003 and to promulgate revised water quality criteria by
October 2005. Instead of revising the criteria, however, EPA is recommending
that states use the 1986 bacteria criteria to develop water quality standards.
Criteria Should Reflect Latest Science
Along with environmental organizations, the wastewater community has an interest
in ensuring that EPA issues water quality criteria for bacteria that reflect the
latest science in ascertaining the causes of impairment in coastal and Great
Lakes waters, according to Bruninga.
"We want to support the use of the most up-to-date science to get at the
underlying causes of impairment of coastal and Great Lakes waters," Bruninga
said. "The more refined the methods, the better able we are to determine the
sources of impairment and fix the problem."
EPA spokesman Dale Kemery told BNA the agency does not comment on pending
litigation. However, in a statement, Kemery said, "The ecology of beachwater is
complex and has required much study to understand the variables that affect its
health and safety. ... As new information comes to light, it is necessary to
consider its implications, how it fits with the broader inquiry and what
technology to apply. EPA must determine what kind of studies are needed to fill
the gaps in scientific knowledge and expects to publish its findings in early
2007."
In 1986, EPA established water quality criteria that use a geometric mean
standard (a measure based on a number of samples taken over 30 days) of 35
enterococcus bacteria per 100 milliliters (ml) of water and an instantaneous
(single sample) standard of 104 enterococcus bacteria per 100 ml of water. The
agency-recommended criteria for Great Lakes (fresh) water is a geometric mean of
33 enterococcus bacteria per 100 ml of water and an instantaneous standard of 61
enterococcus bacteria per 100 ml of water.
Some states use both methods to decide whether to issue advisories or closings,
while others use one or the other.
In its lawsuit, NRDC said Congress recognized that these criteria were
"insufficient" to make informed beach decisions because they require beach
managers to use "antiquated" test methods that take 24 to 48 hours to provide
results and do not measure all the risks of waterborne illnesses from parasites,
including cryptosporidium and giardia.
By Amena H. Saiyid