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April 13, 2005
By: Amy Souers Kober
(Washington DC) Some 860 billion gallons of
untreated sewage foul America’s rivers with
pollution and make millions of American sick each
year, but the federal government has turned its back
on the problem, warned American Rivers with the
release of its 2005 America’s Most Endangered Rivers
report. These problems are particularly apparent and
poised to get worse along the Susquehanna River,
which tops this year’s list of rivers facing
uncertain futures and crucial turning points.
The group called on federal lawmakers to reject the
cuts in clean water investment proposed by the Bush
administration and step up their oversight of how
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency carries out
its water protection responsibilities.
“All across America, rivers link one town’s toilets
to the next town’s faucets,” said Rebecca R. Wodder,
president of American Rivers. “And when it rains,
sewage pours into those rivers, billions of gallons
of it every year.”
Sewer spills, poor treatment, and other symptoms of
a failing system can be found all across the
country, including four of the rivers on this year’s
list:
* Hundreds of outfall pipes dump raw sewage directly
into the Susquehanna River (#1), fouling the river
and Chesapeake Bay downstream, but Washington is
cutting the assistance needed to remedy the problem.
* If Denver succeeds in withdrawing more water from
the Fraser River (#3) in Colorado, there won’t be
enough flow left over to dilute treated sewage to
safe levels for swimming and fishing.
* The sewage treatment plant in Mountain City,
Tennessee, is so outdated that treatment plant
operators have been caught spreading sludge along
Roan Creek (#5) in the middle of the night.
* Sewage treatment plants along Ohio’s Little Miami
River (#7), can’t handle their current volumes but
new roads and development threaten to make the
problem worse.
Sewer spills and overflows pose a significant public
health risk. Untreated human sewage teems with
salmonella, hepatitis, dysentery, cryptosporidium,
and many other infectious diseases. Scientists
believe as many as 3.5 million Americans get sick
each year after swimming, boating, fishing, or
otherwise touching water they thought was safe.
Between 1985 and 2000, the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) documented 251 separate disease
outbreaks and nearly half a million cases of
waterborne illness from polluted drinking water in
the United States.
“Kids in America should be able to enjoy their
neighborhood creeks and rivers without playmates
like salmonella, hepatitis, and dysentery,” Wodder
said.
Many American cities have sewage pipe networks and
plants that date to the early 1970s or earlier, and
this aging infrastructure is wearing out even as
treatment needs grow. There are 600,000 miles of
sewer pipes across the country. More than 30% of
them will be in poor or very poor condition by the
year 2020. In 2001, The American Society of Civil
Engineers gave America’s wastewater infrastructure a
“D” grade overall. Overdevelopment contributes to
the problem. As urban areas sprawl into the
countryside, more stormwater surges into sewers and
more pollution spews out.
The federal government only spends about a penny per
day per U.S. resident to address this problem, but
the Bush administration has asked Congress to slash
clean water measures by more than $500 million in
the coming year. This would take federal assistance
to an all time low. The EPA has also proposed a
“dumping policy,” allowing sewage treatment plants
to skip certain treatment steps when it was raining
discharging wastewater with high concentrations of
germs.
“It wasn’t long ago, the deadly waterborne illness,
Cryptosporidium, was found near Milwaukee and was
traced back to a sewage dumping occurrence that
would be allowed under this proposal. This
contamination killed over 100 people and sickened
over 400,000,” said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI-1st) said
in March when introducing the Save Our Waters from
Sewage Act. “Billions of gallons of human waste are
dumped into our Great Lakes and other water
resources each year. This sort of outbreak can
happen again if we don’t act now to prevent the EPA
from rolling back our clean water standards.”
As a first step towards rectifying this situation,
American Rivers called on Congress to reject further
cuts and invest more in the Clean Water State
Revolving Fund to $3.2 billion in 2006 and beyond.
Increasing investment to $10.85 per citizen per year
would be a good start, but it’s not enough.
Lawmakers should also establish a dedicated federal
trust fund to disperse aid to water utilities on a
consistent basis something Congress has already done
for airports, barges, and federal highways.
As a second step, Congress should invest federal
dollars smarter encouraging reforestation and
wetlands restoration, and reforming road
construction practices to effectively expand the
capacity and extend the life of existing systems by
reducing the volume of stormwater they have to
handle.
America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2005
#1 Susquehanna River (NY, PA, MD)
Contact: Sara Nicholas, (717) 232-8355
Throughout the Susquehanna River watershed, aging
sewer systems discharge enormous volumes of raw or
poorly treated sewage, which eventually flow into
the Chesapeake Bay. Unless local, state and federal
lawmakers invest in prevention and cleanup, the
Susquehanna will remain among the nation’s dirtiest
rivers and more and more of Chesapeake Bay will
become a dead zone.
#2 McCrystal Creek (NM)
Contact: Chad Smith, (402) 477-7910
McCrystal Creek and much of the pristine Valle Vidal
area that surrounds it face the prospect of
intrusive coal bed methane drilling. Unless the U.S.
Forest Service resists White House arm-twisting, the
agency’s promise to protect McCrystal Creek will be
the next but probably not the last promise to
posterity that will be broken in the quest for
fossil fuels.
#3 Fraser River (CO)
Contact: Jamie Mierau, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3003
For years, the Denver Water Board has siphoned 65
percent of the Fraser River’s water and piped it
across the mountains to fuel runaway development
along the Front Range. Now it plans to take most of
the rest. Unless the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
puts a stop to the water board’s plans, there won’t
be much left in the river except effluent from local
sewage plants.
#4 Skykomish River (WA)
Contact: Amy Souers Kober, (206) 213-0330 ext. 23
Runaway development threatens to foul the clear
waters of the Skykomish River, known for its fishing
and other outdoor activities, working farms,
forests, and rural quality of life. Unless the
Snohomish County Council plans responsibly for
growth and acts to protect the river, the very
characteristics that make the valley so attractive
to its residents could be lost forever.
#5 Roan Creek (TN)
Contact: Eric Eckl, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3023
The streams and rivers of the Appalachian Mountains
have largely escaped the scourge of factory dairy
farming but that may be about to change for
Tennessee’s Roan Creek. Unless Tennessee officials
establish and enforce stricter rules, cow manure
will foul the stream, expose residents to disease,
and jeopardize the region’s economic prospects.
#6 Santee River (SC)
Contact: Gerrit Jobsis,
For decades, an enormous hydropower dam complex has
drained one of the East Coast’s largest rivers
virtually dry. Unless state regulators stand up to a
powerful and uncooperative utility and demand that
some of that water be put back, the Santee will
continue to be South Carolina’s “forgotten river.”
#7 Little Miami River (OH)
Contact: Quinn McKew, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3069
Proposed wastewater plant expansions and new bridges
and roads are poised to pollute Ohio’s Little Miami
River with more sewage, stormwater, chemicals, and
trash. Unless the state insists on modern sewage
treatment and sensible transportation planning, the
crown jewel of Cincinnati’s and southwestern Ohio’s
outdoor destinations could be sullied beyond
recovery.
#8 Tuolumne River (CA)
Contact: Steve Rothert, (530) 478-5672
The City of San Francisco has proposed a new
pipeline that could increase the water it removes
from the Tuolumne River by as much as 70 percent.
Additional diversions would deplete 100 miles of
productive, pristine river habitat and compound
pollution problems in San Francisco Bay. Unless San
Francisco invests in making its existing supplies go
further, California could lose some of its best
salmon and steelhead runs, world-class outdoor
recreation, and the economic diversity this river
now provides.
#9 Price River (UT)
Contact: Gary Belan, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3027
Near the remote headwaters of the Price River in
central Utah, the Bureau of Reclamation is under
pressure to build a dam and reservoir to take away
one community’s water and pipe it over the mountains
to another. Unless the local water district comes to
its senses and the Forest Service strengthens
watershed protections, communities along the Price
River could lose their water, their wildlife, and
their hopes for a more prosperous future.
#10 Santa Clara River (CA)
Contact: Serena McClain, (202) 347-7550 ext. 3004
Until recent years, the Santa Clara River has
largely escaped the intense development transforming
most of Southern California, but developers are now
eyeing the river and adjacent lands for a massive
expanse of new condominiums and shopping centers.
Unless regulators hold new development to high
standards, Southern California will lose its last
significant natural river.
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