A new report prepared by the Environment America Research and Policy Center (EARPC) has revealed that in 2012 alone, more than 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals found were dumped into United States waterways despite efforts by local officials and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prevent this harmful action.
The report, dramatically named the "Wasting Our Waters" report, comes as the EPA considers a new ruling that would add Clean Water Act (CWA) protections to about two million miles of critical waterways across the nation. This move, which would redefine "waters of the United States," is sternly opposed to by a great deal of private land owners and the agricultural sector, for fear that the CWA would be used to control private waterways and hurt business. But EPA officials argue that total control isn't their aim, and instead simply want to prevent harmful practices and highlight alternative and greener solutions.
However, despite the true goals of the EPA, it is undeniable that harmful and difficult to control harmful toxins are indeed still slipping into US waterways. A US Geological Survey (USGS) study recently published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology details how private pesticide use is dumping a unsettlingly high concentration of harmful toxins into urban waters, posing a huge threat to local aquatic ecosystems.
Now this latest EARPC report reveals that nearly 17 million pounds of toxins are dumped each year into the Upper Mississippi River alone. In a survey of toxin concentrations across the US, it was also found that the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay also had 8.39 million and 3.23 million pounds of toxins respectively, making for the three key bodies of water most heavily polluted by local industry and agricultural practices (pesticide runoff).
The report also found Tyson foods to be the leading contributor to US water pollution "with a total of 18,556,479 lbs - 9 percent of the nationwide total of toxic discharges."
PHOTO: Flickr: Kelly Nighan
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