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The Clean Water Act has been very successful at cleaning up a lot of the polluting sources that impair our nation's water; however, a recent internal EPA report confirms that much work remains to be done. The report, completed by EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, found that about a quarter of the nation's largest industrial plants and water treatment facilities are in serious violation of pollution standards at any one time, yet only a fraction of them face formal enforcement actions. Moreover, EPA's report does not address a universe of discharging facilities that EPA identifies as its top enforcement priority, those that discharge during wet weather events. Run-off from wet weather events (i.e., storm water run-off, overflows from combined sewers, and CAFO discharges and run-off) remains a leading cause of water quality impairment, presenting a significant threat to public health and the environment. Over the next year, EIP will investigate how well states are implementing the CWA to address pollution from the following wet weather sources:
Stormwater runoff
Storm water runoff from industrial lots and large construction sites is the number one threat to water quality in coastal states, according to EPA. Much of this destruction could be avoided through relatively inexpensive "best management practices" required under today's rules, which keep sediment, toxic metals and other pollutants from being released during wet weather. EPA experience suggests that more than half of these dischargers do not comply with these simple rules, and most states do not even bother to track compliance.
Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs)
Combined sewer systems are designed to carry storm water runoff from rainfall or snowmelt, in addition to sewage and industrial commercial wastewater, in a single system of pipes to a treatment plant. During periods of rainfall or snowmelt (wet weather) the wastewater volume in the combined sewer system can exceed the capacity of the collection system or the treatment plant. When this occurs untreated sewage flows into nearby lakes and streams. Raw sewage often contains high concentrations of bacteria from fecal contamination, as well as disease-causing pathogens, resulting in beach closings or shell-fish restrictions. In 1994, EPA published its CSO Control Policy (now codified) which describes the process for bringing CSO communities into compliance with the CWA. Under the Policy, all CSO communities are required to establish nine minimum controls by January 1, 1997. EPA also requires communities to develop long-term control plans for achieving compliance with the CWA. Most communities have not established their nine minimum controls yet.
Corporate Agriculture
The industrialization of American agriculture has accelerated as meat production becomes concentrated into gigantic feedlots or smaller operations working under contract for the same large corporation. This consolidation of animal production has overloaded rural communities with animal wastes that choke rivers and streams. In theory, these concentrated animal feeding operations are prohibited from discharging wastes without a permit under the Clean Water Act. Industrial agriculture has refused to obtain permits; however, and has challenged efforts by EPA and states to apply the law. As a result, only twenty-eight states issue federal permits to some or all of their CAFOs leaving many of the estimated twenty thousand CAFOs out of compliance with the Clean Water Act. National compliance rates for CAFOs that do have permits are also very difficult to determine as there is little information in EPA compliance databases.
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