How to Save America's Waterways

Clean Water • Citizen Action • Strong Communities WATERKEEPER

WATERKEEPER®

How to Save America’s Waterways

100% A 10-Step Plan for the Next President P C R Volume 5, P ape r umber 2 N umber

Fall2008 Fall 2008 $5.95

We all need clean water to survive. Be brave. Join me, my father and all our John Paul Mitchell Systems family to help protect our world, our waterways, our people and every living creature. - J.A. DeJoria, Age 10, with non poisonous bull snake

Peace, love and happiness, John Paul DeJoria, CEO, and the entire John Paul Mitchell Systems family, supporters of Waterkeeper Alliance

www.paulmitchell.com. Only in salons and Paul Mitchell schools. WATERKEEPER Volume 5 Number 2, Fall 2008 22 34

32 Watershed Under Siege L.A. River Fights for Life N.Y. Harbor’s Heart of Darkness

in every issue Cover Feature 6 Letter from the Chairman: 30 Protect & Restore: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. A Blueprint for Clean Water 22 The Movement: Latin Waterkeepers sound off on the Top 10 priorities the next president must America’s Waterkeepers tackle to save our nation’s waters. 62 On the Water 32 Restore Protection for All U.S. Waters - River Run Dry 66 Sounding Off: 34 Enforcement - Newtown Creek: Heart of Darkness Letter to the 44th President 36 Stormwater Runoff - Puget Sound: Stormwater v. Salmon 38 Sewage - Strange Brew: What’s Lurking in Milwaukee’s Waterways 40 Mercury - NC Riverkeepers Push Dirty Coal Plant off the Cliffside 42 Diversions - Tipping Point for the Apalachicola 44 Coal Mining - How Green Were Our Valleys 46 Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution - The Muddy Waters of the Wabash 48 Ocean Protection - California Takes a Stand for Ocean Protection 50 Environmental Justice - Confronting the Hazards of Inequality 58 52 The Way Forward: Listen to the Waterkeepers 65 57 Call to Action news and updates 12 Splashback 14 Ripples 58 10th Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference 65 President, Peacemaker, Riverkeeper

4 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org All over protection and quick drying materials work overtime to Omnium offer comfort and performance in one lightweight package.

he protection of our shared environ- As late as 1913, the U.S. Supreme Court gered Species Act, which were all designed ment has long been among govern- declared that it was “inconceivable that to reassert the ancient public trust rights that Tment’s most fundamental responsi- public-trust assets could slip into private had eroded since the industrial revolution. bilities. Ancient Rome’s Code of Justinian, hands.” Indeed the best measure of how a By making government and industry one of the first efforts at constitutional democracy succeeds is how it safeguards more transparent on the local level and giv- governance, guaranteed to all citizens the the shared assets as trustee for all citizens, ing the public a voice in allocation of the use of the “public trust” or “commons” rich and poor. Does it maintain the com- commons, those laws strengthened our — those shared resources that cannot be mons in the hands of the people or does it democracy. Powerful corporate polluters reduced to private property, including the allow public trust assets to be privatized in would finally be held accountable for priva- air, water, forests and fisheries. the hands of the wealthy and powerful? tizing the commonwealth — those planning Throughout Western history, the first During the Gilded Age of corporate feu- to use the commons would have to disclose acts of tyrants have invariably included dalism, naked power brokering by industri- the environmental impacts of their project efforts to deliver public-trust assets into al robber barons persuaded courts and leg- and submit to public hearings; new laws private hands. During the Dark Ages, islatures to weaken public trust rights and gave citizens the power to prosecute envi- when Roman law broke down in England, allow the theft of clean air and water and ronmental crimes. Even the most vulner- King John attempted to sell off the coun- public lands from the American people. able Americans could participate in the de- try’s fisheries, place navigational tolls on As the Industrial Revolution gave way cisions that determined the future of their England’s rivers, and seize its woodlands to the post-World War II industrial boom, communities. and game animals. Enraged at that theft Americans found themselves paying a high The passage of these statutes marked of public trust assets, England’s people price for the resulting pollution. the return of these centuries-old rights of confronted John at Runnymede in 1215, The wake-up call came in the late 1960s, the commons to every American. The vic- forcing him to sign the Magna Carta. That when scientists declared Lake Erie dead, tory was short-lived, however. Earth Day seminal democratic document included Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River caught fire and 1970, and the popular citizen’s movement a powerful articulation of the principle radioactive strontium 90 appeared in the it helped spark, may have caught polluters that the commons of water, fisheries and breast milk of mothers across North America and their indentured servants in our politi- woodland were not commodities to be and in the most remote corners of the globe. cal system off guard, but over the next 30 bartered away by a prince, but the rightful On the first Earth Day in 1970, the- ac years, they mounted an increasingly sophis- property of all citizens. cumulation of such insults drove 20 mil- ticated and aggressive counterattack to un- These public-trust rights passed to the lion Americans to the streets in the largest dermine the new laws. people of the United States following the public demonstration in U.S. history. Moti- The culmination of that three-decade- American Revolution. Each state constitu- vated by that stunning display of grassroots long campaign is the shamefully success- tion recognized the rights of every citizen to power, Republicans and Democrats work- ful war that the Bush administration has use the commons, but never in a manner to ing together created the Environmental waged on environmental protections so injure its use and enjoyment by others. The Protection Agency and passed 28 major that polluters might once again plunder early conservation movement enacted laws laws over the next decade to protect our air, the commonwealth. to protect fish, wildlife, shorelines, lakes and water, endangered species, wetlands, food Today, corporate polluters and their rivers, and created our first national parks and public lands. money have infiltrated every level of our and secured vast tracts of land against ex- Those statutes included the Clean Air political system. Lobbyists for polluters now ploitation and abuse. Act, the Clean Water Act and the Endan- run most of the regulatory agencies charged

6 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org with protecting Americans from pollution. Back then, drunk driving was illegal in countries, where environmental laws are Among other things, White House policies every state, but the law was seldom vigor- strictly enforced, company owners caught have drastically diminished federal controls ously enforced and police officers only -oc polluting become social pariahs. of mercury, which now contaminates most casionally arrested the intoxicated driver. Right now, we need leaders in Washing- American fishes, weakened controls on Oftentimes, they simply told the drunk to ton who will stop pandering to criminals storm water and sewage pollution, agricul- “pull over and sleep it off.” Society winked at and once again make government stand for tural waste and mountaintop mining, and the practice. Roadside stores sold cup hold- the rule of law. We must force our politi- subverted wetlands protection. These roll- ers to make it easier for a driver to drink cians and business leaders to place the pub- backs have encouraged the destruction and beer and drive. lic good over private gain, principle over pollution of thousands of miles of rivers and Because the law wasn’t taken serious- politics, conscience over expediency. streams, beaches and other waterways. ly, tens of thousands of Americans died One of my favorite defenses of the rule Waterkeepers across America have in drunk driving accidents. A grassroots of law appears in Robert Bolt’s great play stepped into the vacuum created by law enforcement effort by M.A.D.D. A Man for All Seasons, which chronicles government’s abdication of its role as changed everything. the public choices and private struggle of public trustee. M.A.D.D. helped establish zero toler- the great English jurist and Catholic saint, This issue of Waterkeeper is devoted ance of drunk driving as a national law Thomas More. largely to presenting a comprehensive enforcement standard and put teeth into At one point, More argues for the pri- plan for resurrecting our legal safeguards laws already on the books. Strict enforce- macy of the law and principled action in and restoring America’s ailing rivers, lakes, ment quickly changed the public tolerance the governance of human affairs. When his streams and wetlands. for drunk driving. wife and relatives try to convince him to ar- These recommendations are based on rest the man who will later perjure himself the U.S. Blueprint for Clean Water, a com- in More’s trial for high treason and doom prehensive report — the first of its kind — Environmental injury More to beheading, More refuses, arguing that Waterkeepers across the globe helped threatens all of our national that the man has broken no law. to create. The Blueprint and the stories in “Father, that man’s bad!” More’s daugh- this issue summon Americans to mobilize values. It undermines the ter says. as they did in the 1970s, to reassert public rule of law, threatens our “There’s no law against that!” More re- control over our nation’s water resources plies, adding that he has the right to his and to demand that government stand with public health and national freedom “if he were the Devil himself, until the people against the big polluters and their security, promotes corporate he broke the law!” political allies who conspire in the destruc- “So, now you give the Devil the benefit tion of these resources. rather than local control of law!” More’s future son-in-law, Hugh Environmental injury threatens all of and shatters the democratic Roper, says. our national values. It undermines the “Yes!” More replies. “What would you rule of law, threatens our public health concept of stewardship of our do? Cut a great road through the law to get and national security, promotes corpo- after the Devil?” rate rather than local control and shatters shared resources. “Yes, I’d cut down every law in England the democratic concept of stewardship of to do that!” Roper says. our shared resources. It shows contempt “Oh?” More asks. “And when the last for America’s historical ties to wilderness Most young Americans no longer con- law was down, and the Devil turned and the American traditions of responsi- sider drunk driving something to wink ‘round on you, where would you hide, bility, resourcefulness and commitment at or joke about. They will tell you, in so Roper, the laws all being flat? This coun- to community. That same pollution is many words, that people who drink and try is planted thick with laws, from coast both immoral and un-American. Our drive are not just breaking the law — they to coast, Man’s laws, not God’s! And if battle is a battle for the wellspring of our are sociopaths. That moral stigma has you cut them down … do you really think national values, for the idea of commu- made our streets safer for all Americans. you could stand upright in the winds that nity, and for all the things that make us In the United States, corporate CEOs would blow then? ... God help the people proud of our country. whose companies pollute are seldom stig- whose statesmen walk your road.” Waterkeeper is, above all, a law en- matized socially. They are feted at ban- Over these last eight years, the Presi- forcement movement. We put teeth back quets and continue to appear on social dent and his appointees have recklessly into environmental regulations. Law rosters and podiums with politicians. The clear cut the forests of hard-won and enforcement does not just punish law anemic fines imposed on polluters are carefully written laws and regulations breakers or force polluters to stop pol- seen as a cost of doing business. Compa- that protect the American landscapes, air, luting. It moves the milestones of pub- nies like Exxon, the Southern Company, wildlife and waterways. lic morality, stigmatizes lawbreakers as Massey Coal, Doe Run and Smithfield With the nation now ready to embark bad citizens, and helps restore the moral Foods routinely violate state and federal on a new path with a new leader, we need order. Mothers Against Drunk Driving laws. And yet, in nearly every instance, to put behind us a lawless age and begin (M.A.D.D.), another grassroots advocacy they not only escape serious punishment, the complex and difficult task of restor- group, successfully demonstrated those colleagues applaud them for their busi- ing the rules that safeguard the public critical functions of law enforcement ness cunning. Outside the United States, trust and our national treasures devas- during the 1980s. a different attitude prevails. In European tated by plunder. w www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 7 ® On the Cover WATERKEEPER M A G A Z I N E From New York’s Hudson River to San Francisco Bay, the health of America’s waterways are at a crisis stage. Waterkeepers from across the globe have a plan to save them. 50 S. Buckhout St., Ste. 302, Irvington, NY 10533 Photo: Gordon Fearey www.waterkeeper.org The official magazine of Waterkeeper Alliance Mission: Waterkeeper Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper Proud programs to provide a voice for waterways and communities worldwide. Sponsor of Tom Quinn Editor Anna Gouznova Assistant Editor Michelle Jacoby Editorial Consultant Richard J. Dove Photo Editor Waterkeeper Giles Ashford Creative Consultant John Wathen Photographer Magazine Anne Costner Advertising Amy Lamp Designer Switch Studio Art Direction Board of Directors Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Dean Naujoks Globally, the paper industry is the single chairman ATLANTIC REPRESENTATIVE largest industrial consumer of water and the Terry Backer Cheryl Nenn Vice chairman, Soundkeeper, Inc. Milwaukee Riverkeeper third greatest emitter of greenhouse gases. Deb Self Pete Nichols Treasurer, BAYKEEPER, INC. HUMBOLDT BAYKEEPER Getting the Paper Right! Karl Koplan Joe Payne Waterkeeper magazine is printed on 100% post-consumer SECRETARY, PACE UNIVERSITY Casco Baykeeper ENVIRONMENTAL LITIGATION CLINIC recycled paper generated with wind power. We hope that other Fernando Rey Erick Bozzi Cartagena Baykeeper Board publications will join us in committing to protect our environment Cartagena Baykeeper Board Bruce Reznik and building the market for environmentally sustainable products. Casi Callaway San Diego coastkeeper Mobile Baykeeper The environmental savings from this switch are enormous: Fred Tutman Donna Lisenby PATUXENT RIVERKEEPER UPPER WATAUGA RIVERKEEPER Andy Willner 886 trees preserved for the future Alex Matthiessen NY/NJ BAYKEEPER EMERITUS Riverkeeper, Inc. Richard J. Dove 2,564 lbs. waterborne waste not created Mark Mattson Honorary member LAKE ONTARIO WATERKEEPER Murray Fisher Honorary member 377,410 gallons wastewater flow saved

41,757 lbs. solid waste not generated Board of Trustees Glenn R. Rink, Chair James Curleigh Paul Polizzotto 82,222 lbs. net greenhouse gases prevented Gordon Brown, John Paul DeJoria Gloria Reuben Vice Chair F. Daniel Gabel, Jr. Laura & Rutherford 629,353,600 BTUs energy not consumed Wendy Abrams Tom Gegax Seydel Jeffrey R. Anderson Margaret A. Hecht Terry Tamminen Savings from the use of emission-free wind-generated electricity: Richard Dean A. Judson Hill Jami & Klaus von Anderson Heidegger Karen Lehner Michael Budman William B. Wachtel 42,718 lbs. air emissions not generated Karen Percy Lowe & Ann Colley Kevin Lowe Daniel Waldman 19 barrels crude oil unused In other words, savings from the use of wind-generated electricity Staff Steve Fleischli Joelle Hervic are equivalent to: President Senior Staff Attorney Kristine Stratton Michele Merkel not driving 9,448 miles EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chesapeake Regional Coordinator Tracy Calvan Jeffrey Odefey OR Development Manager - Grants Staff Attorney planting 1,189 trees Hannah Connor Francisco Ollervides Staff Attorney Senior Field Coordinator Rachel Cook Mary Beth Postman Waterkeeper is printed on FSC-certified Mohawk Options 100% DEVELOPMENT & operations Assistant to the chairman COORDINATOR Janelle Hope Robbins post-consumer recycled paper which is manufactured with Anne Costner Staff Scientist Green-e certified wind electricity. This paper is certified by Green Corporate Outreach Associate Shannon Ross Seal and by Smartwood for FSC standards which promote Scott Edwards STAFF ACCOUNTANT Legal Director environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically Tom Quinn Emily Egginton Communication Director viable management of the world’s forests. Field Coordinator Sue Sanderson Erin Fitzgerald INTERIM Development Director DEVELOMENT MANAGER - EVENTS Stephanie von Stein Waterkeeper and Mohawk paper are proud to announce that using Jillian Gladstone Asia Program Coordinator wind power and offsets we have achieved carbon neutral paper ADVOCACY & OUTREACH COORDINATOR CO2 Marc Yaggi production. Anna Gouznova Director of Waterkeeper Support Communications Associate

© 2008 Waterkeeper Alliance. Reproduction of editorial content only is authorized with appropriate credit and acknowledgement. Basinkeeper, Beachkeeper, Channelkeeper, Creekkeeper, Lakekeeper, Shorekeeper and Waterkeeper are registered trademarks and service marks of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Coastkeeper, Gulfkeeper and Inletkeeper are trademarks and service marks licensed by Water- keeper Alliance, Inc. Riverkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Riverkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Baykeeper and Deltakeeper are registered trademarks and service marks of Baykeeper, Inc. and are licensed for use herein. Soundkeeper is a registered trademark and service mark of Soundkeeper, Inc. and is licensed for use herein. Waterkeeper is printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified Mohawk Options 100% post-consumer recycled paper which is manufactured with wind electricity. Printed in USA • Peake DeLancey Printers, LLC

8 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org CELEBRATE taste

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enter our recipe contest Moms, entertainers, hosts! Go to our website and submit your show-stopping holiday recipes. You could win a spectacular day of organic culinary adventure. For every entrant we will donate $1 to a leading earth steward. More details on-line. www.organicvalley.coop/celebrate © 2008 Organic Valley Family of Farms Who is Waterkeeper Alliance?

Waterkeepers are investigators, scientists, educators, lawyers and advocates. We take responsibility for protecting your waterways — enforcing environmental laws and standing up for your right to clean water.

Waterkeeper Alliance is a powerful coalition of more than 180 local Waterkeeper Programs — Riverkeeper, Baykeeper, Coastkeeper and other grassroots Waterkeeper organizations connected into a unified international force for environmental protection.

Teaching how the health of the

community is inextricably linked tion s to the health of the bay, Hann Baykeeper Mouhmadou Diol conducts a workshop with the youth of Hann Village. Based in Senegal, Hann Baykeeper is Africa’s first Waterkeeper program. A ma do u M. Sene - B P C Co mmu ni ca

Join Waterkeeper Alliance—Get WATERKEEPER

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10 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org EXHIBITORS IN THE U.S.AND CANADA Des Moines, IA Science Center of Iowa Milwaukee,WI Milwaukee Public Museum Shreveport, LA Sci-Port Discovery Center Austin,TX Texas State History Museum Detroit, MI Detroit Science Center Myrtle Beach, SC IMAX 3D Theatre Myrtle Beach St.Augustine, FL World Golf Village Atlanta, GA Fernbank Museum of Natural History Duluth, MN Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Oklahoma City, OK Science Museum Oklahoma Tampa, FL Museum of Science & Industry Birmingham,AL McWane Science Center Ft. Lauderdale, FL Museum of Discovery & Science Philadelphia, PA Franklin Institute Tempe,AZ IMAX Theatre Arizona Mills Boston, MA Museum of Science Galveston,TX Moody Gardens Phoenix,AZ Arizona Science Center Edmonton,Alberta Telus World of Science Boston, MA New England Aquarium Hampton,VA Virginia Air & Space Center Portland, OR Oregon Museum of Science & Industry Hull, Ottowa Canadian Museum of Civilization Branson, MO Ozarks Discovery IMAX Theater Harrisburg, PA Whitaker Center for Science & the Arts Raleigh, NC Marbles Kids Museum Montreal, Quebec Old Port Chattanooga,TN Tennessee Aquarium Houston,TX Houston Museum of Natural Science Richmond,VA Science Museum of Virginia Regina, Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Science Centre Chicago, IL Museum of Science & Industry Hutchinson, KS Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center Sacramento, CA Esquire IMAX Theatre Sudbury, Ontario Science North Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati Museum Center Louisville, KY Louisville Science Center San Diego, CA Reuben H Fleet Science Center Vancouver, B.C. Science World Davenport, IA Putnam Museum Lubbock,TX Science Spectrum Seattle,WA Pacific Science Center Winnipeg, Manitoba IMAX Theatre

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Biodiesel Settlement Protects Russian Riverkeeper Signs Stormwater Settlement Two Endangered Species In 2003, Russian Riverkeeper in California documented a major non-stormwater discharge of sediment- After nearly a year in United States District Court, Black laden water from Redwood Empire Sawmill to Oat Warrior Riverkeeper and Alabama Biodiesel have Valley Creek, a tributary to the Russian River that acts reached a settlement that requires the biodie- as a spawning area for Steelhead trout, as well as sel producer to cease illegal discharges of fowl breeding and habitat areas. oil and grease, obtain a pollution permit Russian Riverkeeper continued to monitor the mandated by the Clean Water Act, and pay sawmill and documented discharges of zinc, ox- $27,500 for a Supplemental Environmental Project ygen-demanding substances and other pollutants (SEP) in the Black Warrior River watershed. Like the Watercress to Oat Valley Creek that robbed it of oxygen necessary The settlement benefits Jefferson County’s Tapawingo/ Darter, the Vermilion for the survival of the fish population. Penny Springs, habitat of the federally endangered Vermilion Darter (above) is Russian Riverkeeper initiated an enforcement an endangered and Watercress Darters, as well as a pristine tributary of Tur- species found action against Redwood Empire Sawmill and recently key Creek and a major tributary of the Black Warrior River’s only in the Black entered into a consent decree with the sawmill to Locust Fork. Both endangered species live only in the Black Warrior watershed. require the development and implementation of pol- Warrior watershed. Both fish live in lution control measures, which will result in a major Tapawingo/Penny Freshwater Land Trust, an Alabama non-profit land con- reduction of pollutants entering Oat Valley Creek and Springs, which this servation organization, will receive Alabama Biod- settlement will help the Russian River. iesel’s SEP payment and lead the restoration restore. Russian Riverkeeper also secured $35,000 to fund

project. Black Warrior Riverkeeper is pleased Patrick O’Neil; Source: Fishes a mitigation project and an expert to work with the of Alabama that the entire payment will permanently sawmill to monitor the effectiveness of pollution con- contribute to ecologically vital improve- trol measures and the water quality of the creek. ments in the Black Warrior watershed. Legal Victory Sends Message in Ongoing The Petitcodiac River will receive $20 million in funding over the next two years. Ballast Water Debate Every year, ships discharge billions of gallons of ballast water containing non-native, invasive species into U.S. bays, estuaries and the Great Lakes. The ships take up ballast water at the ports of origin for stabilization and then discharge the water as they approach U.S. ports, a practice that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA has refused to regulate under the Clean Water Act. In 1999, San Francisco Baykeeper and other environmental groups petitioned EPA to overturn its rule exempting vessel discharges from the Clean Water Act. The district court’s decision required EPA to regulate discharges from all vessels by Sept. 30, Al a in B a ill r g eon 2008. Almost a decade later — on July 23, 2008 — Riverkeeper Victory in New Brunswick, Canada the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s holding that EPA’s exemption was beyond EPA’s powers. Forty years after a causeway choked the Petitcodiac River, a historic milestone This ruling is likely final since EPA is not expected has been reached in the battle to save the cherished watercourse. to appeal, giving a needed boost to environmental Work to restore the Petitcodiac River will begin this fall with $20 million in and water quality advocates on this issue. However, funding from the province over the next two years, allowing for the opening of the shipping industry has already shifted lobbying the causeway gates and unobstructed fish passage in the river system in 2010, efforts to the legislature to preserve their exemption Premier Shawn Graham announced on July 7. for ballast water discharges. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper’s legal action against the federal and provincial The fate of several bills in the House and the Sen- governments was instrumental in securing a start to the project. However, the ate remain unknown, threatening to undermine the Province will need funding from the federal government to complete the three- legal victory. San Francisco Baykeeper continues to phase project. Petitcodiac Riverkeeper Tim Van Hinte says that there is much work with a broad coalition of environmental groups work to be done because the federal government continues to ignore river and Waterkeepers across the country to oppose bills restoration and refuses to pay its fair share of project costs. that stand to undo a decade of legal advocacy.

12 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Shoes are weapons of mass destruction. Wearing them on hard surfaces is like taking a direct hit to the spine. That’s why we make something that protects your back instead of undermining it. Something that tones your muscles. Something that improves your posture and burns extra calories. Because shoes don’t belong on your feet. They belong in a box. About six-feet under.

The 2006 grounding of the oil tanker Seabulk Pride was a wake-up call, highlighting the need to get additional safeguards in place. I nlet k eeper

repeated attempts to install tugs and additional safeguards, industry routinely fought the proposals and Cook Inletkeeper Helps the Coast Guard regularly gave in. The addition of a high-powered tug is a huge Spur Tug Escorts for asset for navigational safety in Cook Inlet, says Cook Inletkeeper Bob Shavelson. “But it’s also critical for the Coast Guard to finalize a national rule mandating Alaskan Oil Tankers tug escorts not only in Cook Inlet, but other locations where conditions are especially dangerous.” he ice, tides, currents and winds in Alaska’s TCook Inlet pose some of the gravest navigational hazards in the world. After many years of Inletkeeper advocacy — and in the wake of a grounded oil tanker in 2006 — Tesoro Alaska formally christened the new high-powered tug Vigilant for use in Cook Inlet this past spring. Inletkeeper has played an active role in pressing for high-powered tugs and other safeguards in Cook Inlet. It has worked with the Cook Inlet Regional Citi- zens Advisory Council to draft resolutions calling for strong action, and played a central role highlighting problems around the 2006 Seabulk Pride grounding.

But it has been a long haul. In 1993, CIRCAC C IR CAC commissioned a study from a shipping safety expert The tug Vigilant’s twin z-drive engines can rotate 360 degrees to who found Cook Inlet to be one of the most unsafe provide optimal escort and assist capabilities, and are rated up moorages in the Western hemisphere. Yet, despite to a maximum of 6,772 horsepower.

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Riverkeeper, HONORS Captain Bill Receives EPA Environmental Quality Award Baykeeper Working Captain Bill Sheehan and Hackensack Riverkeeper were recently honored by the on the Railroad United States Environmental Protection Agency for their work on “clean water issues for the Hackensack River, the Newark Bay Complex and their watersheds.” n February, Hackensack Riverkeeper, NY/ Hackensack Riverkeeper was also recognized for being “the watershed’s leading INJ Baykeeper, and the New York, Susque- environmental organization” for its advocacy and river cleanup program. hanna and Western Railway Corporation (NYS&W) announced a federal settlement Casco Baykeeper Wins Hero Award regarding the railroad’s solid waste trans- In July, Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne was presented with a 2008 L.L.Bean load facilities in North Bergen, N.J. Origi- Outdoor Hero Award. As one of six outdoor enthusiasts being honored for nally conducted at five locations in the town, their contributions to the positive use of recreational outdoor space, Payne was waste materials (primarily construction recognized for his work in effectively restoring the health of Casco Bay. debris and contaminated soils from environmental cleanups) are loaded into railcars for shipment to out-of-state disposal sites. As part of the settlement — in which NYS&W admitted no liability, wrongdoing or violation of law — the company agreed that any waste facility it operates in the future will have effective environmental safeguards. The company also contributed $30,000 toward a supplemental environmental project to be carried out by the Waterkeepers to benefit the people of Hudson County. Hackensack Riverkeeper first brought suit in 2006 to shut down the facilities and stop NYS&W from conducting activity in North Bergen. During litigation, the company closed three facilities; enclosed operations and installed wastewater and dust control systems at another; and agreed to take additional measures to minimize environmental impacts at the last one. “This case shows just how far we’ve come from our region’s polluted past,” says Hackensack Riverkeeper Captain Bill Sheehan. “Just a few years ago, no one would have cared about the environment in the Meadowlands, but today people

do care and a company did live up to its P eter Milholl a nd responsibility to the Meadowlands, albeit L.L.Bean’s Mac McKeever (l) presents L.L.Bean Outdoor Hero Award to Casco Baykeeper Joe Payne. after our prodding.” Potomac and Shenandoah Riverkeepers Honored for Conservation Efforts Potomac Riverkeeper Ed Merrifield was profiled in Washingtonian Magazine’s April issue, in which he was named one of 30 local “Eco-Heroes.” Shenandoah Riverkeeper Jeff Kelble was named “Virginia Fly Angler of the Year” at the Fly Fishing Festival in Waynesboro, Va., and also received the “Outstanding Individual Award” given by the Lord Fairfax Soil and Water Conservation District.

Revenge of the Riverkeeper T K The St. Johns Riverkeeper documentary film Revenge of the River received the first

P hoto: place award for best Public Affairs Program at the 14th annual 2008 Sunshine State Waste materials are loaded into railcars for Awards, held May 31 in Dania, Fla. Last year, the group’s documentary The Green shipment to out-of-state disposal sites. Monster, It Came From The River also received top honors in the same category.

16 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org

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Governor Signs Bill to Safeguard Buzzards Bay volunteer corner Music lovers in tune with Hudson River Piermont Pier cleanup from Oil Spills In July, a group of volunteers collected 25 bags of trash in two hours at Pier- fter five years of fighting to protect the bay from mont Pier in Piermont, N.Y. Local residents signed up for the event in hopes Afuture oil spills, Buzzards Baykeeper recently of winning two tickets to musician Jack Johnson’s All Points West Music announced a victory in its battle: oil spill prevention Festival in August. Riverkeeper hosted the project in partnership with Teva measures for Buzzards Bay. and Keep Rockland Beautiful. On Aug. 8, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law “an act further preventing oil spills in Potomac Riverkeeper sets sights on cleaning up watershed Buzzards Bay” ensuring that all single- and double- Volunteers from Potomac Riverkeeper joined staff and volunteers from hulled oil barges have REI of Fairfax to clean up the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail in April. The site a tugboat escort as was one of nearly 300 registered under the Alice Ferguson Foundation’s well as an experienced 20th Annual Potomac River Watershed Clean Up. So far, volunteers have local pilot on board collected more than 144 tons of trash, 99,000 recyclable containers and while transiting the 10,000 plastic bags. bay. Buzzards Bay Co- alition drafted the new Hackensack Riverkeeper enjoys successful spring cleaning legislation, which was Volunteers came out in full force and completed multiple cleanup projects filed by Sen. Mark C. throughout the Hackensack watershed. Five river cleanups resulted in 1,500 Montigny of New Bed- hours of work that netted 40 square yards of trash in Overpeck Park as well ford and Rep. John F. as huge dumpsters filled with river debris in River Edge. For the third year in Quinn of Dartmouth a row, Panasonic employees collected trash from Sawmill Creek, while volun- in January 2007, and teers replaced a pathway of stone that slowed stormwater into Coles Brook. successfully lobbied for its passage. “In five years of work on this issue, this is the most

important bill passed

s ay B rd a zz u B for lition a Co the sy of rte u Co in either the state or Oil blankets the shoreline of federal government to Buzzards Bay after the Bouchard protect Buzzards Bay oil spill in 2003. from oil spills,” says Coalition President and Buzzards Baykeeper Mark Rasmussen. “It puts in place two things we all knew were the most important to prevent spills like the one that fouled our Bay in 2003: an escort tug and an experienced marine pilot on every oil barge.” Navigational risks abound in Buzzards Bay, given its shallow mean depth of 36 feet, and the rocky

ledges and reefs that flank the channels. Local pilots R i v er k eeper and tug escorts can effectively warn oil barges of

navigational hazards and immediately respond to Hack en sack navigational accidents. This spring, volunteers turned out in force to clean up the Hackensack watershed.

plastic bags collected 10,000 at the potomac river clean up

18 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org “Going green can also mean saving some green. GO GREEN, LIVE RICH shows you exactly how a lot of small steps added together can INSTANT change your life in more ways than one.” BESTSELLER —Graham Hill, TreeHugger.com and PlanetGreen.com NEW YORK TIMES In the first book of its kind, the WALL STREET #1 New York Times bestselling JOURNAL author and financial guru shows USA TODAY readers a whole new way to live a rich life—by going green.

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St. Johns Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Identifies Riverkeeper and NFL’s and Eliminates Sewage Discharge Jacksonville Jaguars hile monitoring a stretch section of pipe. Since this didn’t Wof Cieneguitas Creek on explain the strong sewage odor Team Up the outskirts of Santa Barbara, or the presence of toilet paper, . Wayne and Delores Calif. in late March, Santa Bar- the city flushed dye through the JBarr Weaver, owners bara Channelkeeper identified clinic’s sewer system. Mean- of the National Football a suspicious discharge coming while, a sampling detected League’s Jacksonville from an outfall located in an elevated concentrations of E. coli Jaguars in Florida, have underground section of the in the discharge. awarded a challenge creek. The outfall smelled like The dye tests eventually

grant of up to $150,000 raw sewage and was flowing a B a r ba a nnel k eeper Ch revealed that the drain was di- to St. Johns Riverkeeper. intermittently. rectly connected to a bathroom The matching gift will Channelkeeper notified the inside the clinic. The drain was P itterle, S a nt

help the organization city of Santa Barbara and accom- Ben not identified on any of the raise awareness about panied city staff on an inspection building plans and had likely threats to the health that revealed what appeared to series of tests to identify the been discharging raw sewage to of the St. Johns and to be toilet paper in the drain. Fur- source of the discharge. A the creek since the building was legally challenge plans in ther investigation showed that camera was sent up the pipe last remodeled. central Florida to with- the drain came from a medical to visually inspect for sewer The clinic has since shut draw millions of gallons clinic on upper State Street. connections. The pipe led to a down the bathroom and is now a day from the river. Concerned, the city worked rooftop drain, but the camera working to remove the sewer The Weavers will with the clinic to conduct a was unable to access the vertical drain connection to the creek. donate $1 for every $2 that St. Johns River- keeper raises for its St. Johns River Awareness and Legal Fund up to $150,000. According to St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon, “the incredible generos- ity and support of the Weavers will enable us potential$150,000 grant from jacksonville jaguars owners to raise the funds and acquire the resources necessary to defend and Lower Delaware Granted Special Protection Waters Designation protect the health of the St. Johns River.” n response to a petition filed for the Lower Delaware to stay discharge alternatives for point As a result of years Iby the Delaware River- clean for all to use. sources of pollution, requires of poor planning, keeper Network, the Delaware The Delaware Riverkeeper the use of best demonstrable uncontrolled growth River Basin Commission Network petitioned DRBC to technology for new or expand- and wasteful water- (DRBC) voted unanimously designate the river and tributary ing pollution discharges that use practices, Central in July to designate the Lower segments as Special Protection do go to the river, and requires Florida communities Delaware River from the Water Waters in April 2001. The com- creation of nonpoint source are reaching the limits Gap to Trenton as Special mission collected five years of pollution control plans for of their groundwater re- Protection Waters. water quality data for the Lower covered facilities. sources. Many of these According to Delaware River- Delaware and tributary streams, “This is our region’s version communities are look- keeper Maya van Rossum, while which documented that the of the Outstanding Natural ing to the St. Johns River there was a last-minute effort to river has exceptional water qual- Resource Waters program,” says and Ocklawaha River (a derail the effort, the seven years ity and was therefore eligible for van Rossum. “Strong regula- major tributary of the of advocacy, community orga- the Special Protection Waters tions backed by strong imple- St. Johns) to solve their nizing, and scientific and legal designation. mentation are critical, and never water supply problems. debate led the way to designa- The Special Protection to be lost in the milieu of politics tion and the protection needed program encourages using non- and money.”

20 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Who’ll stop the rain?

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Latino America: Un movimiento llegando a su plena realización Por Francisco Ollervides, Coordinador del Campo

atino America se distingue por su En el 2001, el segundo programa programa presento su primera deman- riqueza cultural y en materia de Waterkeeper, Vieques Coastkeeper, fue da—en contra de varias dependencias Lbiodiversidad, pero trágicamente creado en Puerto Rico como parte de los municipales por los problemas cróni- el patrimonio natural y cultural de esta esfuerzos de la Alianza Waterkeeper por cos que trae la deficiente recolección de región también enfrenta los más grandes detener de una vez por todas el uso que la basura en esta ciudad. Estas tácticas las retos a sus cuencas hidrográficas y las co- Marina de los EE.UU. ha tenido durante desarrollo Ramírez tras intercambios y munidades que dependen de ellas. varias décadas de la isla de Vieques como consultas con miembros de programas Al acercarnos al decimo aniversario de una zona de practica de bombardeo y que Waterkeeper en los EE.UU. la Alianza Waterkeeper, parece oportuno había resultado en el vertido y acumu- En 2003, Danitza Defillippis formo reflejar en lo que esta década ha signifi- lación de grandes cantidades de sustan- Choqueyapu Riverkeeper en Bolivia. En cado para la abocacia hacia las cuencas cias toxicas en las aguas alrededor de esta 2007, cuando Evo Morales ordeno la cre- hidrográficas en Latino America. bella isla. ación de una nueva Constitución para su El primer programa Latino Americano El liderazgo Latino Americano dentro país, Defillippis, una abogada ambiental, de Waterkeeper emergió en 1999 en un de la Alianza Waterkeeper provino de vi- fue parte de este esfuerzo y tuvo un pa- remoto pueblo pesquero conocido como sionarios como Erick Bozzi y Fernando pel clave en la elaboración de provisiones Punta Abreojos, en Baja California Sur. Rey, quienes co-fundaron Cartagena para los estándares de calidad del agua en Encabezados por un pescador de langosta, Baykeeper en esa histórica ciudad amu- este documento. Javier Villavicencio, como Punta Abreojos rallada de la costa Atlántica de Colombia. El plan estratégico de cinco años de Coastkeeper ayudaron a detener un gran En la actualidad, este programa es dirigi- la Alianza Waterkeeper formulado en proyecto de desarrollo costero destinado a do por la abogada Elizabeth Ramírez. El 2005, dio pauta a la dirección de esta la extracción de sal propuesto por la corpo- pasado mes de junio, con ayuda de estu- región cuando la mesa directiva de la ración Mitsubishi y que significaba una seria diantes de los departamentos de Derecho Alianza mostró interés en promover amenaza a las áreas de pesca de esta región. y Química de la Universidad Libre, este crecimiento sustentable en las regiones Latin America: A Movement Comes of Age By Francisco Ollervides, Senior Field Coordinator

atin America is noted for its wealth Abreojos Coastkeeper helped halt the such as Erick Bozzi and Fernando Rey, of cultures and biodiversity, but, development of a major coastal salt ex- who co-founded Cartagena Baykeeper Ltragically, that cultural and natural traction project by the Mitsubishi Corpo- in that historic walled city on Colombia’s heritage is matched today by the enormity ration that posed a serious threat to the Atlantic coast. Currently, this program of threats to the region’s watersheds and area’s fishing grounds. is led by Elizabeth Ramirez, an attorney. the communities that depend on them. As In 2001, the second Waterkeeper pro- This past June, with the help of students the Waterkeeper Alliance approaches its gram, Vieques Coastkeeper, was created from the law school and chemistry de- 10th anniversary, it seems an opportune in Puerto Rico as part of Waterkeeper partment at the Universidad Libre, Carta- moment to reflect on what this decade Alliance’s efforts to put an end to the gena Baykeeper filed its first class-action has meant for watershed advocacy in Lat- U.S. Navy’s decades-long use of the is- suit—against several municipal agencies in America. land of Vieques as a firing range, which for chronic problems with the city’s gar- The first Latin American Waterkeeper had resulted in the dumping of massive bage collection. It was a tactic Ramirez program emerged in 1999 in a remote amounts of toxic substances in the waters developed after extensive consultations Mexican fishing village, Punta Abreojos, surrounding that beautiful island. with members of Waterkeeper programs in Baja California Sur. Headed by a local Waterkeeper Alliance’s Latin Ameri- in the United States. lobsterman, Javier Villavicencio, Punta can leadership came from visionaries In 2003, Danitza Defillippis formed

22 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org ral protegida para la gente de La Paz. El también continúa su lucha contra el crecimiento ilegal e irresponsable de desarrollo costero en una área conocida como El Mogote. Las discusiones comenzaron a pro- gresar hacia la creación regional de una Alianza Latino Americana. En ese mo- mento un servidor fui contratado como coordinador de campo para así apoyar y conectar los ocho programas de esta región. En 2007, México Valley Water- keeper se unió al movimiento a través de los esfuerzos de Pedro Moctezuma y Elaine Burns. Este programa ha adoptado H o us ton la misión de salvaguardar las fuentes de J as on agua potable de más de 20 millones de habitantes en y alrededor de la Ciudad de de Amazonía y México. Ese año, Julio ción áurea en la región controlada por la México. Ese mismo año German García Solis y un servidor creamos el segundo guerrilla en Puerto Inirida. Duran y Fundacion Río Urbano estab- programa de la península de Baja Cali- En 2006, Luis Lugo se convirtió en lecieron Bogota Riverkeeper para prote- fornia, Magdalena Baykeeper. Julio ha Meta Riverkeeper en Colombia y Peter ger esta poblada cuenca en esta capital sido instrumental en las campañas de Paterson en La Paz Coastkeeper en Baja Colombiana. Héctor Flores de Nucleo de conservación de tortugas marinas así California Sur, México. Peter y grupos Afirmacion del Saber Andino también como el éxito reciente en contra de un ambientalistas locales hicieron una pe- empezó el Ramis Riverkeeper en Perú. proyecto de desarrollo turístico mal tición a el gobierno por la preservación de Este río es la principal fuente de agua del planeado, denominado Magdalena Se- Baladra, una playa publica y tesoro local Lago Titicaca. Héctor y su equipo están cret. El mismo año, Henry Pedraza se frente a las presiones de un mega-desar- combatiendo la contaminación causada convirtió en el Colombian Amazonía rollo. La presión pública forzó al gobierno por operaciones mineras así como de- Waterkeeper, y el lucha contra la con- municipal a que modificara su postura fender los derechos y el patrimonio de los taminación de mercurio en la extrac- y declarara a Balandra como área natu- grupos indígenas Aymara y Quechua.

Choqueyapu Riverkeeper in Bolivia. In Riverkeeper in Colombia and Peter Pa- ants in and around Mexico City. In the 2007, when Evo Morales ordered a new terson became La Paz Coastkeeper in same year, Bogota Riverkeeper was es- Constitution to be drafted for that coun- Baja California Sur, Mexico. Peter and tablished by German Garcia Duran and try, Defillippis, an environmental lawyer, local environmental groups petitioned Fundacion Rio Urbano to protect the was part of the effort and played a key the government to protect Balandra, a most populous watershed in Colombia’s role in writing provisions that set the bar public beach and a local treasure, from capital region. Hector Flores from Nu- higher for water quality standards. large-scale development. The public pres- cleo de Afirmacion del Saber Andino Waterkeeper Alliance’s five-year Stra- sure forced the municipal government to also started Ramis Riverkeeper in Peru. tegic Plan of 2005 guided this region as modify their stance and declare Balandra This river is the principal source of water the Alliance’s board set its sights on pro- a protected natural area for the people of to Lake Titicaca. Hector and his team are moting sustainable growth in the Amazon La Paz. He continues to fight irresponsi- combating pollution caused by mining region and Mexico. That year, Julio Solis ble and illegal coastal development in an operations and advocating for the rights and I created Baja California’s second area referred to as El Mogote. and heritage of the indigenous Aymara program, Magdalena Baykeeper. Julio has Discussions soon progressed toward and Quechuas peoples. been a leading force in sea turtle conser- creating a regional Latin American Alli- In 2008, five new programs joined the vation campaigns and recently defeated an ance. At that same time, I was hired as Alliance. Juan Carlos Quevedo formed ill-planned tourism development project senior field coordinator to support and Jordan Riverkeeper in Colombia. Sergio known as Magdalena Secret. That same connect the region’s eight programs. In Mattos Fonseca organized Brazil’s first year, Henry Pedraza became Colombian 2007, Mexico Valley Waterkeeper joined program—the Guanabara Baykeeper, Amazonia Waterkeeper, leading the fight our movement through the efforts of which is working on mangrove protection against mercury contamination during Pedro Moctezuma and Elaine Burns. and restoration in this Brazilian bay. Para- the extraction of gold in the guerrilla- This program has taken on the mission na Waterkeeper, created by Jorge Cap- controlled region of Port Inirida. of safeguarding the sources of drinking pato from Fundacion PROTEGER and his In 2006, Luis Lugo became the Meta water for more than 20 million inhabit- team in Argentina, is coordinating a large www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 23 the movement

En 2008 cinco nuevos programas se Finalmente, Los Cabos Coastkeeper como consejos operacionales y estraté- unieron a la Alianza. Juan Carlos Queve- representa la última adición de un progra- gicos del co-fundador de Propeninsula, do formo Jordan Riverkeeper en Colom- ma en Baja California Sur, México. Martha Chris Pesenti. bia. Sergio Mattos Fonseca organizo el Moctezuma, Francisco Alcocer y Mathew Con esta firme fundación que estos primer programa en Brasil—Guanabara Parr están luchando por el acceso publico 17 programas han cimentado, el movi- Baykeeper, y están trabajando por prote- a sus playas, así como proveyendo impor- miento Latino Americano Waterkeeper ger los manglares y restaurar esta bahía tantes comentarios a la reglamentación ahora entra una fase aun más promet- brasileña. Paraná Waterkeeper, fue creado en el crecimiento y operación de plantas edora. Numerosas conferencias y re- por Jorge Cappato de Fundacion PROTE- desalinizadoras en esta área. uniones sub-regionales se han planeado GER y su equipo en Argentina. Ellos co- Estos son algunos ejemplos de como a través de la región con la meta de es- ordinan una gran red de pescadores que los programa Waterkeeper están con- tablecerse con una mayor presencia aun se han organizado para proteger este ex- tribuyendo a una diferencia en Latino más coherente. Conforme continuamos tenso sistema de humedales. Joshua Berry America. Quizás aun más importante a desarrollando fuerte enlaces con Centro de Save the Waves Coalition y Fernanda estos logros individuales y Suramérica, tenemos confianza de que Pinochet de Fiscalía del Medio Ambiente — ha sido su participación y creación nuestro próximo plan estratégico resul- formaron Maule Coastkeeper en Chile de precedentes en decisiones legales y sus tara en crecimiento y fortalecimiento para enfrentar los problemas de contami- éxitos demandando a los responsables de de programas Waterkeeper en muchos nación de industrias como celulosas de mantener el agua limpia—así moldeando más países Latino Americanos. papel que están afectando las pescas arte- una nueva cultura de conservación salva- Francisco Ollervides es el coordina- sanales locales. guardando estos derechos en sus respec- dor de campo de la Alianza Waterkeep- tivos países. er. El co-fundo Magdalena Baykeeper en El éxito de estos programas no pudo 2005. Obtuvo su Maestría y Doctorado haber sido posible sin el apoyo de cier- en ciencias con énfasis en bio-acústica tos individuos claves. Terry O’ Day, de mamíferos marinos en la Universi- quien dirige Environment Now, junto dad de Texas A&M en el Departamento con Jill Gravender y Liz Crosse, han de Vida Silvestre y Pesquerías. w provisto soporte constante a los programas Latino Americanos emergen- tes. Asistencia legal ha sido facilitada por Carla García, Fernando Ochoa de DAN, y Pablo Uribe de CEMDA, así

These are just a few examples of how Waterkeeper movement is now entering D o v e Waterkeeper programs are making a dif- an even more promising phase. Numer- R i ck ference in Latin America. Perhaps even ous conferences and sub-regional meet- (Left to right) Steve Fleischli, Erick Bozzi, Robert more important than their individual ings are being planned throughout the Kennedy, Jr. and Fernando Rey played key roles accomplishments is the way — through region with the goal of establishing an in establishing the Latin American Waterkeeper movement. their participation in landmark court de- even more vocal and cohesive presence. cisions and their successes in demanding As we continue developing stronger ties accountability for clean water — they are in Central and South America, we are network of fishermen who have organized shaping a new culture of conservation and confident that our next strategic plan will to protect an extensive wetland system. stewardship in their respective countries. see a growth and strengthening of Wa- And Save the Waves Coalition’s Joshua The success of these programs could terkeeper programs in many more Latin Berry and Fiscalia del Medio Ambiente’s not have been possible without the sup- American countries. Fernanda Pinochet formed Maule Coast- port of several key individuals. Terry Francisco Ollervides is the senior field keeper in Chile to deal with the effects of O’Day, who leads Environment Now, Jill coordinator at Waterkeeper Alliance. He pollution from industries such as paper Gravender and Liz Crosse have provided co-founded Magdalena Baykeeper in 2005. mills on local artisanal fisheries. consistent support for emerging Latin He has a doctoral degree in Science, with Los Cabos Coastkeeper represents the American programs. Legal assistance has a focus on marine mammal bioacoustics, latest addition as another Baja California been available through Carla Garcia, Fer- from Texas A&M University. w Sur program in Mexico. Martha Moctezu- nando Ochoa from DAN, and Pablo Uribe ma, Francisco Alcocer and Mathew Parr from CEMDA, along with operational are fighting for public access to beaches and strategic advice from Chris Pesenti, and providing critically important input co-founder of Propeninsula. into regulations on the growth and opera- With the firm foundation that these tion of desalinization plants in the area. 17 programs have built, Latin America’s

24 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Programa Paraná Waterkeeper: un punto de apoyo para la Alianza Waterkeeper en el Cono Sur By Julieta Peteán, Guardian del Paraná

l río Paraná es el segundo más construcción de represas como Yacyretá grande de Sudamérica después del e Itaipú ha reducido el flujo del río drás- EAmazonas. Más de 300 especies de ticamente. El dragado para hidrovías y la peces atribuyen a su rica biodiversidad. sobre pesca industrial a reducido las po- Desde sus orígenes en Patanál en Brasil blaciones de peces. hasta su delta Atlántica en Argentina, el Otras amenazas a la calidad del agua se Paraná, provee agua dulce, pesca y otras deben a la expansión de la frontera agrí- formas de sustento a mas de siete millo- cola para la soja y otros monocultivos. El nes de personas- comunidades ribereñas uso de agroquímicos se une al vertido de y pueblos indígenas, además de centros drenaje sin tratamiento ni regulación y urbanos pequeños, medianos y grandes los efluentes industriales en zonas urba- incluyendo Santa Fe, donde se ubica el nas de esta cuenca. ter k eeper Programa Paraná Waterkeeper. En colaboración con Fundación PRO- A lo largo de más de 1200 kilómetros TEGER que alberga el programa Paraná Pa r a n W a este complejo sistema de humedales juega Waterkeeper y es una de las principales The Paraná River, a precious source of fresh water un rol esencial para la regulación de los organizaciones ambientalistas en Ar- and an important fishery for millions of Latin Americans, is threatened by dam construction and ciclos hidrológicos, climáticos y ecológi- gentina, así como REDEPESCA, una red industrial fishing operations. cos. Hoy enfrenta muchas amenazas. La de pescadores artesanales que articula Paraná Waterkeeper: A Leading Voice for Water in the Southern Cone

By Julieta Peteán, Paraná Waterkeeper

he Paraná River is the second lon- lands system plays a crucial role in the regu- In collaboration with Fundación PRO- gest river in South America, after lation of hydrologic, climatic and ecological TEGER, Paraná Waterkeeper’s parent or- Tthe Amazon, with more than 300 cycles. Today it faces a host of threats. Con- ganization and one of Argentina’s foremost fish species making up its rich biodiver- struction of dams, such as the Yacyretá and environmental groups, and REDEPESCA sity. As it meanders from its headwaters Itaipú, has reduced the river’s flow drasti- — a network of more than 20 fishermen’s in Brazil’s Pantanal region to its Atlantic cally. Dredging for shipping has diminished association in Argentina’s five northeast- delta in Argentina, the Paraná provides fish stocks, which are also being ravaged by ern provinces — Paraná Waterkeeper has fresh water, fishing and other forms of industrial fishing operations. been tirelessly working to advance Water- sustenance to more than seven million Other threats to the river’s water qual- keeper Alliance’s advocacy model in Ar- people — from indigenous and traditional ity include the expansion of large-scale gentina and the neighboring countries of riverside communities to small, medium soybean and other monocrop farming the Southern Cone. In collaboration with and large urban centers, including Santa enterprises, with an increase in the use of environmental rights specialists and the Fe, where Paraná Waterkeeper is located. chemical fertilizers, and the unregulated support of Waterkeeper Alliance, we have Broad and slow moving for much of its dumping of sewage and industrial waste begun negotiations with local law schools 800-mile course, the Paraná’s complex wet- in many urban areas. to develop an environmental law clinic in www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 25 the movement

unos 20 asociaciones pesqueras en cinco provincias al noreste de Argentina, Orígenes, Logros y Perspectivas este programa, trabaja arduamente para avanzar el modelo de abogacía Water- del Programa keeper aquí y en los países vecinos del Cono Sur. En colaboración con especia- listas en derecho ambiental y con el apo- Guardaguas del yo de la Alianza Waterkeeper se están iniciando negociaciones para crear una clínica legal en defensa de la cuenca del Río Bogotá Paraná dando a la región una voz para el agua, los ríos, los humedales y la pesca. Por Germán García-Durán, Guardaguas del Río Bogotá Con énfasis en el manejo sustentable de los recursos naturales, el programa Paraná Waterkeeper ha desarrollado los siguientes proyectos: Un plan de manejo de pesquerías en uardaguas del Río Bogotá es un el Programa Guardaguas del Río Bogotá y el Sitio Ramsar Jaaukanigás, un impor- programa dentro de la Fundación afiliarlo a la Alianza Waterkeeper. tante humedal al norte de Santa Fe. Este GRío Urbano, entidad sin ánimo de El Río Bogotá, es el más importante de proyecto reúne a pescadores artesana- lucro creada en el 2003 con el objetivo de Colombia, donde se encuentra Bogotá, la les, comerciales y deportivos, ONGs, promover la conservación y buen manejo capital del país, urbe con más de 7 mil- científicos, dirigentes sociales e inten- de cuencas hidrográficas. Aunque la Fun- lones de habitantes. El área de influencia dentes municipales. dación tiene su sede en Bogotá, Colombia, de este programa es toda la cuenca del Un diagnóstico preliminar y mapeo de cuenta con capítulos en otras ciudades de río desde su nacimiento hasta su desem- las principales amenazas de degradación dicho país y en Panamá, Guatemala, Ar- bocadura en el Río Magdalena. El área de del ecosistema fluvial del Paraná. Inclui- gentina y Kenia. Tomando en cuenta la cola cuenca es de 6.000 km2 y la longitud mos un plan de monitoreo permanente incidencia de criterios entre la Fundación del Río Bogotá es de 380 km. Adicional- de la calidad de agua y de la pesca, con la Río Urbano y la Alianza Waterkeeper, la mente, en la cuenca se encuentran varios participación activa de las comunidades Fundación inició preparativos para crear embalses para regular los caudales con costeras y científicos.w

the Paraná watershed that will be the region’s leading voice for water, rivers, A New Voice for Colombia’s wetlands and fishing. Emphasizing the sustainable management of natural resources, Paraná Bogotá River Waterkeeper is also developing the following projects: By Germán García-Durán, Bogotá Riverkeeper A management plan for fisheries at the Ramsar-protected Jaaukanigás wetlands just north of Santa Fe prov- he Bogotá River is the most im- which has 30,000 inhabitants, suffers ince. The project is bringing together portant waterway in Colombia, high levels of pollution. In the past, artisanal, commercial and sport fisher- Tserving the capital city and its this reservoir had recreational uses. men, NGOs, scientists, social leaders more than seven million inhabitants. Today, it is exclusively used for power and municipal authorities. The river basin covers 6,000 square generation, resulting in highly polluted Preliminary diagnosis and mapping kilometers (3,700 square meters) with waters that cause serious environmen- of the main sources of contamination lengths measuring 380km (235m). It in- tal and public health problems. and degradation to the fluvial ecosys- cludes several reservoirs that regulate Bogotá Riverkeeper was officially tem of the Middle Paraná. A perma- water levels and supply water for hu- launched in November 2007 under the nent water quality and fish monitoring man consumption, irrigation and power auspices of the Río Urbano Foundation, plan has already begun with the active generation. a nonprofit group founded in 2003 that participation of riverside communities Among these reservoirs, the Sisga, works to protect and manage water- and scientists. w Neusa and Tominé enjoy favorable ways in Colombia, as well as in Panamá, environmental conditions. The Muña, Guatemala, Argentina and Kenya. Key however, next to the town of Sibaté, to the creation of Bogotá Riverkeeper

26 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org fines de aprovisionamiento de agua para contaminación de la cuenca. El Programa ceso al agua sea un derecho fundamental, consumo, riego de hortalizas y generación se inició con la publicación de la carta que se garantice un mínimo vital gratuito de energía eléctrica. De estos embalses, el abierta “Al Oído de Juan Lozano: Claridad para los hogares pobres colombianos, que Sisga, el Neusa y Tominé se encuentran sobre el Río Bogotá” dirigida al Ministro los servicios públicos de acueducto y al- en buen estado ambiental. Sin embargo, de Ambiente, Vivienda y Desarrollo Terri- cantarillado no se privaticen y que se ga- el Muña, situado junto a la población de torial de Colombia, Juan Lozano Ramírez, rantice la efectiva conservación del medio Sibaté, de 30.000 habitantes, acusa un en la cual se le hacen cuestionamientos y ambiente para que haya agua abundante y alto grado de contaminación debido a precisiones en relación con las políticas limpia. También estamos preparando una que se le alimenta con aguas del Río Bo- gubernamentales para la recuperación demanda relacionada con el lamentable gotá en el punto donde este acusa mayor del río, que a nuestro juicio no son adec- estado ambiental del Embalse del Muña. contaminación. Este embalse se usa ex- uadas y están postergando cada vez más Nuestro programa esta organizando clusivamente para generación de energía las verdaderas soluciones. La carta fue para noviembre de este año el Foro “Qué eléctrica, aunque en el pasado también ampliamente distribuida y se encuentra Hacer para Recuperar los Humedales, fue recreacional, pero hoy en día, debido a publicada en nuestro portal de Internet: Pequeños Ríos y Quebradas de Bogotá”. su alta contaminación, es fuente de graves www.riourbano.org. Con este evento se celebran los cinco años problemas ambientales y de afectación de Durante el lanzamiento de este pro- de la Fundación Río Urbano y el año de la salud pública. grama se organizo el Foro “Políticas para trabajo del Guardaguas del Río Bogotá. El Programa Guardaguas del Río Bogo- el Río Bogotá y sus Afluentes –Énfasis Finalmente, el Guardaguas del Río Bogotá tá, fue lanzado oficialmente en noviembre en Resultados–” que contó con más de esta promoviendo la creación en Cúcuta, de 2007 durante la visita de los señores 150 participantes de origen tanto guber- Colombia, en la frontera con Venezuela, Murray Fisher y Fernando Rey como namental como privado. Nos hemos su- un programa de Guardaguas del Río Pam- mentores. En ese tiempo ha ejercido una mado con entusiasmo al Referendo por plonita, y como parte de este proceso or- permanente presión sobre las autoridades el Agua, promovido por ECOFONDO, ganiza el “Primer Congreso Internacional y empresas privadas que por negligencia o organización que agrupa a más de 100 sobre Cuencas Hidrográficas en Zonas de acción directa son responsables de la alta ONG’s nacionales, y que busca que el ac- Frontera” que se realizará en dicha ciudad en mayo de 2009. w Du rán Du rán Ger ma n G a r c i Ger ma n G a r c i of the Río Urbano Foundation, as well as was the similar approaches shared by Río and its future, gathering more than 150 Bogotá Riverkeeper’s first year of work. Urbano and Waterkeeper Alliance. From individuals from government and pri- Bogotá Riverkeeper is supporting the its inception, the Riverkeeper program vate entities. We have enthusiastically creation of a riverkeeper program for the has consistently pressured officials and joined the water referendum promoted Pamplonita River in Cúcuta, Colombia, private enterprises responsible for high by ECOFONDO, an organization that located on the Venezuelan border. We pollution levels, through direct action or groups more than 100 national nongov- are also organizing the First Internation- negligence, in the river basin. ernmental organizations. The referendum al Congress on River Basins in Border The program’s first order of business aims to establish water as a fundamental Areas, which will be held in Cúcuta in was to publish an open letter addressed right, guarantee free water to Colombia’s May 2009. w to Juan Lozano Ramírez, Minister of the poorest households, keep public utilities Environment, Housing and Soil Develop- such as aqueducts and sewer systems ment of Colombia, challenging the gov- out of private areas, and achieve efficient ernment’s policies for river recovery, stat- protection of the environment to secure ing that they were inadequate and would abundant and clean water. We are also only delay true solutions. Largely distrib- preparing a lawsuit in relation to the de- uted throughout the area, it can be found plorable environmental conditions of the online at www.riourbano.org. Muña Reservoir. During the program’s launch, we also In November, Bogotá Riverkeeper is organized a forum to bring out into the holding a forum on “What to Do to Recov- open the politics that play a central role er Wetlands, Small Rivers and Creeks in in the Bogotá River’s present condition Bogotá.” This event will celebrate five years www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 27 the movement

Abordaje a la crisis del agua en el Valle de México By Pedro Moctezuma, Guardian Valle de México

obresaltadas, las garzas empren- desastre. El nivel oficial de extracción en Las crisis profundas exigen soluciones den vuelo ante el grupo de diversos los acuíferos del Valle de México es 300% profundas. Los Guardianes del Agua Shombres y mujeres que se desliza mayor que la tasa de recarga; en la actu- (Waterkeeper del Valle de México) se pre- entre las chinampas, o jardines flotantes, alidad, los niveles acuíferos se encuentran paran para estar a la altura del desafío. de Tlahuac, en la frontera este de la Ciu- entre 450 y 650 pies (140-200m) bajo tier- Durante los últimos años, el proyecto dad de México. Bajo la antiquísima vigi- ra; y la ciudad misma continúa hundién- “universidad-comunidad” ha documen- lancia de los volcanes, estos canales son dose entre 6 y 16 pulgadas (15-40cm) por tado las prácticas tradicionales de manejo parte de los últimos vestigios vivientes año. Hoy día, el canal de drenaje de agua de agua en la región, y organizado cam- del sistema original de manejo de agua servida se halla casi 30 pies (9m) por enci- pañas de limpieza de río. La iniciativa se del Valle de México. La tripulación a ma de la ciudad, y el sistema de agua pluvi- ha centrado en la construcción de una ad- bordo de la tradicional trajinera incluye al transporta agua servida durante todo el ministración y responsabilidad comparti- miembros de Waterkeeper (Guardianes año. El túnel se ha obstruido, y los funcio- das, en pos de un ambiente ribereño más del Agua) del Valle de México, represen- narios federales han anunciado un inmi- limpio. Otras actividades han incluido tantes de grupos ciudadanos, y organiza- nente y vasto desastre por inundación. Ac- el desarrollo de plantas de tratamiento ciones de base, así como funcionarios de tualmente, el costo total de bombeo diario de agua con bajo costo, y bajo consumo estado local. Su misión: regenerar los es de USD4 millones, para lo que se utiliza de energía (biodigestores y humedales canales y ríos, y recuperar los acuíferos energía eléctrica generada en un 60% por artificiales), que pueden ser construidas sobreexplotados. petróleo, en un país cuyas reservas se cal- y administradas por grupos locales; y la En 2008, año del cuarto centenario del cula durarán ocho años más. El paradigma promoción de la agricultura orgánica y el túnel de Nochistongo, la ciudad y sus 20 de traer por tubo y desechar con agua ha ecoturismo. Los maizales amenazados por millones de habitantes vacilan al borde del alcanzado su límite de sustentabilidad. la expansión urbana han sido transforma- Water Crisis in the Valley of Mexico By Pedro Moctezuma, Mexico Valley Waterkeeper

tartled herons take wing as a boat This year marks the 400th anniversary electrical power that is 60 percent petro- carrying a diverse group of men of the Nochistongo tunnel, built to drain leum generated in a country whose oil re- Sand women glides among the the valley’s lakes and prevent flooding in serves are estimated to last another eight chinampas, or floating gardens, of Tla- Mexico City. Today, it continues to drain years. The pipe-in and flush-out paradigm huac on the eastern border of Mexico the aquifer below Mexico City, which, has reached its limit of sustainability. City. Under the age-old vigilance of the with its 20 million inhabitants, teeters on Profound crises demand profound so- volcanoes, these canals are among the the brink of disaster. The official level of lutions. Mexico Valley Waterkeeper plans last remnants of the original system extraction from the Mexico Valley’s aqui- to meet the challenge. of water management in the Valley of fers is 300 percent greater than the rate of Over the last few years, Mexico Valley Mexico developed by the Aztecs before recharge; aquifer levels are between 450 Waterkeeper has been documenting re- the Spanish colonization. and 650 feet underground; and the city gional water-management practices and The crew aboard the traditional trajin- continues to sink between 6 and 16 inches has organized river cleanup campaigns. era includes staff from the Mexico Valley a year. The drainage canal stands almost Its aim is to share stewardship and re- Waterkeeper, representatives of citizen’s 30 feet above the city, and the stormwater sponsibility for a cleaner river environ- groups and grassroots organizations, as system carries sewage water year round. ment. It has developed low-cost, low-en- well as local government officials. Their With the tunnel clogged, federal offi- ergy water treatment plants (biodigestors mission: to find a way to regenerate ca- cials have announced that a major flood- and artificial wetlands) that can be built nals and rivers, and recover the overex- ing disaster is imminent. The total cost of and managed by local communities, and ploited aquifer. pumping is now $4 million a day, using promoted organic agriculture and ecot-

28 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org dos en huertos frutales; y una floreciente ras de bosque comunitarias, organiza- tos de urbanización que ponen en riesgo red de proyectos de ecoturismo con base ciones cívicas, y pequeños granjeros. la región y sus servicios ambientales. En comunitaria está desplazando la tala ile- Estos esfuerzos han llevado a impul- la primera causa se resolvió con una de- gal de los bosques de abeto y pino de los sar el Consejo de la Cuenca de Agua, cisión sin precedentes de detener la con- volcanes Iztaccíhuatl y Popocatépetl. establecido el 7 de agosto de 2008, en strucción de 3.500 unidades habitaciona- Como parte de este esfuerzo hacia el reconocimiento del hecho de que para les sobre el área de recarga del acuífero. manejo integrado del agua en el Valle de transformar el modelo actual de manejo Durante el Ordenamiento Ecológico de México, el 29 de febrero de 2008 se in- de agua del Valle de México, se requer- 2007, Guardianes del Agua individualizó auguró el Centro para la Sustentabilidad irán estrategias a nivel macro. Esta nueva un proyecto irregular de 23.000 vivien- “Incalli Ixcahuicopa.” Este consiste en etapa de trabajo exige que la universidad das, en áreas naturales protegidas. Por dos campus para la investigación y ca- y los activistas comunitarios comiencen a medio de acciones cívicas, este proyecto pacitación en el manejo del agua, 3 acres colaborar con aquellos que desempeñan ha sido interrumpido. (1,2ha) para agroecología, y 110 acres una función estratégica en el camino de En los años venideros, este proceso (44,5ha) para silvicultura y biodiver- retorno a un manejo sustentable del agua. tomará fuerzas desde las comunidades lo- sidad. Los guardianes también crearon un Esta etapa presente quizá sea la más difí- cales, al igual que la sabiduría e inspiración sistema de monitoreo de calidad del agua cil de todas. La planificación del manejo de miembros de otros programas dentro en puntos estratégicos de los tres ríos de de una cuenca de agua debe desarrollarse de la Alianza Waterkeeper. w la región, basado en técnicas desarrolla- y llevarse a cabo, mediante un proceso de das por World Water Watch. construcción de consenso que involucra a Durante el último año, los Guardianes cada interesado, y que se funda en el re- y la Universidad Autónoma Metropolita- conocimiento común de que el agua es na han trabajado con los gobiernos feder- un recurso que debe sostenerse conjunta- al, estatal y local, en la organización de 13 mente, y que juntos debemos aprender a comités de interesados: usuarios de agua manejar sustentablemente. doméstica, agrícola, ganadera, industrial, Guardianes del Agua ha iniciado es- servicios y múltiples; así también comités trategias legales, proporcionando asis- representantes de escuelas, universidades, tencia técnica y jurídica a comunidades proyectos de ecoturismo, emprendimien- locales para presentarse en tres causas en tos comunitarios “verdes,” grupos de tier- tribunales federales, contra los proyec-

ourism. In addition, cornfields threatened domestic, agricultural, animal husband- by urban sprawl have been turned into ry, industrial, service and multiple water P edro Mo c tez uma fruit orchards, and a budding network of users, as well as committees represent- Towering over Mexico City is the Iztaccihuatl community-based ecotourism projects is ing schools, universities, ecotourism volcano. Its snowmelt is crucial to the Valley of Mexico watershed. displacing illegal logging from the fir and projects, “green” community businesses, pine forests of the Iztaccihuatl and Po- forest community land groups, civic or- pocatepetl volcanoes. ganizations and small farmers. These ef- Mexico Valley Waterkeeper has initi- As part of the effort for integrated forts have led to the creation of the Wa- ated litigation strategies, providing tech- water management in the Mexico Valley, ter Basin Council, which was installed in nical and legal assistance to local commu- the Incalli Ixcahuicopa Center for Sus- August to promote an approach to water nities in filing three suits in federal court tainability, where Mexico Valley Water- management in the Valley of Mexico against urbanization projects that put the keeper is now headquartered, was inau- that balances ever increasing demand region and its environmental services at gurated last February. It consists of two with the urgent need to replenish the risk. The first suit was resolved with an campuses: one for research and training aquifer. This new stage of work requires unprecedented decision to halt construc- in water management and agroecology, that university and community activ- tion of 3,500 housing units in the aquifer the other in forestry and biodiversity. ists collaborate with others who have a recharge area. In 2007, an investigation Mexico Valley Waterkeeper also created strategic role to play in the road back to by Mexico Valley Waterkeeper uncov- a water-quality monitoring system at sustainable water management. ered plans for a housing project of sev- strategic points along the region’s three The present stage is perhaps the most eral thousand units in a protected natural rivers, based on techniques developed by difficult of all. Water basin management area. Through civic pressures, the project World Water Watch. plans must be developed and carried out has been brought to a standstill. Over the last year, Mexico Valley Wa- in a consensus-building process, which Over the coming years, Mexico Valley terkeeper and the Universidad Autono- involves every stakeholder and is found- Waterkeeper’s efforts will draw strength ma Metropolitana have worked with ed on the joint recognition that water is from local communities as well as the federal, state and local governments to a commonly held resource that we must wisdom and inspiration of other member organize stakeholders’ committees of learn to manage sustainably together. programs within Waterkeeper Alliance. w www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 29 We Choose Our Future Now* H o us ton J as on *a blueprint for clean water

30 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org H o us ton J as on

s the 2008 presidential Waterkeeper Alliance’s Blueprint for Clean Water election approaches, the most offers remedies to past policy decisions and environmentally damaging proposes a new way for the federal government to presidency in American history strengthen environmental protection in all areas Anears its end. Instead of environmental protection, relating to water. What follows are our Top 10 the Bush administration repeatedly affirmed its priorities for the new administration, as chosen loyalty to industrial polluters by issuing rules that by local Waterkeepers, to protect and restore undercut environmental law and underfunded America’s waterways. federal environmental programs to the detriment *a blueprint for clean water of our nation’s waters, air and forests.

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 31 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #1}

01 Restore River Run Dry Protection By Tom Ford, Santa Monica Baykeeper Rivers don’t flow straight on flat coastal plains — Water has no regard for political boundaries or human 02 they love to wiggle and twist. At one time, the Los law. While some waters may be geographically or political- Angeles River meandered through the coastal plain ly isolated, there are virtually no waters that are hydrologi- of Southern California, occasionally sharing a delta with Ballona Creek and the San Gabriel River. cally or ecologically isolated — a nexus almost always ex- Wetlands and springs flowed from the mountains ists. The destruction or pollution of any part of the aquatic that frame Los Angeles, draining into the river and

03 system creates a ripple effect, damaging the integrity of sustaining diverse ecological communities, native peoples and early European settlements. the entire ecosystem. The Los Angeles River today, however, runs in Wetlands, intermittent streams, mudflats, prairie a nearly straight line for 51 miles, from its headwa- potholes and other sensitive waterways are vital to the ters in the San Fernando Valley to the Long Beach coast, thanks to a concrete trough built by the

04 overall health of America’s natural resources, as well as Army Corps of Engineers. Complete with concrete to public health and safety. These waterbodies control banks and a concrete bottom, its banks support a flooding, recharge groundwater, filter pollutants, serve wonderful diversity of graffiti rather than natural as breeding safe havens and migratory overstays for am- wildlife. Still, it is one of the city’s most familiar locales because of its use in countless Hollywood phibians and birds, and provide crucial habitat for rare movie car chases. 05 species of vegetation. The river has had a tough run of luck over the Yet, the Bush administration has actively sought the years, but recently it seemed poised for a comeback thanks to plans to restore some of its natural fea- destruction and development of the nation’s waters. Vital tures by building parks on its banks and efforts to federal protection began to deteriorate in 2001 with a clear it of trash, bacteria and heavy metals. Things seemed to be moving in the right direction.

06 Supreme Court case called Solid Waste Agency of Northern Then, last spring, the U.S. Army Corps of En- Cooke County (SWANCC) v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, gineers issued a jurisdictional determination that followed by the 2006 Rapanos-Carabell decision. These only a few miles at the mouth of the river was a cases call into question exactly which waterways are safe- Traditional Navigable Water (TNW) deserving of federal protection under the Clean Water Act. guarded by the Clean Water Act. This narrow designation meant that dry creeks that 07 It’s estimated that 60 percent of U.S. creeks, rivers, connect to the river along the “non-navigable” sec- streams and tens of millions of acres of wetlands and other tions would not be protected. Rather, they could be filled, poisoned or dredged with no recourse. sensitive waterbodies have lost federal protection in the Santa Monica Baykeeper and a number of other last few years. These waterways are now subject to unfet- groups responded to this determination, which po- tentially spelled disaster not only for the river, but

08 tered development, industrial discharges, damage from also for the hundreds of creeks, streams and rivers agricultural withdrawals and stormwater pollution. of the arid Southwest that share seasonal flows and In New York State alone, thousands of small but hydro- dry spells. logically significant wetlands are now vulnerable without Within days of the announcement, Santa Mon- ica Baykeeper and a loose coalition of local and federal or state protection, yet many are of major impor- national organizations and community activists 09 tance to New York City’s drinking water supplies. In western collected newspaper articles and photographs and states like Arizona, upward of 95 percent of all waterways, conducted interviews to build our collective case. We hoped to persuade the Corps of Engineers that commonly known as intermittent streams, are at risk. all 51 miles of the Los Angeles River was, and is, a Traditional Navigable Water. Elected officials

10 from the U.S. House of Representatives, the State

32 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org The banks of the Los Angeles River feature colorful graffiti rather than natural wildlife. T o m Andre ws

of California and the City of Los Angeles also col- ica Baykeeper, it’s my job to continue to fight to laborated to apply pressure through the press and create a transparent process and preserve federal political channels. protections for the Los Angeles River and every Nearly three months later, on June 4, the Corps one of its tributaries. announced that the Sepulveda Basin, in the upper reaches of the Los Angeles River, is also a Tradi- tional Navigable Water of the United States and protected by the Clean Water Act. A minor victory, perhaps, but certainly an important step in Recent Rollbacks the right direction. The Bush administration has eviscerated the “no net loss” In the following weeks, our focus shifted to the wetlands policies. President George H.W. Bush instituted a “no net loss” Environmental Protection Agency, which has the wetlands policy in 1989, which was expanded by President Bill Clinton to a goal of a net authority to challenge the Corp’s findings. Near increase of 100,000 acres of wetlands per year by 2005. However, under the latest Bush the end of July, we were informed that after a administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now allows minor improvements to review the Corps had determined that six tribu- existing wetlands rather than the previous acre-by-acre replacement policy. taries of the Los Angeles River were considered “navigable waters.” The EPA and USACE allow solid waste to fill our rivers, streams, In August, the EPA sent a letter to the Corps stat- lakes and wetlands. In 2002, EPA and the Corps of Engineers reversed a ing that the EPA would exercise its authority and longstanding prohibition of using solid waste as fill material in U.S. waters. The reversal make the final decision on the Los Angeles River was initially made to legalize the corps’ authorization of valley fills associated with at EPA headquarters in Washington in close coor- mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. EPA and the corps have now extended dination with EPA Region 9 and the Army Corps. the rule to allow additional waste fills by other industries. Pressure brought to bear by the Santa Monica Bay- keeper and a number of other groups and agencies Funding cuts and policy initiatives are failing to protect was central to the EPA’s intervention. critical habitat for America’s endangered species. Numerous Bush The EPA has not yet made a final decision, and administration initiatives and budget cuts have led to the loss of habitat critical to the so the fate of the Los Angeles River is still uncer- survival of endangered and threatened species. This not only diminishes the quality and tain. One thing is certain, however: As Santa Mon- quantity of our nation’s water resources, but also threatens biodiversity.

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 33 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #2}

01 Newtown Creek: Enforcement Heart of Darkness Enforcement is a cornerstone of environmental protection.

One of its fundamental goals is to achieve widespread By Craig Michaels,

02 compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Hudson Riverkeeper Investigator However, according to EPA’s own data, more than one in four of the largest polluting facilities in America are in Like many polluted streams and rivers around the world, New York City’s Newtown Creek was, un- regular violation of the Clean Water Act. And, while state til recently, an all-but-forgotten waterway. Over a and federal Clean Water Act permit programs are falling century of rampant industrial use and environmen- 03 short in their performance, available resources for enforce- tal neglect turned this three-and-a-half mile-long Hudson River tributary into a toxic wasteland. ment programs are growing scarcer. Hudson Riverkeeper’s former chief investigator Overall, Clean Water Act enforcement programs have Basil Seggos once described a patrol up Newtown been significantly harmed by shrinking funding and now Creek as an environmentalist’s journey into the heart of darkness. Oil tank farms, coal gasifica-

04 face major gaps between program needs and resources. tion plants, solvent reprocessing facilities, copper Clean water activists know that states can’t adequately ad- smelting sites, cement companies and abandoned dress enforcement issues without the federal EPA. factories still occupy the creek’s shorelines, their history telling the tale of the abused waterway. A The drop in EPA’s enforcement activity began immedi- 17-million-gallon ExxonMobil oil spill, nearly 3 bil- ately after President Bush took office and has only wors- lion gallons of untreated raw sewage a year and the 05 ened over time. The administration effectively dismantled liquid cement waste from several concrete plants are but a few of the pollution issues still plaguing EPA’s prior enforcement initiative against the electric utility the creek and the working-class neighborhoods of industry by rewriting Clean Air Act regulations that formed Brooklyn and Queens that surround it. the basis of existing enforcement cases and by abandoning Looming large in the foreground of Newtown Creek’s constant contamination is the blight most

06 its investigations of violations at other plants. visible to the naked eye: oil. Similarly, EPA staff was directed to stop investigations of First uncovered by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1978, air pollution problems at factory farms because of politi- the oil spill in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and New- cal capture of EPA by the agricultural industry. As a result town Creek is one of the largest known spills in North America. The estimated 17 million gallons of this type of interference with enforcement initiatives, of petroleum — 50 percent larger than the infa- 07 several high-level EPA officials resigned. mous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 — has seeped The Bush administration and its political allies have into Newtown Creek and 55 acres of surrounding communities for decades. undermined EPA enforcement efforts in a number of ways Attributed to an underground explosion in 1950 by decreasing enforcement resources, politicizing the en- at a Standard Oil terminal (now ExxonMobil), the oil plume was essentially ignored by public of- 08 forcement program, and decreasing levels of enforcement ficials until 1990 when New York state entered activity. As a result, polluters have been less likely to face into a consent order with ExxonMobil. Akin to court actions, be subject to criminal investigation, or pay an out-of-court settlement, this order required civil or criminal penalties. only a rudimentary cleanup and did not establish any benchmarks for progress nor levied any fines against the oil giant. 09 The impacts of this spill are devastating. The local aquifer has been destroyed. Fifty-five acres of land cannot be developed and petroleum has settled under more than 100 homes on three residen- tial blocks. The effect on aquatic life in Newtown

10 Creek and around New York Harbor has been se-

34 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org vere, with pollution from the creek flowing in and out with the tide, transported around New York Harbor to Long Island Sound, and, in all likelihood, infiltrating the food chain harbor-wide. In May 2004, Hudson Riverkeeper and local residents filed a citizen suit in federal district court against ExxonMobil for Clean Water Act and Re- source Conservation and Recovery Act violations stemming from the spill. That case is presently in discovery, being handled by the staff and students of the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic. Following Riverkeeper’s lead, a lawsuit against ExxonMobil was filed in the fall of 2004 by Brook- lyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and New York City Council members David Yassky (D- Brooklyn) and Eric Gioia (D-Queens). In 2005, two private law firms filed separate mass tort cases in state court against ExxonMobil and other companies. More than 500 local residents are plaintiffs in that suit and both cases were filed in part based on soil gas testing that Hudson Riverkeeper conducted in July 2005. To date, ExxonMobil has removed about 6.5 of the 9.5 million gallons of oil already pulled from the ground, but at least 8 million gallons remain. Addi- tionally, state environmental officials have discov- ered a series of underground solvent plumes, most likely the result of widespread use of chemicals to John Lipscomb, patrol boat captain clean metals and textiles. This pollution appears to for Hudson Riverkeeper, takes a sample to test the polluted waters s h f o r d be connected to a series of metal finishing shops, A of Newtown Creek. i l e s dry cleaners and possibly former petroleum refin- G eries. Due to harmful levels of air pollution, dozens of homes and businesses remain at risk. In 2003, Hudson Riverkeeper and New York City Councilman David Yassky co-founded the Recent Rollbacks Newtown Creek Alliance, a collection of citizen Funding cutbacks. According to the Government Accountability Office, groups and elected officials dedicated to protecting enforcement funding to EPA regions decreased 8 percent and regional offices and restoring the creek. reduced enforcement staff by about 5 percent to address shortages between 1997 Hudson Riverkeeper’s work on Newtown Creek and 2002. In 2003, the White House targeted more than 200 enforcement jobs from exemplifies how the Waterkeeper brand of hard- elimination, according to a report by respected law professors Christopher Schroeder hitting environmental enforcement can powerfully and Rena Steinzor. affect the environmental and political landscape of a contaminated community. Thanks to years of Enforcement workforce shell game. EPA has weakened the enforcement investigation and litigation that helped uncover a workforce by keeping fully funded staff positions vacant, resulting in a loss of previously hidden environmental disaster, New- critical expertise in some programs. EPA has also converted enforcement positions town Creek is now getting the attention it deserves, to non-enforcement functions, including cutting 30 positions from environmental and local residents are well positioned to accept enforcement, to transfer resources to “counterterrorism” in fiscal year 2002. nothing less than a full and comprehensive cleanup of what should be a swimmable and fishable wa- Reduced enforcement activity. Between 2002 and 2006, there have terway in the heart of one of the greatest cities in been significant decreases in EPA enforcement activity and in the number the world. of penalties and fines collected from polluters. The Environmental Integrity Project reports that case files, civil penalties, criminal fines and criminal investigations have all experienced decreases.

Weakened water program. Hundreds of Clean Water Act enforcement cases have either been dropped or made lower priorities due to recent Supreme Court decisions questioning whether certain rivers, streams, wetlands and other waters remain protected from pollution by the Clean Water Act.

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 35 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #3}

01 Stormwater Puget Sound: Runoff Stormwater v. Salmon By Sue Joerger, Puget Soundkeeper In urban areas, stormwater runoff from highways, roads, 02 sidewalks, parking lots and related infrastructure is the The ultimate indicator of the health of Puget Sound primary source of water pollution. is the marine life living there. According to the Puget Sound Action Team’s “State of the Sound Rain isn’t the problem. The pollution that rainwater 2007,” the health of Puget Sound’s marine popula- picks up as it runs over manmade surfaces is what closes tion is “troubling.” Forty-three species, including

03 our beaches and poisons our drinking water. Surges of orcas, salmon, groundfish, pinto abalone and marine birds, are either at risk, threatened or endan- stormwater that are channeled directly into our waterways gered with extinction. through storm drains also change the timing, volume and One reason for the decline is untreated energy of water flowing into receiving waters, which in- stormwater runoff, a limiting factor in the recovery of three Puget-Sound salmon species

04 creases erosion and leads to serious ecological destruction listed under the Endangered Species Act: Puget of in-stream habitat. Sound steelhead, Hood Canal summer-run Fortunately, there are tools available that can prevent chum and Puget Sound Chinook. In addition, or reduce polluted runoff. Resources range from physi- many shellfish harvesting areas are closed because of stormwater pollution. cal structures — something as simple as a hay bale used Because of their impact on salmon, copper and 05 to block sediment from leaving a construction site, or as zinc are the primary metals of concern in industrial complicated as a filter to remove petroleum from water — and municipal stormwater. Copper interferes with fish sensory systems related to predator avoidance, to practices like picking up after your dog on a walk or your juvenile growth and migratory success. Zinc alters town’s street-sweeping program. behavior, blood and serum chemistry, impaired reproduction and reduced growth.

06 One very important way to reduce the impact of stormwa- In a recent letter to the EPA, National Marine ter pollution is in the way we design our urban and subur- Fisheries Service in Seattle reported that salmon ban environments. Instead of simply creating enormous experience adverse effects at 2 micrograms per liter amounts of impervious surface, there are ways to incorpo- of dissolved copper and 5.6 micrograms per liter of dissolved zinc. A recent study estimates that 84 rate stormwater management into the design of any project, percent of zinc samples and 95 percent of copper 07 essentially stopping or reducing the problem before it starts. samples taken from Puget Sound exceed water- Environmental site design (ESD) involves practices that quality criteria. The state Department of Ecology regulates reduce stormwater generation and maximize capture and stormwater runoff from primary sources in the retention of rainwater. Mimicking or supporting natural Puget Sound Basin through eight stormwater general permits. The department issues general- per

08 hydrologic processes including infiltration, filtration and mits to broad categories of stormwater dischargers evapotranspiration through the use of healthy soils, vegeta- rather than customized individual permits because tion and design of the human environment retains the of the large number of stormwater polluters. More stormwater. The focus of ESD is to prevent stormwater gen- than 6,000 businesses; the Washington State De- partment of Transportation; Snohomish, King, eration and contamination before it can occur, diminishing Pierce and Clark counties; as well as the cities of 09 the need for expensive treatment and restoration later. Seattle, Tacoma and 85 smaller jurisdictions are The good news is that preventing polluted stormwater regulated under these permits. runoff is well within the grasp of every community in the Stormwater regulation has been Puget Sound- keeper’s No. 1 priority since 2000. Since then, we have United States. appealed every stormwater general permit issued by

10 the Department of Ecology — often several times.

36 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Fish and marine birds are either at risk, threatened or endangered with extinction due to untreated stormwater runoff

F redri cks on draining into Puget Sound. Pau l

In a recent victory, the Pollution Control Hear- bring permit holders into compliance and raised ings Board remanded the Phase I Municipal Storm- $831,000 in penalty money to pay for third-party water General Permit to the Department of Ecology environmental projects. to require cities and counties around Puget Sound to reduce stormwater runoff by using low-impact development. The board concluded that the permit’s focus on traditional engineered stormwater Recent Rollbacks management facilities like detention ponds was in- EPA deliberately chose not to issue limits to reduce stormwater adequate to protect Puget Sound. It also ruled that pollution from construction and development sites. Fortunately, the Phase I permit failed to require that the mu- Waterkeeper Alliance and NRDC challenged this determination and won. A federal court nicipalities control stormwater discharges to the in California ordered EPA to issue regulations for controlling construction stormwater by maximum extent practicable and did not require December 2009. Still, EPA is caving in to building industry pressures and rejecting this application of all known, available and reasonable critical opportunity to adopt alternative stormwater prevention and control practices. methods to prevent and control pollution because it failed to require more extensive use of low-im- EPA issued a replacement for its expired Construction pact development techniques. Stormwater General Permit. EPA's permit applies in the five states and is The Department of Ecology estimates that only the model for permits in other states. Unfortunately, it perpetuates a failed approach to 10 percent of Industrial Stormwater General Per- stormwater control, undercuts better programs in more progressive states, and fails to mit holders are in full compliance with the per- keep our waters clear of muddy runoff from construction sites. mit. Puget Soundkeeper has reviewed Industrial General Stormwater Permit compliance by all 728 Stormwater discharges became exempt from NPDES. Effective permit holders in Puget Sound and has prioritized June 12, 2006, stormwater discharges associated with oil and gas exploration, its enforcement activities based on this review. The production, processing, treatment operations and transmission facilities became focus has been on ensuring that high metals dis- exempt from the NPDES permitting program. This exemption allows the oil and gas chargers of zinc, copper and lead are in compliance industry to pollute our nation’s water resources with no controls or consequences. with the terms of the permit. After having its attorneys review 284 permit EPA failed to adopt a more protective approach in its reissued files, Soundkeeper sent 60-day notices of intent MSGP. This fall, EPA issued a new Industrial Stormwater Multi-sector General to sue under the Clean Water Act to an unprec- Permit (MSGP). Instead of adopting a more protective approach, EPA gave these edented 67 permit violators in the past 22 months. industries carte blanche to write their own permits, rolled back monitoring and omitted Each case includes at least one settlement meeting, measures to ensure that these discharges don't violate water quality standards. a site visit and the identification of mitigation projects. To date, Soundkeeper has settled 38 cases to

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 37 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #4}

01 Strange Brew: Sewage What's Lurking American sewage treatment and conveyance facilities are antiquated. In some U.S. cities, the sewage infrastructure in Milwaukee's

02 is more than 100 years old and unable to meet the demand Waterways of the population it serves. By Cheryl Nenn, Milwaukee Riverkeeper The result? Every time it rains, sewage pours into Amer- ica’s waterways from sewage system infrastructure leaks While the beaches of Lake Michigan remain a fo- and overflows. EPA estimates that every year, more than cal point of summer recreation for residents and 03 850 billion gallons of sewage are released into American visitors from throughout the Midwest, the Milwau- kee River and its tributaries have a rich history of rivers, lakes and coastal waters. swimming schools and boating clubs serving peo- Combined sewer overflows account for the vast major- ple from Milwaukee to Chicago. ity of untreated sewage that winds up in our waterways Although residents continue to swim and fish in our local rivers, they do so despite local safety and

04 each year. A combined sewer system (CSS) is a single fish consumption warnings. In addition, as public system for the collection and treatment of both sewage pools and recreational facilities close due to budget and stormwater. When it rains, this sewage and rainwater cutbacks — and rising gas prices make it difficult for local families to travel to the Northwoods, a overwhelms either the conveyance system or the treatment favorite destination for Wisconsinites — access to facility, causing sewage to be intentionally diverted or to our local rivers for swimming, boating and fishing 05 literally overflow. This mixture of sewage and stormwater is becoming more and more of an imperative. Milwaukee Riverkeeper serves as the local voice, then finds its way into America’s waterways, bringing with investigator, lawyer, educator and scientist for our it massive amounts of bacteria and chemicals that cause waterways. It’s our job to demand clean rivers and an array of diseases. lakes for our local communities. As such, Milwau- kee Riverkeeper is involved in several lawsuits ad-

06 Sewage contains nutrients, total suspended solids, dressing illegal sewage dumping into our local riv- oxygen-depleting compounds, pathogens, toxins and trash. ers and Lake Michigan that threaten both water All of these can wreak havoc on our waterways, from caus- quality and public health. ing massive algal blooms and dead zones, to impairing the Sewage overflows, however, are only part of the picture. In Milwaukee, wastewater treatment respiratory function of aquatic creatures. High pathogen facilities and conveyance pipes are antiquated — 07 counts result in drinking-water advisories, beach closures over 100 years old in many cases — and failing. and shellfish advisories. Broken sewage and stormwater pipes are also a major source of pollution in our waterways, as is Sewage also contains antibiotics, hormones, steroids, stormwater runoff, which carries pollutants from and human and veterinary drugs. Exposure to these the land into our waterways after it rains. Many municipalities don’t have funding to 08 pollutants can seriously affect human health, including identify potential problem areas, and only a small creating abnormal physiological processes, reproductive portion of the sewage system collector pipes can impairments, increased incidence of cancer and antibiotic- be surveyed each year. Milwaukee Riverkeeper is resistant bacteria. addressing these problems with more than 80 volunteer monitors testing water in our watersheds, By eliminating raw sewage discharges and overflows, especially in areas where there is little or no infor- 09 upgrading treatment standards, rehabilitating leaky sys- mation because the responsible agencies and mu- tems, developing new systems designs, and providing the nicipalities are simply not testing. We have also started a stormwater pipe or “out- necessary funding to implement them, America’s sanita- fall” testing program to detect pipes that are only tion systems can finally be brought into the 21st century. supposed to be sending rain and snowmelt to our

10 waters but instead are sending sewage and other

38 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org iSto ck pollutants. We have identified an 8-mile stretch on age discharges and mandate proper operation and The EPA estimates more than one of our rivers that has shown bacteria levels 10 maintenance of our sewage collection and treat- 850 billion gallons of sewage are released into America's to 100 times higher than expected from stormwa- ment assets. We will also need to invest in devel- waters every year. Raw sewage ter runoff alone, indicating failing pipes. oping and implementing new systems to treat our damages rivers, lakes and Bacterial loading has increased over the last sev- wastewater more naturally and to reuse/recycle coastal waters and exposes eral decades in many areas, and recent studies have our wastewater. wildlife and humans to disease causing agents. shown higher detection rates of pathogenic organ- Although we face enormous challenges to clean- isms associated with fecal matter such as salmonella ing up our waterways, with political will, strong and cryptosporidium. We are currently working leadership and good science, we will prevail to re- with Dr. Sandra McClellan, a scientist from the Uni- turning our rivers to swimmable and fishable and, versity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Great Lakes Water dare I say, drinkable again! Institute, to test for E. coli bacteria and to determine whether or not the bacteria is from humans or wildlife. By doing this, we hope to help agencies and municipalities prioritize funding where failing pipes Recent Rollbacks are contributing large amounts of bacteria and other In 2003, the Bush administration proposed a policy allowing pollutants to our waterways. blending, the discharge of partially treated wastewater mixed Unfortunately, detecting pollution and infra- with treated wastewater during storm events. Blending results in the structure problems doesn’t mean these problems discharge of inadequately treated pathogen-laden sewage into our waterways, where it will be fixed. Cuts to the already underfunded can spread waterborne disease. This practice provides a permanent “escape clause,” State Revolving Fund (SRF) — an important re- allowing treatment plants to bypass wastewater treatment and avoid permanent source in assisting municipalities with mainte- solutions to protect our waterways and public health. While the 2003 proposal was nance programs and improvement projects — shelved after public outrage, EPA is still considering allowing the use of blending as a have diminished many communities’ abilities to "solution" to our sewage problems. prevent sewage pollution. The Bush administration has cut this fund continually during the last The Bush administration shelved a regulation that would eight years, slashing more than $1.4 billion from have controlled raw sewage discharges and required public the fund. It is estimated that we will have to invest notification when sewage overflows do occur. The proposed Capacity $200 billion to $500 billion in our national wa- Assurance, Management, Operation and Maintenance (CMOM) regulations would ter-distribution and wastewater-collection-and- have required sanitary sewer collection system operators to: (1) provide adequate treatment infrastructure in the next 10 years. capacity to convey wet weather flows, (2) properly manage a sanitary sewer system, and The next President must show leadership and (3) perform adequate operation and system maintenance to eliminate sanitary sewer commitment to addressing this looming crisis ei- overflows (SSOs). ther by drastically increasing the SRF budget or investing substantial new sources of funding, such Slashes to the already underfunded State Revolving Fund (SRF) as a proposed Clean Water Trust Fund to pay for have diminished communities’ abilities to prevent sewage critical infrastructure improvements. Local and pollution. This highly successful program has provided approximately 17,000 low- state governments must also prioritize sewage and interest loans to eligible communities since 1987. However, the Bush administration water system upgrades in their annual budgets. has drastically cut nearly $1.4 billion from the SRF, cutting the 2008 budget to less than Protecting our rivers from sewage pollution will $700 million. require upgrading regulations that control sew- www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 39 [box]

A blueprint for clean water

{issue #5}

01 NC Riverkeepers Mercury Push Dirty Coal Plant Coal-fired power plants are the single largest source of airborne mercury in the country, spewing nearly 50 tons off the Cliffside

02 of this deadly poison into the air and into our local water- By Donna Lisenby, Watauga Riverkeeper sheds each year. Several studies have shown that as much as 70 percent of these toxic emissions are ending up in Last March, North Carolina Riverkeeper programs and the Waterkeeper Alliance took legal action th local waterways and fish. Only 1/70 of a teaspoon of mer- against a proposal by Duke Energy to build a new cury is needed to contaminate a 25-acre lake to the point coal-fired power plant at Cliffside, N.C. 03 where fish are unsafe to eat. Many people understand how coal-fired facilities contribute carbon and other air pollutants to Waterways across the nation are under siege. According global warming. Less is known about how terribly to the latest EPA data, there are presently 3,080 fish advi- toxic these plants are to waterways. sories for mercury across 48 states, one territory and two The United States has 1,100 coal-fired power plants that release nearly 50 tons of mercury into

04 tribal lands, covering 14,177,175 lake acres and 882,963 the air every year, accounting for more than 40 per- river miles. Twenty-three states have issued statewide cent of airborne mercury emissions in the nation. fish advisories due to mercury in freshwater lakes, rivers Coal-fired plants are the largest source of anthro- pogenic, or human-caused, mercury air emissions or both, while 12 states have statewide advisories due to in the United States. mercury in their coastal waters. Mercury is deposited into the ground or directly 05 Mercury from coal-burning power plants is also having into waterbodies as fallout from the air emissions of coal-fired power plants. It can be washed from a devastating impact on the health of our communities. the land and carried to rivers, streams and lakes by The federal Centers for Diseases Control once esti- stormwater. When elemental mercury lands in wa- mated that as many as 630,000 children were being born ter, it is transformed to methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury, by microorganisms found

06 each year with unsafe levels of mercury in their blood. in water and sediment. EPA recently lowered this number of at-risk children to Small aquatic organisms consume mercury as 410,000, based on supposedly improved information on they feed. Then larger animals eat them, with the the amount of mercury in women’s blood. Either way, the mercury accumulating at each step. This is called bioaccumulation. Fish that are higher in the food numbers are frightening. chain — such as largemouth bass, swordfish and 07 The truth is, people shouldn’t have to stop eating fish tuna — have much higher mercury concentrations because of pollution. Rather, industry should stop polluting than fish that are lower on the food chain. Organic mercury concentrations can be more than 1,000 our waterways. times greater in the fish than in the surrounding water. Humans become exposed when they eat fish that are contaminated with mercury. 08 Babies are exposed to mercury from their mothers’ blood in the womb, as well as from breast milk. High levels of mercury in developing fetuses and young children can irrevocably effect their neu- rological development leading to developmental delays and learning disabilities. Mercury poisoning 09 can also cause lung, kidney, heart and immune- system damage. An estimated 8 percent of women of child- bearing age have unsafe levels of mercury. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control, the

10 North Carolina Department of Health and Human

40 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org D o v e R i ck

Services recently estimated that “at least 13,677 on the Clean Air Act, Waterkeeper Alliance’s legal children per year” are born in North Carolina with team, led by Senior Attorney Scott Edwards, ap- blood mercury levels that place them at risk for pealed the permit using the Clean Water Act, argu- lifelong learning disabilities, fine motor and atten- ing that emissions from the plant would contribute tion deficits, and lowered IQ. substantially to the further degradation of North It is clear beyond any shadow of a doubt that Carolina’s waterways in clear violation of Clean North Carolina waterways are already heavily over- Water Act standards. burdened with mercury contamination. Mercury If Waterkeeper Alliance and the North Carolina impaired more acres of water in North Carolina Riverkeepers are successful pioneering this exciting lakes than any other source including chlorophyll, new approach, which calls into question the Alice- turbidity, high pH, dioxin, nutrients, low pH and in-Wonderland logic that treats the Clean Air Act aquatic weeds. Partial testing of less than 60 per- and Clean Water Act as totally separate, then we cent of North Carolina waters by the Department will have opened a new front in the battle against of Environment and Natural Resources determined coal-fired power plants and global warming. that 1,000 miles of North Carolina rivers plus an additional 29,522 acres of freshwater lakes, reservoirs and impoundments are impaired by mercury. Rather than sit idly by and watch while other groups who focus on air and global warming issues Recent Rollbacks challenged the absurdity of the Cliffside coal plant, The Bush EPA has steadfastly refused to properly control North Carolina Riverkeepers saw an opportunity mercury emissions as mandated by the Clean Air Act. In fact, the to protect their waterways and communities from Bush administration attempted to sidestep strict mercury controls proposed by the toxic mercury while bringing the entire North Clinton administration and instead invoked an anemic cap and trade regulation policy. Carolina Riverkeeper fleet into the battle against In doing so, EPA went so far as to remove coal-fired plants from the Clean Air Act’s global warming. section 112(c) list, which lists sources of pollution that require regulation because of the In March, we appealed the Cliffside Coal Plant health threat they pose. permit as did several other environmental groups in North Carolina. But while the other groups focused primarily on a traditional challenge based

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 41 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #6}

01 Tipping Point Diversions for the Apalachicola When addressing the problem of strained water resources,

people usually consider water quality first. Unfortunately, By Dan Tonsmeire, Apalachicola Riverkeeper

02 water quantity is often overlooked. Water quantity is often defined in terms of instream flow The Apalachicola River and Bay in the Florida Pan- — the amount of water flowing in a river or stream at a giv- handle boast the greatest biodiversity of any river system and the highest productivity of any estu- en time. Without enough clean water in an aquatic system, ary in North America. The Apalachicola system a river or lake can no longer provide habitat for species or a has been designated a Biosphere Reserve by the 03 reliable supply of water for human consumption. United Nations, a National Estuarine Research Reserve by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Whether on the Great Lakes, in the Southeast, or the Administration, a Biological Hotspot by the The Southwest, shrinking water levels in rivers and lakes are Nature Conservancy and a Florida Emerald Coast becoming an increasing problem. States are challenging BioGem by NRDC. And yet, the lack of adequate federal and state policy on instream flow has left

04 other states for access to water. Regional droughts are the Apalachicola’s future hanging in the balance. making the situation worse. Endangered mussels and sturgeon are threatened Meanwhile, our waterways are under growing pressure as are the livelihoods of commercial fishermen whose families have worked on the river and bay to provide many different services, such as drinking water for generations. supply, navigation, wastewater treatment, agricultural These facts have proven of little consequence 05 irrigation, recreation, hydropower and industrial uses. In to Georgia state officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who continue efforts to take more order to accommodate all of these competing uses and to water out of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee- continue to maintain ecosystems that are not degraded to Flint (ACF) river system, which drains 19,600 the point of collapse, we must adopt a balanced approach square miles down 890 miles of three major rivers, through three states from the Smokey Mountains

06 to ensure that enough water remains in our rivers, lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. and streams. Even more is at stake. The Flint River suffers withdrawals for agricultural irrigation that can reduce side streams to a trickle. Proposals for federal water supply dams on the Flint will destroy habitat, threaten fish and unwind the cultural heri- 07 tage of many Georgians. Threats to the continued health of the system also occur along a section of the Chattahoochee River, protected as a National Scenic Recreation Area. The 100-mile reach suffers water quality hits from flow reductions designed by the state and enabled by the Corps to hold water in 08 an upstream reservoir for water supply. Three Riverkeeper organizations are working together to protect these rivers for present and future generations. The Upper Chattahoochee River- keeper leads the fight in north Georgia for water conservation to reduce use and maintain adequate 09 instream flow. The newly formed Flint Riverkeeper is setting up to battle dams that powerful interests in north Georgia want on the Flint. Apalachicola Riverkeeper is working with Florida Rep. Allen Boyd and Sen. Bill Nelson, who are leading the en-

10 tire Florida delegation sponsoring legislation that

42 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org i s to ck will fund a National Research Council study of in- Georgia has passed a water plan that relies on Apalachicola Bay is one of stream-flow needs on the ACF system and establish outdated measurements that protect only the low- the richest remaining oyster grounds in America. Its stocks, a reasonable estimate for the ACF. The study’s find- est portion of the flow regime. Florida has docu- however, are being destroyed ings could then be the basis for precedent-setting mented impacts from reduced flows, but declined due to increased salinity federal legislation to protect instream-flow needs to develop instream flow needs. caused by reduced water flow not just for the Apalachicola but for rivers across Right now the best and, perhaps, the last hope in the Apalachicola River. America. At the heart of all the effort is sustaining is that a timely Congressional act will sustain the flows for healthy rivers. Apalachicola. Without action, the whole river sys- Determining an accurate measure of instream- tem as we know it — one of America’s truly great flow quantities that will sustain a healthy river natural treasures — could be lost. is critical to establishing a defensible position. Whether in litigation or negotiation, sound science must back demand for instream flows. Determin- ing flow needs on the Apalachicola, which fluctu- ates between 5,000 and 300,000 cubic feet per second with wide variations annually and seasonally, can be complex. We could lose this whole system as we know it and that weighs heavy on me. Recent Rollbacks Apalachicola Riverkeeper worked with experts EPA recently adopted a rule to exempt water transfers from to develop estimates of water flow before the four the Clean Water Act’s permitting requirements. This rule allows federally funded dams on the Chattahoochee River polluted water to be diverted into clean water sources without a Clean Water Act were built to serve as a baseline in an environ- permit. Meanwhile, federal law is relatively silent on water quantity and instream flow mental impact statement. Rainfall and flows were requirements because of the states’ primary authority to decide withdrawal matters. analyzed in the post-dam period for the drought period, disproving claims that the reservoirs have Federal water projects and actions have favored water supply over enhanced post-dam low flows. environmental needs. For example, on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee- Researchers say that the Apalachicola is at a Flint Rivers (in Georgia and Florida), a federal Court of Appeal found the Army Corps of tipping point. The floodplain lost more than 4 Engineers exceeded its Congressional authorization to provide water supply for the North million trees and hundreds of miles of fish habi- Georgia Metropolitan District by doing so at the expense of downstream users and other tat in dried-up sloughs because too much water Congressionally authorized purposes and permits. is being taken from the ACF system to sustain the Apalachicola River and Bay. As a result, this year’s commercial seafood harvest was a fraction of past years, threatening the economic lifeblood of local communities. www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 43 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #7}

01 How Green Were Coal Mining Our Valleys Mountaintop coal mining is the scourge of communities in

Appalachia and in other rural areas across the U.S. Entire By John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper

02 mountains are blown apart to allow access to seams of coal that lie within. Emotions run high as dust, blasting, water Many facets of mining — such as long wall mining, pollution and flooding push people out of their homes. strip mining and abandoned mines — left from an era before laws were passed to protect the environ- For those brave enough to challenge illegally granted ment have assaulted Hurricane Creek, here in west permits in the courts, threats against home and family are Alabama. In West Virginia, it is called mountain 03 now rampant. Communities find themselves embroiled top removal. In Kentucky, cross ridge mining. In Tennessee, it is peak reduction. And in Alabama, it in difficult and lengthy efforts to hold regulatory agencies is plain old strip mining. All of it is insanity. accountable. Citizens must hire independent hydrolo- Many coalmine operators still propagate the gists, biologists, and other legal and technical experts to myth that “we are not going to hurt anyone or the environment.” I have worked all over the country

04 challenge illegal practices at great personal and financial with Citizens Coal Council to expose the truth expense. They find themselves confronting angry neighbors about coal. I have not yet been in a community who work in the mines — one family’s livelihood pitted where the operator did not say “we will be good neighbors” and “we will fix anything we break.” against another family’s home and heritage. Tell that to Marian Plovic of Washington, Penn. Today, in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia, the Her house on Route 136 was subsided by long- 05 situation is explosive — literally. Streams disappear in an wall mining on Christmas day in 1998. The house tilted three inches and continued until it had tilted instant as coal companies blast apart mountains and bull- 25 inches on a diagonal slant. The foundation was doze rubble into valleys. These “valley fills” have buried or broken beyond repair so a repair crew raised her damaged more than 1,200 miles of irreplaceable headwa- house up off the foundation and built a new concrete foundation. Before the house could be low-

06 ter streams. ered onto the new foundation, however, it cracked What’s left is a wasteland. beyond use. The Plovics moved back into the home More than 400,000 acres of the world’s most productive in late February 1999 and by mid-March, the house and diverse temperate hardwood forests have already dis- had tilted about 20 inches over 40 feet. As of today, Marian and her husband are still living in and re- appeared and it is predicted that that figure could increase pairing their home. 07 to 1.4 million acres — 2,200 square miles — by the end of The house I once rented on Shoal Creek in Jef- the decade if nothing is done to limit this practice. ferson County, Ala., is now standing in water. The house has long ago rotted into the river but the fire- In addition, the coal industry emits more greenhouse place is still standing in water as a reminder of what gases and mercury into the atmosphere than any other was once a beautiful fishing camp. Old growth forests of 100-year-old oaks and hickories stand dead 08 industry, as the nation’s 1,100 coal-fired power plants spew in 3 feet of water. The water level did not rise. The roughly 50 tons of mercury into our environment each year. riverbanks sank into the river in what is referred to in long-wall country as a planned “earthquake.” Subsidence is the one absolute in long-wall mining. It will happen, of that there is no doubt. Simply put, coal is not our salvation. It is not 09 clean, cheap or efficient. Coal is benign enough when it’s left in the ground, where it works as a fil- tering system for aquifers below. The trouble starts when it’s exposed to the atmosphere: It starts to oxi- dize. The oxidization process and contact with rain

10 causes the sulfur contained in coal to become H2So4

44 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org or sulfuric acid, also known as acid mine drainage (AMD). Acid from the mine waste and overburden cause heavy metals to be dissolved and deposited in the water, which causes a ferrous bacteria to ac- cumulate or armor the stream bottom, making it uninhabitable for fish or wildlife. In the Hurricane Creek basin, we have many examples of AMD from past mining as well as current operations. Twenty-five years ago, Hurricane Creek was included on the 303(d) list, a list of impaired streams then

not meeting designated use classification, for mine John W a tailings, Ph imbalance, iron, aluminum and others. The Alabama Department of Environmental on inspection of the permit, he found that I was Acid mine drainage can cause Management (ADEM) was charged to complete right and it was required. A violation like that is ex- devastating effects on stream bottoms, creating a toxic the total maximum daily loads (TMDL) showing tremely egregious and could, if enforced diligently, environment for fish and the amount of pollutants allowed to be permitted. cost Black Warrior Minerals their permit. Instead wildlife. ADEM sat on it for 20 years until Alabama Rivers of issuing a new violation for the infraction, the Alliance and Friends of Hurricane Creek/Hur- inspector rewrote the existing violation to include ricane Creekkeeper sued the U.S. Environmental “failure to maintain sediment basins.” Protection Agency’s Region 4 to force ADEM to Now there is a rock quarry operating in the pit comply. EPA performed the survey but when the with no permit at all while ADEM sits asleep at process was completed, we still faced another di- the wheel. lemma: how to implement the reductions? Both Hurricane Creekkeeper and the Black There are five coal permits up for “voluntary re- Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke and his staff vocation and renewal.” A 30-day notice and com- are now deep in the fight for accountability in ment period is associated with each. None has the mining industry here. While we are both out been answered and no reissuance has occurred. gunned by the courts and industry, we continue Drummond Coal Co. has been in comment since to change things with each lawsuit. We will take December 2006. ADEM refuses to deny or is- back our creek and river, and give them back to our sue the permit and claims that they are waiting communities in better shape than we found them. on judgment on another case we filed years ago That’s the Waterkeeper promise around the world, against Tuscaloosa Resources Inc. ADEM accepted and we plan to keep it. a permit “voluntary revocation and re-issuance” while the final appeal was under way. Four Repub- lican judges voted unanimously to overthrow the permit. ADEM reissued anyway, starting the entire Recent Rollbacks: process all over again. EPA and the Army Corps issued a new rule making it legal to Dam failures occurred at one local coal mine dump “fill material” directly into waterways. With a simple 404 when tons of dirt and trees used for a temporary Permit from the Army Corps, they simply changed the definition of the term “fill” to dam blew out and inundated the creek with ex- signify compliance with the Clean Water Act. This rule meant that the Army Corps tremely turbid water and woody debris. No fines of Engineers could loosen its mitigation standards for waterways destroyed by were issued. mountaintop mining. A few years later, a concrete dam failed, dumping millions of gallons of acidic water into Hur- The U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining (OSM) ricane Creek. Most strip mines in our area are in proposed significant changes to the “Stream Buffer Zone Rule.” acidic veins that produce hot or contaminated wa- The existing rule specifically precludes mining activities within 100 feet of a perennial ter. During the spill, millions of gallons of this wa- stream or an intermittent stream without a variance. OSM’s proposed changes would ter was released into the creek. Testing would have exempt the most devastating surface mining activities from coverage under the given us some indication of the expected impact to requirement, allowing for the creation of valley fills and huge coal-slurry waste ponds. fish and wildlife. Neither ADEM nor Alabama Sur- face Mining Commission (ASMC) brought sample The Bush administration reversed a rule authorizing the Bureau bottles to the spill site for testing so no Ph test was of Land Management to deny mining operations on federal done on the coalmine failure. lands if the operations could cause “substantial irreparable harm” to It was quite obvious from an aerial view that the resources and were unable to be mitigated. spillway was not constructed with steel reinforce- ment as the permit required. When I pointed it out The Interior Department overturned a policy allowing only a to the Mining Commission’s inspector, he stated 5-acre waste site for every 20 acres of mining activity, in favor of that he did not know if steel was required. But a policy that did not limit the size of mining waste sites. www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 45 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #8}

01 Agricultural The Muddy Waters Nonpoint of the Wabash By Rae Schnapp, Wabash Riverkeeper

02 Source Pollution The quality of water in our rivers and lakes is a re- According to EPA, agricultural pollution is the No. 1 source flection of the way we use our land. The Wabash River drains nearly 24,000 square miles — pre- of declining water quality in rivers and lakes, the second dominantly made up of agricultural landscape — of largest source of impairments to wetlands, and a major Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Meandering more than

03 contributor to the contamination of estuaries and ground- 500 miles through a broad flat floodplain that is water. Diffuse agricultural runoff (known as nonpoint source mostly planted in corn and soybeans, floodwaters reached four miles wide earlier this year. pollution) includes runoff from barnyards, pastures, range- When the first white settlers appeared in the land and cropland; return flow from irrigation; and wet and Wabash River valley, they began clearing the native dry atmospheric deposition. Silviculture, or logging, also forests to grow crops. In an effort that continues to 04 this day, farmers installed intricate field drainage contributes significant sediment loads and changes the tem- systems of pipes and ditches to remove water from perature of rivers and streams that have lost forest canopy. cropland more quickly, destroying nearly all of our There are four principal pollutants from nonpoint legendary wetlands and dramatically changing the character of the river. source agriculture: sediment, nutrients, pesticides and In 1845, Indiana artist George Winter chronicled 05 organic matter. the degradation of the river that once sparkled with Sediment chokes wildlife, impairs the respiratory func- such clarity that you could see schools of fishes in its depths to a river that ran brown because of the tion of aquatic organisms, hinders reproduction and inter- soil washing off the land. He lamented that “clear- rupts the predator-prey relationship. Pesticides such as ing the country has had a striking effect — the insecticides, fungicides and herbicides are poisons applied beautiful islands … are beginning to wash away 06 under the influence of the greater volume of wa- to soil, crops, structures and even animals to control pests. ter that fills the banks and increased rapidity of the And when pesticides reach our waterways, they can be just current of the river.” as toxic to both aquatic vegetation and fish. Massive fish Today, in spite of reduced tillage methods and erosion control measures, the river is still threat- kills are often associated with pesticide pollution. ened by agricultural practices. Headwater streams 07 Organic matter, such as manure and crop debris, reduces often appear as a pipe or ditch in a farm field. These dissolved oxygen levels in water; can adversely affect the conveyances carry water away from the fields, but they also exacerbate flooding and carry away top- taste, odor and color of drinking water; and may contribute soil, fertilizer, pesticides and bacteria. While fertil- to or exacerbate nutrient enrichment problems. Manure is izer runoff from the Wabash and other Midwestern rivers causes oxygen depletion and fish kills (like

08 also a source of pathogens. Feces can contain antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals used to prevent or treat the hypoxic or “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico), the bacteria are a special concern because they can infections, regulate reproduction, and increase rate of growth, make our rivers unsafe to touch. salts and toxins. These contaminants and others carried in Bacteria are an indication that sewage is present feces may be directly deposited into waterbodies or end up in our streams. The Clean Water Act requires that human sewage be treated for pathogen removal, 09 there after the gross misapplication of manure to farmland. but less straightforward requirements exist for ani- Many family farmers have shown that we can have good, mal manure. high-quality food without damaging our environment. We We now have vast acreages of grain crops that supply a livestock industry promoting factory-style should learn from their example. production facilities known as concentrated (or

10 confined) animal feeding operations. While Mid-

46 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org western farms have always had livestock, these industrial-scale livestock operations limit market access for small producers and concentrate millions of gallons of manure in a small area, leading to disposal problems. Animal manure is typically stored in huge pits until it can be spread untreated on farmland. It has fertilizer content but differs from commercial fertilizer in that it contains pathogens and high levels of phosphorus, a fact ignored by most regulations. Many industrial livestock operations also use low doses of antibiotics to speed growth, which can result in the emergence of antibiotic-resistant

disease organisms. And local health departments, I ndi a n , concerned citizens and watershed managers have little access to information about where manure is

being spread. D e ka l b Co u nt y Untreated manure is currently being spread on thousands of acres of Midwestern farmland and its use is growing as the costs of commercial fertil- Se a n Moore of izer continue to rise. Spreading manure over more acreage should help ensure that it is spread at rates business with unfair market practices. More sus- Agricultural pollution is the that will reduce the potential for nutrient runoff, tainable economies can be developed by engaging second largest source of impairments to wetlands and but it will also increase the number of people ex- local farmers in raising crops that can be eaten by a major contributor to the posed to the air emissions and pathogens that can people in nearby cities and towns, and keeping the contamination of estuaries threaten public health. profits within the community. and groundwater. Thanks to a grant from the McKinney Family Foundation, the Wabash Riverkeeper is training volunteers to help document the extent of agricultural runoff and its contribution to pollution in the Wabash River system. This information will be used to encourage enforcement of existing envi- Recent Rollbacks ronmental laws and to strengthen those that are The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is failing not protecting the health of rural communities. to implement and enforce critical wetland and highly erodible At the same time the Wabash Riverkeeper pro- land conservation provisions of the 1985 Food Security Act. A General motes local food and develops networks to con- Accounting Office’s (GAO) 2003 report revealed that almost half of the Natural nect farmers with consumers and support a more Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) offices do not implement key conservation sustainable agricultural system. compliance provisions designed to control erosion or prevent wetlands loss. Flaws in Our next president should hold the agribusiness NRCS’s oversight monitoring put into question USDA’s claim that 98 percent of the industry responsible for their waste management nation’s cropland tracts subject to the conservation provisions are in compliance. practices. Manure should be treated to remove pathogens in a manner similar to human sewage, GAO found that the Farm Service Agency waived NRCS’s then land-applied at realistic fertilizer rates for both noncompliance determinations about 61 percent of the time nitrogen and phosphorus. As a public health mea- during crop years 1993 through 2001. The frequency and lack of data support for sure, non-therapeutic uses of antibiotics should be these waivers undermines NRCS’s enforcement efforts, resulting in a loss of wetlands banned, as recommended by the Union of Con- and increased erosion from agriculture. cerned Scientists and Physicians for Social Respon- sibility. And the industry should disclose its waste The Bush administration’s final “Application of Pesticides to disposal practices so that health officials and wa- Waters of the United States in Compliance with FIFRA” rule tershed specialists can track any water pollution or does not adequately protect water quality from agricultural pesticide health problems that emerge. No other industry sec- pollution. This rulemaking is based on an assumption that a pesticide is not a tor gets to treat its waste disposal as a trade secret! pollutant, even though pesticides are clearly poisons. The rule puts American water Further, policies should be put in place to en- resources, including water used for human consumption, animal consumption and sure that rural communities have a stronger voice irrigation in jeopardy from virtually unrestricted pesticide applications. in determining the types of agricultural systems they want to develop. For too long, the industry has been hiding behind a nostalgic image of family farmers while putting true family farmers out of www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 47 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #9}

01 California Takes Ocean a Stand for Protection Ocean Protection Two major ocean commission reports — the independent

02 By Linda Sheehan, Executive Director, California Pew Ocean Commission report in 2003 and the federal Coastkeeper Alliance U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy report in 2004 — rec- While the debate rages in Washington, D.C., over ognized that the continued ecological decline of our public Rep. Sam Farr’s H.R. 21 and Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seas represents a major threat to the U.S. economy, secu- National Ocean Protection Act, the lawmakers’

03 rity and environment. Unfortunately while they produced home state has been implementing its own Cali- fornia Ocean Protection Act (COPA) for the last hundreds of recommendations for commonsense-based four years. solutions, few have been acted on by the national govern- California enacted COPA to create a rational and ment during the Bush years. coordinated approach to protecting and conserving the state's precious ocean resources and coastal

04 Some of the world’s most essential fisheries are in steep waters. Under the oversight of COPA’s Ocean Pro- decline due to the effects of climate change, poor water tection Council, the state is developing guiding quality, overharvesting and destructive fishing practices. principles for all state agencies to follow, consistent Our coastal oceans are particularly hard hit, as are the fish- with existing law. These principles must “incorpo- rate ecosystem perspectives into the management ing families and communities that depend on these waters. of coastal and ocean resources” and must guide 05 Global climate change has altered the chemistry of the governance of our coast and ocean “by principles sea. The ocean itself is becoming more acidic, unknowingly of sustainability, ecosystem health, precaution, recognition of the interconnectedness between land attacking the calcium based shells of corals, clams, oysters and ocean, decisions informed by good science … and plankton. Our coastal waters are polluted with nutri- and public participation in decision making.” COPA logically extends its reach inland to coast-

06 ents, disease, toxic metals and more, creating dead zones al watersheds, finding that “[t]he ocean ecosystem such as the one at the mouth of the Mississippi River, is inextricably linked to activities on land.” which has grown to the size of the state of New Jersey and The Ocean Protection Council consists of some is now deprived of oxygen and life as a result of runoff of the state’s top decision makers including the Sec- retary for Resources, the State Lands Commission from poor agricultural practices throughout the grain belt. Chair, and the Secretary for Environmental Protec- 07 Research and experience from around the world has tion. Supported by strong, continuous advocacy shown that monitored traditional fishery management by the California Coastkeeper Alliance and the 12 other California Waterkeepers that span the entire — in combination with ecosystem-based management coastline, the council has taken landmark action and marine protected areas— are key to both sustainable on a variety of issues affecting coastal and ocean health. Many of these are issues for which Califor-

08 fisheries and protection of our natural heritage and eco- nia’s Waterkeepers already exercise a state leader- systems. Without this approach to our living seas, we will ship role. Among other things, the Ocean Protec- continue to see the deterioration of our coasts and oceans. tion Council has taken on pursuant to COPA: The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew • Phasing out devastating impacts caused by Oceans Commission concluded that ecosystem-based coastal and bayside power plants that still use 09 management is an important tool in protecting ecosystems once-through cooling systems; and a sustainable harvest from our ocean. They gave us 10 years, five have already passed. We must act now before • Promoting low-impact development to reduce stormwater pollution and improve coastal the systems that support us fail. ecosystems; 10

48 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org • Reducing marine debris, most recently through its July 2008 Ocean Litter Implemen- tation Strategy;

• Implementing model programs for coordinated, inter-agency enforcement of coastal water quality laws;

• Funding extensive monitoring needed for the development and assessment of California’s evolving, coast-wide network of marine protected areas.

The council is in the process of developing a program for restoring California’s historic salmon runs, an area important to California’s Waterkeep- ers. The council has also reached beyond Califor- nia to create regional partnerships with Oregon and Washington. In July 2008, the three-state partnership released a plan to implement the ground- breaking 2006 West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health. The California Coastkeeper Al- liance worked to shape the plan to ensure that the state moves swiftly to protect and restore the health of California’s world-renowned coast and ocean. The ultimate success of the council will de- iSto ck pend on the extent to which California chooses to The California Coastkeeper Alliance is working to ensure that move away from the current fragmented system the state moves swiftly to protect and restore the health of California’s world-renowned coast and ocean. of managing by single issues, and toward coordinated, ecosystem-based management that recognized the inter-connectedness of land and sea. True integration means that the state’s — and our own — actions must not simply be about protecting the ocean so that humans can use it, but also protecting the health of the ocean and its inhabit- Recent Rollbacks ants for themselves. President Bush wins one blue asterisk for establishing the In passing and aggressively implementing the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Northwest Ocean Protection Act, California is demonstrating Hawaii. However, his administration has more typically supported offshore oil drilling, to federal lawmakers that it is indeed possible to gutted Clean Water Act provisions, enforcement and funding, resulting in increased bring to life a larger vision of integrated manage- polluted runoff into U.S. coastal waters, and suppressed climate change findings by ment. The California Coastkeeper Alliance and federal agencies, including findings on the devastating effects of global warming on the California’s Waterkeepers are hard at work making marine environment. that vision a reality.

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 49 A blueprint for clean water

{issue #10}

01 Environmental Confronting the Justice Hazards of Inequality By Earl L. Hatley, Grand Riverkeeper Inevitably, society’s wastes flow toward communities debilitat- 02 ed by high illiteracy, unemployment and low voter registration. In 1997, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency These communities have become toxic dumping grounds declared Ottawa County, Okla., an Environmental Justice area. Located in the northeastern part of while receiving few of the safeguards that prudence and de- the state, the county is part of the Tri-State Mining cency demand, but which only political power can obtain. District, one of the largest and most contaminated

03 Environmental injustice is morally equivalent to any areas of the country, with 500 square miles of abandoned lead and zinc mines in parts of Kansas, Mis- other form of racism — it has immediate adverse effects on souri and Oklahoma. people’s health and, in the longer-term, destroys the cultures The Tar Creek Superfund Site is the Oklahoma and vitality of our most vulnerable communities. Above all portion of the district, covering 47 square miles. There are nine small tribes in Ottawa County,

04 else, pollution is a violation of human rights. along with the Cherokee Nation whose lands are In 1992, EPA acknowledged that low-income and minority within the Grand River Watershed. All 10 tribes populations shouldered the greatest environmental risks and are affected by the toxic heavy metals polluting the that the application of environmental controls and enforce- watershed and riparian areas. This part of northeastern Oklahoma has one of the lowest median- ment follows racial lines. In the past 15 years, researchers income levels in the state. 05 have compiled evidence of unequal protection from the law, The Grand River contains three hydroelectric shoddy cleanups of toxic sites, and minority and low-income dams, creating three large lakes on the river system. The first lake, Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, communities being stuck with our worst polluting facilities. has been a sink for heavy metals since the dam was These communities and all Americans are paying an unac- built in 1940. The Oklahoma Department of Envi- ronmental Quality (ODEQ) has issued a fish con-

06 ceptable price: sumption advisory for the Oklahoma portions of A 1999 Institute of Medicine study concluded that low-in- the Spring and Neosho rivers (the two main arter- come and minority communities are exposed to higher levels ies creating the Grand River) due to lead contami- of pollution than the rest of the nation and experience certain nation. The advisory only includes nongame fish such as carp and drum, which are both commonly diseases in greater numbers than more affluent communities. eaten by Indian peoples and low-income subsis- 07 In 2000, the Dallas Morning News and University of Texas- tence users. Dallas reported that nearly half (870,000 of the 1.9 million) of To add insult to injury, ODEQ issued a statewide fish consumption advisory for all predator the nation’s housing units for the poor, mostly minorities, sit fish due to mercury pollution in 2007. Predator within a mile of factories that reported toxic emissions to EPA. fish includes small and large mouth bass, black bass and crappie, the most popular subsistence

08 In 2001, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice fish in the area. reported that more than 1,200 schools — serving 600,000 The Grand Lake is surrounded by six coal-fired low-income and minority students in Massachusetts, New power plants within a 60-mile radius. Prior to the York, New Jersey, Michigan and California — are located Bush administration, EPA studies estimated that up to 14 percent of mercury emitted by coal burn- within half a mile of federal Superfund or state-identified ing power plants are deposited within 30 miles of a 09 contaminated sites. plant. Recent modeling results from the Great Lakes In 2003, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded found that approximately 48 percent of the mercury in Lake Michigan came from sources within 60 that “minority and low-income communities are most often miles of the lake, and coal combustion in the U.S. exposed to multiple pollutants and from multiple sources.” was found to be the predominant source contribut-

10 ing to mercury deposition in the region. Moreover,

50 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org M a rio B u r g er studies show that at least five years are required for warming as the chief reason for disapproval, the Inner-city pastoral: A swan fish to become safe for human consumption, once action prompted the Grand River Dam Authority, swims by a garbage boom on the Bronx River. mercury sources are greatly reduced. which operates the hydro-dams on Grand River, The toxic heavy metal pollution in the Tri- to purchase an existing natural gas-fired plant in- State Mining District will take decades to repair. stead. Not a total victory, but still a decision that Regarding the mercury pollution, however, the is better for us. Presently, there are two more pro- Grand Riverkeeper is working with coalitions on posals for plants in southeastern Oklahoma and a statewide level to force ODEQ to adopt stricter the coalition is working with groups from Arkan- regulations than the EPA’s proposed Clean Air sas to stop this action. Mercury Rule, which would allow coal-fired power plants until 2018 to reduce their mercury emissions by 70 percent. In response, EPA was sued by 16 states, Water- Recent Rollbacks keeper Alliance and several national groups who Dr. Robert Bullard, author of Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States, the seminal 1987 argued for a stricter timeframe for a 90 percent re- report on environmental justice, recently testified at the first-ever Senate hearing on duction and against the Cap and Trade measure in Environment Justice, citing ongoing failures by the federal government: the proposed regulation. The EPA lost the suit and may appeal. In 2005, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) The State of Oklahoma has now taken the ap- criticized EPA for its handling of environmental justice issues proach to table rule making, in favor of collecting when drafting new clean air rules. stack emission for one year. This idea gets them off the hook while they “wait to see what EPA does.” In 2004, and again in 2006, EPA’s Inspector General chastised With polluted streams filled with fish unsafe to eat, the agency for failing to consider environmental justice in tribal and low-income people who rely on hunting important decisions. and gathering for additional protein are enduring extreme hardship, a genocide of sorts — or more In 2007, the GAO criticized EPA’s handling of contamination accurately, perhaps, ecocide. from the spill of oil, industrial chemicals and other hazardous Last winter, our coalition convinced govern- materials in post-Katrina New Orleans and Gulf Coast communities. mental authorities not to approve a coal-fired plant in an area with several tribes. Citing global www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 51 While Waterkeepers fight for the clean water at a local level, the President of the United States and the federal government have way critical roles to play in making sure existing environmental laws and regulations are enforced and new forward ones are created.

{Issue #1} released into U.S. waters. {Issue #2} Passage of this bill will Restore strengthen the CWA and Enforcement Protection help protect and restore America’s water resources. Increase EPA enforce- Support the Clean ment funding to at Water Restoration Act Ensure that all proj- least $550 million. Cuts (H.R. 2421). CWRA clearly ects impacting wet- in enforcement funding have defines Congress’s original lands undergo a strict led to fewer inspections of intent to protect U.S. waters permitting process. facilities and fewer resources and removes the confusion Federal agencies tasked with for prosecuting environmen- caused by the SWANCC overseeing the protection tal crimes. Due to continued and Rapanos decisions. of these waterbodies, such rates of high noncompliance 01 This new definition has as the EPA, Fish & Wildlife with the Clean Water Act, the the potential to once again Service (F&WS), and the next president should pro- place our nation’s precious USACE, must have budgets pose a significant increase in water resources back under that reflect staff needs, fund- EPA’s enforcement funding federal protection, where ing for restoration projects and work to pass that bud- they belong. Accordingly, and enforcement capacity. get through Congress. any guidance by EPA or the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- Institute a net-gain Establish a fund for “If we don’t start neers regarding SWANCC policy to repair the the deposit of en- treating our water and Rapanos should be damage incurred by forcement fines and rescinded and rewritten the Bush administra- penalties to be used resources as finite to reflect the protection of tion. EPA must eliminate for enforcement and and precious, we’ll the maximum amount of the wetlands mitigation compliance activities. soon be dealing resources possible. crediting program and These funds should not be deposited in the general with a water crisis restore a policy that requires Reverse the 2002 no net loss of the specific Treasury. Congress should that will destroy changes to the “Fill affected wetland. The new also require EPA to recover communities ... Rule” by EPA and administration must also the full economic benefit encompassing USACE. This will pre- develop a net gain policy to of noncompliance when it vent the Corps from using repair the damage and re- seeks penalties so that it multiple millions 404 permits to allow the vitalize America’s wetlands does not “pay to pollute.” of people.” discharge of waste to fill and watersheds. lakes, rivers, streams and Strengthen authority Tom Ford, wetlands. The Clean Water of citizens to enforce Santa Monica Baykeeper Protection Act (H.R. 2169) the CWA. In Gwaltney clarifies the definition of fill of Smithfield v. Chesa- material to limit the amount peake Bay Foundation, the of industrial materials, Supreme Court held that specifically mining materials section 505 of the CWA and debris, which may be does not allow citizens to

52 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org maintain suits for wholly {Issue #3} Low Impact Development past violations of the Act. and which include numeric A targeted amendment to Stormwater effluent limits, meaningful revise this section, making Runoff monitoring requirements it clear that citizens have the and measures necessary to authority to enforce the law Require the incorpora- comply with TMDLs and against entities who either tion of numeric effluent water quality standards. are in violation or have limits into municipal, 02 violated the CWA, would industrial and con- Address the impacts of help ensure that sources of struction stormwater increased peak runoff water pollution comply with permits, along with effec- volume from impervi- the law. tive monitoring to demon- ous surfaces created strate compliance with these by development. Pres- Reevaluate EPA en- limits, and the adoption of ently, EPA does not control forcement structure. Low Impact Development this in stormwater permits “The Waterkeeper The majority of EPA’s strategies for preventing in many states. These enforcement work is done erosion and sediment loss impacts are larger and brand of hard-hitting in the agency’s 10 regional before the opportunity for longer-lasting than runoff of environmental offices. Regional enforce- discharge arises. sediment from construction enforcement ment managers report to sites. EPA should require politically appointed regional Reform permitting reg- stormwater permit holders can dramatically administrators, creating ulations and guidance to maintain pre-develop- improve the varied enforcement activity to clarify that stormwater ment peak flows for up to environmental and across regional offices. This discharge permits must 100-year flood events. political landscape problem could be fixed with include meaningful alloca- a direct-report requirement tions under Total Maximum of a contaminated to EPA headquarters. Daily Loads and sufficient community.” additional effluent limits Remove the compli- when needed to comply with John Lipscomb, ance assistance pro- Water Quality Standards. Hudson Riverkeeper, gram from the enforce- Patrol Boat Captain 03 ment office at EPA. Develop meaningful ef- Currently, as University of fluent limitation guide- Alabama Law Professor lines. In light of the court William Andreen notes, “the ruling secured by Waterkeep- task of assisting regulated er Alliance and NRDC, this entities with compliance would serve as a minimum dilutes the focus of what stormwater allowance for any should be a professional construction activity while “Stormwater law enforcement office and retaining state authority to siphons needed resources increase the limit. regulation has from that effort.” We agree. been Puget Formally recognize Soundkeeper’s Support robust en- municipal stormwa- No. 1 priority since forcement. The next ter runoff as a sig- president should put more nificant problem neces- 2000. Since then, we control for enforcement sitating compliance with have appealed every decisions back into the water quality standards and stormwater general hands of career staff. The numeric water quality-based permit issued by president also should not effluent limits. tolerate changes in agency the Department of policy that would clearly Issue new Industrial Ecology — often undermine enforcement po- and Construction Gen- several times.” sitions, and should reverse eral Permits to advance replacing more traditional stormwater prevention Sue Joerger, Puget Soundkeeper enforcement mechanisms and treatment require- with unproven cooperation- ments. Permits should also based strategies. include reliance on non- traditional practices such as www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 53 the way forward

{Issue #4} Withdraw EPA’s pro- wastewater treatment plants posed blending policy. upgrade to meet increasing Sewage 04 While the 2005 proposed pollutant removal efficien- policy is an improvement cies, they also must accom- Improve sewage infra- on the disastrous 2003 pro- modate greater influent structure by prioritiz- posal, it remains far short wastewater loads as well. ing sewage system of what is needed and upgrades in the annual what the law requires. The budget. A Clean Water Office of Management and {Issue #5} Trust Fund will proactively Budget (OMB) is currently invest in America’s cities. In “Our sewage and reviewing this policy, how- Mercury addition to a long-term sep- drinking water ever, EPA should withdraw Write a mercury arate trust fund, measures the proposal. control rule that like those contained in the systems may be protects Americans Water Quality Financing Act less visible than our Revive and declare from mercury poison- of 2007 (H.R. 720) and the roads and railroads, a Sanitary Sewer ing. On Feb. 8, the United Water Quality Investment but they are no Overflow Rule. Since States Court of Appeals for Act of 2007 (H.R. 569) can withdrawal of the SSO rule, the District of Columbia also provide the necessary less important.” there has been no regula- handed down a decision finances to support the State Cheryl Nenn, tion of SSOs on the federal against EPA, vacating an Revolving Fund program Milwaukee Riverkeeper level. A new rule is needed anemic, industry-scripted in helping communities to make clear that SSOs, Clean Air Act mercury upgrade existing wastewater whether they reach U.S. non-control scheme. EPA treatment plants and allow 05 waters or not, are illegal must go back to the draw- them to invest in sewage — a position taken by EPA ing board and write a spill prevention. during many of its previous mercury control rule that enforcement actions. truly complies with the law Water quality stan- and protects U.S. residents dards must be met at End destructive and from mercury poisoning. the point of discharge, outdated 301(h) Clean and mixing zones and Water Act waivers. Ensure a proper dilution credits must Congress amended the Maximum Achievable be banned. Mixing zones “We have to take Clean Water Act in 1977 to Control Technology are areas surrounding add section 301(h), allowing (MACT) standard that discharge outfalls that do aggressive action ocean sewage dischargers reduces emissions. not need to comply with to protect our to apply for a special waiver Proven, affordable mercury the usual requirements children and our to the Act’s secondary control systems like sorbent that protect the aquatic waterways against treatment requirements in injection have consistently environment because the limited circumstances. Of shown 90 percent reduc- pollutants are “mixing” to continued mercury the nearly 16,000 wastewater tions in emissions. The reach dilution levels that are contamination by treatment agencies across new administration must considered safe. But dilu- existing U.S. coal- the country, 32 agencies still ensure that a proper MACT tion won’t solve pollution fired power plants. operate with these harmful standard that contemplates problems. Mixing zones are exemptions. These waivers this 90 percent reduction is in reality death zones, where Future generations must end, moving these in place as soon as possible. pollutants can be discharged are depending on sewage facilities into the The federal government’s at concentrations that are us to lead humanity 21st century. own studies already reveal orders of magnitude above that technologies such as Water Quality Standards. away from these Wastewater treat- oxidizing agents or sorbent Elimination of mixing zones destructive practices ment levels must keep injection can achieve these and dilution credits via and into sustainable pace with population levels of reduction at a mod- amendment of the CWA investments in growth. The U.S. popula- est cost to operators. would simplify the per- the future.” tion has more than doubled mitting and enforcement in the last 60 years, from processes, freeing agency Donna Lisenby, around 140 million in 1940 staff to work on improving Watauga Riverkeeper to about 297 million in 2004. water quality. This surge in population means that not only must

54 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org {Issue #6} Communities can request Put in place permitting ing operations. At a minimum, Great Lakes water if they are to monitor large scale EPA must return the definition Diversions “straddling” the basin lines, consumptive uses of of “fill” to its original meaning but must first meet strict Great Lakes water. Now and revoke permits that were Minimize water diver- water conservation measures that the Great Lakes Compact issued under the new “fill” sions and protect in- and return water to the Lakes has been passed, it is impera- definition. In addition, all au- stream flows to sustain in equal or better condition. tive that the next administra- thority over fill determinations drinking water sources. While the agreement is very tion plays a leadership role should be transferred from the All existing and future federal strong in many respects, in establishing a Great Lakes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers legislation to meet water sup- we still need to safeguard Agreement with Canada that to EPA. ply for urban and regional against the unregulated will hold Canadian Great uses should include lan- privatization of our Great Lakes provinces (Ontario and Increase the mining to guage to protect and sustain Lakes for bottled water. Quebec) to the same ground waste ratio to 50 to 5 the ecological functions, rules, and in ensuring that the (10 to 1), forcing mining biodiversity and productivity eight Great Lakes states pass operations to innova- of streams, rivers, lakes and 06 legislation that honors Com- tively reduce waste. estuaries. No new federal pact principles. The Federal For the remaining waste, we water withdrawals should be government must also ensure must have a fully funded and allowed until the impact on that Compact guidelines are aggressively enforced Aban- waterways is fully understood, being met pertaining to both doned Mine Land Fund. the public has been given water diversions outside the meaningful opportunity for Great Lakes Basin and to Preserve and enforce input, and federal or multi- “We need an Act water consumption by in-basin the Stream Buffer Zone state Compact Commissions users. Less than 1 percent of Rule. The proposed changes are established to monitor, of Congress that Great Lakes water is renew- to the current rule are a step enforce and adaptively man- will be to instream able—the rest was a one-time in the wrong direction, one age the responsible, equitable flows what the Clean gift from the Glaciers—and we that runs counter to both the distribution of a stream, river, must protect these national letter and intent of the fed- lake or estuary. Water Act was to treasures for current and fu- eral Clean Water Act and the clean water in ture generations. Surface Mining Control and Undo the new federal our rivers.” Reclamation Act. Because “water transfer” rule. the existing Stream Buffer This proposal is in direct Dan Tonsmeire, {Issue #7} Zone rule is one of the very conflict with numerous court Apalachicola Riverkeeper few remaining protections decisions and essentially Coal Mining for vital mountain waterways, exempts from National Pol- Implement and enforce it should be preserved and lutant Discharge Elimination existing mercury and enforced in its present form. System (NPDES) permitting carbon dioxide emis- any project that moves water sions laws. The mining of from one water body to coal, gold and other minerals {Issue #8} another, no matter how pol- 07 is done at the expense of luted the discharge or how Agricultural America’s waterways and the pristine the receiving water. Nonpoint environmental damage is Source Pollution Support the New Great well documented. For these industries to be permitted to Lakes Compact. The Amend the Clean Water continue, regulations and en- historic accord that man- Act to specifically re- forcement must ensure that ages Great Lakes water in a quire Clean Water Act each industry puts human sustainable way protects 95 permits for return flows health, human safety, and the percent of our country’s fresh from irrigation and environment at the forefront. surface water. All eight Great other nonpoint sources Lakes states and Congress “Coal cannot be of pollution. Permits Ensure that our Ameri- have ratified the Compact, cleaned up enough should also require the use can heritage is protected and President Bush signed of mandatory minimum to be a reliable from mining operations. the compact into law on Oct. management practices to There should be a complete 3, 2008. Under the Compact, energy source.” control nonpoint sources of ban on mining on federal any of the eight state gover- pollution, meet water quality John Wathen, lands and consideration of a nors can veto a diversion out- standards and implement Hurricane Creekkeeper ban on all mountain top min- side the Great Lakes Basin. Total Maximum Daily Loads. www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 55 the way forward

Establish and imple- {Issue #9} {Issue #10} ment numeric criteria for all classes of Ocean Environmental waterbodies to protect Protection Justice our nation’s water resources from nu- Establish an Ameri- Ensure that our laws, trient pollution and can Oceans Act at the enforcement and insti- eutrophication. States level of the Clean Air 09 tutions recognize, un- must be given deadlines or Clean Water Acts of derstand and eliminate to establish nitrogen and the last century. Rep. environmental racism. phosphorus criteria, which Sam Farr and the bipartisan Society must recognize that must consider downstream House Ocean Caucus and both economic and social uses. EPA should develop Sen. Barbara Boxer in the injustices have manifested and oversee implementation Senate are attempting to themselves in the unequal and enforcement of multi- create an environmentally burden that America’s most state restoration plans for sound ocean policy frame- disadvantaged communities large watersheds, such as work for national and region- “The failure of 35 have had to bear in regard the Chesapeake Bay and the al management of our public years of ‘modern’ to pollution and toxic waste. Gulf of Mexico, where dead seas. Rep. Farr’s Ocean Act environmental laws As we endeavor to heal zones are expanding due for the 21st Century and Sen. the wounds that afflict our largely to nutrient pollution. Boxer’s National Ocean Pro- and bureaucracies planet, we must also heal tection Act are both worthy to protect our the inequities that divide Clarify that pesticides of support. oceans have finally our nation. are pollutants. The next administration should Create a comprehen- debunked the myth Better, stronger en- require NPDES permits for sive system of ma- that we can care vironmental enforce- pesticide applications on or rine protected areas for the ocean ment that protects near water and reverse the (MPAs). Networks of in a vacuum.” every community and “Application of Pesticides to marine reserves and other every citizen from pol- Waters of the United States MPAs placed strategically Linda Sheehan, lution is the solution to in Compliance with FIFRA” along a coastline and at sea California Coastkeeper Alliance environmental racism. rule to safeguard American can provide safe harbor for We must pressure Congress water resources. populations of resident and to ban the production of migrating species. Given a toxic materials that cannot

08 haven to grow and repro- be reused or recycled. We duce, fish or other animals 10 must push Congress to within these reserves and reinstate the Superfund tax traveling between them will to ensure that polluters are produce more offspring and held responsible for clean- can even replenish fished ing up their toxic waste. We populations and “reseed” ar- must fight to restore federal eas devastated by manmade environmental protections catastrophes such as dead that have been systematical- zones and oil spills. “The range of ly stripped from the public. environmental These protections will help injustices that tribal us rebuild sewage plants and low-income and water delivery systems, “We are not used to revitalize city parks and ex- thinking of sediment people confront in pand public transportation. as pollution, but their communities by volume, it is the amounts to Congress must pass genocide, or more the equivalent of the biggest pollution Want more Environmental Justice problem we have.” recommendations? properly, ecocide.” Act of 2007 to give the Check out the complete weakly implemented 1994 Rae Schnapp, Blueprint for Earl Hatley, Grand Riverkeeper Executive Order the force of Wabash Riverkeeper Clean Water at federal law. www.waterkeeper.org.

56 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Call to

Action By Janelle Robbins, Staff Scientist

We have laid out what the next administration must do to protect our water resources. Here are some of the things that YOU can do:

Protection for all waters of the United States. Head- Diversions of instream flows are needlessly drying waters, wetlands and intermittent streams are integral to the up our rivers, lakes and other water resources. We’re health of our water resources and all deserve protection. Visit a thirsty nation, but there’s no need for waste. To conserve wa- www.congress.org to encourage your elected officials to support ter, check out www.epa.gov/watersense to find a list of certified the Clean Water Restoration Act to protect all of our waters. water-saving products, encourage your municipality to provide incentives for water conservation and to seek sustainable Enforcement is the crux of our legal system and you sources of water for your community. For more ideas and tools, play an integral part. You can become an agent of change go to www.waterwiser.org. by knowing and following the law, reporting violations in your community, and following up with enforcement agencies to Coal mining is dirty from start to finish, but there make sure pollution problems are solved. Locate your state envi- are alternatives. If you’re connected to the electrical grid, ronmental agency at www.epa.gov/epahome/state.htm. chances are that your power comes from coal. To find your connection to mountaintop removal coal mining, visit www. Stormwater is one of the most pervasive, yet avoid- ilovemountains.org and then visit www.sterlingplanet.com/resi- able, pollution problems. Everyone can do their part to dential to explore the use of clean, renewable sources of energy. prevent runoff at home, such as using permeable materials for driveways, sidewalks and patios rather than concrete or asphalt; Shopping wisely can reduce agricultural nonpoint using rain barrels and rain gardens to store and utilize rainwa- source pollution. Corporate-farm food leaves a legacy of ter; and maintaining a green pesticides, chemical fertil- yard with native vegetation to izers and sediment pollution reduce the need for pollut- on its way to your table. By ing pesticides and fertilizers. Join your local Waterkeeper program at purchasing local, organic and Visit www.lid-stormwater.net/ www.waterkeeper.org. otherwise sustainable food, homedesign.htm and www. you can reduce the ecologi- wildflower.org for ideas. cal footprint of your meals. Check out www.localharvest. Sewage generation may be inevitable, but sewage org to find farmers’ markets, family farms and other sources of pollution can be stopped. Sewage pollution contaminates sustainably grown food in your area. our beaches, drinking water supplies and surface waters, but it can be prevented by conserving water, having septic systems Even if you’re landlocked, ocean protection should inspected regularly, and not flushing pharmaceuticals or other be a priority. The U.S. economy, security and environment hazardous materials down the toilet. Check out http://earth911. depend on healthy oceans. Do your part by consuming only org to find the best ways to dispose of these dangerous sub- sustainably harvested seafood by using the resources at www. stances in your community. mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp and find out how you can prevent plastic and debris pollution at www.greatgarbagepatch.org. Technology exists today to prevent mercury pollution from coal. Our government lacks the will to force Everyone must commit to ensuring environmental coal-fired power plants to change their dirty ways. Go to justice for all. America’s poorest communities are also the http://coalmoney.priceofoil.org to see how much money your most polluted because they are used as dumping grounds for all legislators have taken from the coal industry, and use the links kinds of toxic waste. To see how your community stacks up, visit to tell your elected officials to represent your interests, not the www.scorecard.org/community/ej-hotspots.tcl and contact www. coal industry’s. crpe-ej.org to learn how you can stop environmental injustice. w

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 57 waterkeeper conference 10th Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference

reated to an unbroken string of sun- ny days, more than 250 Waterkeep- Ters and their staff members spent the last week of June in Seattle for the 10th Annual Waterkeeper Conference. Co- hosts North Sound Baykeeper and Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, along with conference coordinator Heather George, helped arrange the most successful conference yet. Conference goers were challenged and inspired by morning speakers including Thomas Linzey from the Democracy School, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims. During the day, Waterkeepers attended a variety of panels covering technical, fundraising, communications, operations and advocacy issues. On an evening cruise of Puget Sound, D o v e R i ck Martha Kongsgaard, one of the leaders of local efforts to restore the sound to health, talked about the challenges of creating a sustainable future. Andy Willner, who “Nothing could have prepared me for the energy and inspiration was stepping down after nearly 20 years generated by this gathering of Waterkeepers. I leave the conference with a of extraordinary service as the New York/ profound gratitude for their stalwart advocacy and tremendous pride at New Jersey Baykeeper, was honored. It was clear that everyone left Seattle being part of this remarkable movement.” ready for another year of fighting for Kristine Stratton, Executive Director Waterkeeper Alliance clean water until next year’s conference in New York!

“Our Puget Soundkeeper Alliance staff was thrilled to host the 2008 Waterkeeper Conference. We are very proud of our legal accomplishments and of our beautiful city here on Puget Sound. Local Waterkeepers have a tough job and the inspiration, education and energy shared at the annual conference help send us home more determined than ever to protect our local waterways.” Margy Wallace, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

58 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org Thank You! We owe a great deal of gratitude to our co-hosts from North Sound Baykeeper (Wendy Steffensen and Robyn DuPre) and tion Puget Soundkeeper Alliance (Sue Joerger, Paul Fredrickson, Katie R e c re a

a nd Kolarich, Betsy Moyer, Margy Wallace and Chris Wilke). In addition,

Pa r ks we want to express our awe and gratitude for the talents of our ttle conference coordinator, Heather George.

We would like to thank We are so grateful to Thank you to all the the following individuals, the companies that people that volunteered organizations and generously donated time to help us in one foundations for their snacks, drinks and way or another! financial support of the services: Beth Bronson 10th Annual Waterkeeper Jod y Ble cksm ith, Senior G a rdener Se a Cayalla Alliance Conference: Gloria Chambers Firesteed Jim Abrams Ross Chambers Fish Tale Ales Wendy Abrams (Cool Val Chamberlin “I am glad to report that we are working Globes) Greenboatstuff.com Amy Chastain Hurricane Kayaks with renewed energy and we are pleased Todd Beck Frank Chinn Carlos Bernard J.J. Brenner Oyster Co. to have participated once again in this Lucy Codron Sarah Carter Mercer Estates Bruce Dean important conference.” Ann Colley Mrs. May’s Brendan DeMelle Javier Villavicencio, Punta Abreojos Coastkeeper, Mexico Jackie Curleigh Nature’s Path Organic Abby Egginton Larry David OARS Lee First Stephen Dolezalek Otterbox Gerrie Goddard Environment Now Pevonia Gerry Grady “I would like to extend my most sincere Liz Ferrin (Teva) Planet Heather Griesman appreciation for this conference. Each day, John Ferriter Rite in the Rain Gene Homicki we were enriched with experiences and David Jayo (REI) Robert’s American Holly Jones Gourmet energy to continue fighting for our rivers, Karen Lehner Donna Jordan Sahale Snacks lakes, bays and coasts. Our trip to this National Endowment for Sean Larkin Democracy Sierra Nevada Tom Lyons beautiful place was marvelous.” Larry Morris SmartShield Pete Marshall Luis Lugo, Meta Riverkeeper, Colombia Paul Polizzotto Solio Vivian McKay (EcoMedia) Stormwater Mike Montgomery Glenn Rink (AbTech Taylor Shellfish Farms Industries) Anne Morgan The Hain Celestial Group Ben Silverman Lee Moyer “Waterkeepers are changing the world one Thurston Wolfe Paul Streitz James Nichols watershed at a time and I am humbled to be Teva Joe Tomlinson Madeline Patrick part of the amazing Waterkeeper movement!” Kim Payne Michele Merkel, Chesapeake regional coordinator, Nikki Polizzotto Waterkeeper Alliance tion Stephen Pope

R e c re a Hallison Putnam a nd Greg Waters Pa r ks Liz Studebaker “I often refer to the conference as one of my ttle Laurel Tomchick dreams because, on top of learning greatly Vicky Wenzlau from each other, we are able to visit beautiful Cate White places. This experience is very useful to us in David Wilson the protection of our watersheds and we have Faith Wilson started to win important battles in this respect.” Jod y Ble cksm ith, Senior G a rdener a Se Julio Solis, Magdalena Baykeeper, Mexico

www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 59 waterkeeper conference

10th Annual Waterkeeper Alliance Conference Waterkeepers Give Back n addition to attending panels and hearing a diverse array of speakers, Waterkeepers gave back to the community by engag- “I can’t thank Waterkeeper Alliance enough for Iing in a restoration project that focused on polluted runoff and Puget Sound. giving me the opportunity to attend the conference Stormwater is a leading cause of water pollution and the primary and be a part of the team again this year. I never reason why 40 percent of our nation’s waterways fail to meet water quality standards. Rain and snowmelt flow over roads, rooftops and thought a work-related event would become one of parking lots collecting contaminants and polluting our rivers, lakes the highlights of my year, but it is.” and bays. Amy Chastain, Staff attorney, San Francisco Baykeeper Today, runoff is the single largest source of contaminants in Puget Sound, yet stormwater has long been unrecognized by the public as a major source of pollution. Waterkeepers, Alliance staff, REI employees and other volunteers put in more than 300 volunteer hours at Golden Gardens Park to: “As a Waterkeeper with five years under

• Retrofit six storm drains to remove petroleum and pathogens my belt, I am still learning things. from runoff; But being able to share what I’ve learned • Remove over 7 yards of invasive species from critical wetland with others, that’s a good feeling.” and dune habitats; • Clean over 5 yards of sand from wetlands and weirs, Wendy Steffensen, North Sound Baykeeper, Conference Co-host • Stabilize and prepare slopes for plantings of native vegetation, and • Conduct a beach clean up.

Waterkeeper Alliance sincerely thanks REI for their supporting “What a conference! My fellow attendees grant and volunteers; Glenn Rink, President of AbTech Industries and Kelly Jaske, Vice-President of Operations of Hydrophix for their have energized me beyond words.” gracious donation of Ultra Urban Filters® and time; and Jody Bleck- John Wathen, Hurricane Creekkeeper, Tuscaloosa, Ala. smith, Gale Gilbertson, Theresa McEwan, Patrick Merriam and Miriam Preus with the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department for their time and energy! w

According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, stormwater carries between 6.3 and 8 million gallons of petroleum into Puget Sound — or an equivalent of over half an Exxon Valdez spill — every year. Other contaminants flowing into the sound include heavy metals like lead and mercury, fertilizers, pesticides, PCBs and pathogens. These toxins cause genetic damage and increase mortality in aquatic species and humans alike. Nutrients and bacteria force the closure of fisheries and beaches.

60 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org STORMWATER RUNOFF IS ONE OF THE LEADING CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION

ABTECHABA TECCHH INDUSTRIESINDNDUUSSTRRIEES STRIVESSTTRIRIVEV S TOTO MAKEMAKAKE THISTTHHIS WORLDWORRLLD A BETTERBETETTER PLACEPLACACE FORFOR GENERATIONSGEGENEERAR TIONS TOT COME.COMOMEE. WITHWWITH THETHEHE SMARTSMAARTR SPONGESPOONGN E TECHNOLOGY,TECHNNOLLOOGYY, STORMWATERSTORO MWMWATERR RUNOFFRUNUNOFF POLLUTIONPOLLLUTTIIOON ISS BEINGBEINGG TREATEDTREATEDD ININ ANA UNPRECEDENTEDUNNPPRECCEEDDEENTNTED WAYWAY WHILEWHILE HAVINGHAVINNG A GLOBALGLG OBBALAL IMPACTIMMPAACCTT ONON WATERWWATEER QUALITYQUQUALITTY AROUNDARA OUND THETHEH WORLD.WORO LD. TOTO FINDFINDD OUTOUTT MOREMORE ABOUTABOUUT ABTECHABA TEECHH INDUSTRIESINNDDUSTS RIESES ANDANND OUROUR MISSIONMISSION TOTO CLEANCLC EAN UPUP THETHEH WATERWAATTERR SUPPLYSUPPLLY CONTACTCOCONTN ACT US ATAT 1.800.545.899911.808 00.54455.899999 OROR VISITVVISIIT www.abtechindustries.com.www w.w abteechindud sttrieses.coomm. Gordon Fearey explores memory and loss through photographs of clothing, flags and other objects immersed in water. USA, his photograph of an American flag partially submerged in water, examines the boundary between consecration and desecration, On The Water baptism and burial. “The flag could be a battle standard in a moment of some defining With Gordon Fearey struggle,” he says, “or flotsam sinking in polluted water. It’s an apt metaphor for this moment in our history, when we either choose the path to a sustainable future or watch our most precious birthright destroyed.” {www.gordonfeareyart.com

62 Waterkeeper Magazine Fall 2008 www.waterkeeper.org www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 63

riverkeeper inauguration

ighting for the Flint River is nothing new to former President Jimmy Carter. He’s been at Fit since the 1970s when he was governor of Georgia and faced down the state’s entire Congres- sional delegation to keep three dams off the river, one of which was to be built at Sprewell Bluff, now a state park and popular fishing spot. This past August, Carter recalled that show- down — as well as his deep ties to the Flint going back to his boyhood in nearby Plains — at an event President, in Oglethorpe inaugurating the Flint Riverkeeper, the seventh Waterkeeper program in Georgia. He was joined by more than 200 river advocates, many of whom had just completed a weeklong, 95-mile Peacemaker, paddle trip down the Flint from Thomaston, Ga. The Flint begins its 200-mile journey as a spring under the runways of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, winding southwest where it meets up with the Chattahoochee River at the Riverkeeper Georgia-Alabama-Florida border. Carter’s opposition to damming the Flint propelled the little- known Georgia governor onto the national scene as an environmental crusader willing to face down Washington power brokers. “It was unprecedented back then for any- body to be against a dam,” Carter said, adding that those opposing a construction project that brought the kind of federal money and jobs that a dam project did were regarded as “just a bunch of weirdo environmentalists.” Attitudes toward environmental activists have changed considerably since then, and yet the al- lure of federal dollars and the jobs they bring with them haven’t. In recent months, Reps. Nathan Deal (R-Gainesville) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-

Grantville) have proposed building new dams on Fa llon the Flint to increase thirsty Atlanta’s D o ug water supply. The renewed threat to the Flint River posed by the dams was a major Carter’s opposition factor in local community leaders, en- to damming the vironmental advocates and concerned Flint propelled citizens joining together to create the Flint Riverkeeper program. the little-known “You ought to prepare for a massive Georgia governor ... fight,” Carter warned. “Because you’re

up against the promise of employment as an environmental llon

and recreation and higher land prices Fa crusader willing

ug o — and more water for Atlanta. All of D those are going to be put forward and to face down you need to be organized and willing Washington to work on it and be prepared.” He closed by telling his audience, “When you power brokers. need me, I’ll be with you,” his gaze steely-eyed like a Western lawman, his voice full of the resolve of an Old Testament prophet. Many in the crowd nod- ded their heads in assent knowing this was a man who meant to keep his word. w www.waterkeeper.org Fall 2008 Waterkeeper Magazine 65 ‹‹‹‹‹‹ Sounding Off ›››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››››

Letter to the New President of the United States

Mr. President,

Please accept my congratulations on your election as the 44th President of the United States of America. I have full confidence in your ability to faithfully lead your country out of the economic troubles it currently faces. However, as an environmental advocate, I would like to add my voice to those of other environmental advocates in stressing the importance of the United States’ role in environmental protection.

First, please remember that although the United States is a sovereign nation, its role as a member of the global village is extremely important. As president, you have the responsibility to lead your people in protecting the earth and making international commitments on energy conservation and carbon-emission reductions.

Within your country’s own borders, wasteful use of energy and resources still exists. It is crucial that you set a high standard for the citizens of your own nation. By leading your own country and showing devotion toward protecting the environment, I am confident you will have considerable influence on others around the globe.

Administrative achievements are mostly short-term. But if you could emphasize the importance of energy conservation, pollution reduction, Yun Jianli (second river preservation and environmental protection, it will benefit generations to from the right) is Waterkeeper for the come. The people of the world will remember your legacy. middle section of the Han River in Xiangfan City, Hubei, China.

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