It’s been an interesting year. We had folks in Charleston, West Virginia banned from using water for several days. (I wrote about this as a terrorist act, because a company managed to have its toxic chemicals leak into the drinking water source. (You would think this would make folks in West Virginia demand their government do a better job of regulating chemical storage. But, they haven’t. Proof that it takes all kinds.) Or, folks in the Carolinas and even Virginia have Duke Energy pollute their waters with toxic sludge. By pumping the coal ash into the Dan River. (Again, no citizen outcry.)
But, the most recent problem was in Toledo (OH). Here the water was totally unfit to drink. Because the algae that have been growing in the lake- and coating the lake for years- this time released a toxin called microcystin (a toxic peptide), rendering the water unsafe for consumption. The cause of the algal bloom- ‘runoff’. Now, the runoff doesn’t really hit the lake- but impacts the Maumee River, which feeds the lake.
Runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus compounds that comes from overfertilized lawns, overfertilized farmlands, poor septic tank maintenance, and from livestock activities. Oh, and from waste treatment plants that are not truly removing the nitrogen and phosphorus from the effluent before discharge. (But, these last items are called point sources- because they hit the river or lake at a single point.) Now, the “emergency” may be over. But, the algal bloom will persist through September, so this ‘toxic shock’ may happen again- soon.
These sort of problems are going to occur again and again- with higher frequency. Because we are not maintaining our infrastructure and because a certain party has been blocking the enforcement of the environmental laws that are already on the books.
It’s not just the EPA regulations that are being thwarted. We also work with Canada, since the Great Lakes affect them. We have agreed (via the International Joint Commission) to cut the phosphorus runoff by 50% within 8 years to protect fish AND the drinking water. And this situation is not just limited to Ohio, but Canada, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana that are supposed to insure this rule is met. The rule also stipulates that farmers can’t fertilize the land when it is covered with snow or the ground is frozen.
And, places like Ohio have decided that farmers will need a license to fertilize their farms starting in 2017. (There is an educational component to the law, as well. This is not to say that farmers are not trying to do the right thing- as of now, they’ve cut their fertilizer usage by 25% (in Ohio, at least), without reducing their crop yields.)
The Chesapeake Bay has similar problems. Which is why the Federal government has been leaning on states like Pennsylvania and New York, which feed the Bay. (It’s not just the Potomac River that drains into the bay- the Susquehana River does, as well.)
We can point to myriads of other lakes and streams, too. Or, the water treatment providers for various cities like DC- where the water pipes are so bad, it makes no difference if the treatment is adequate (it often isn’t)- because the water that comes out of our taps is not up to snuff. (Thankfully, Alexandria is NOT on that system- our water is pretty darn good.)
But, it’s obvious that what we’re doing all over America is not enough. Maybe it’s time you and I truly clamored for improvements to our water supplies.
