NRDC

©  2010  Rose George

The Natural Resources Defense Council, a US NGO, is back on the case of sewage overflows, six years after issuing the excellent report Swimming in Sewage. NRDC, along with 25 New York and New Jersey-based organizations, has written to EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck about water quality standards. The letter outlines it fully, but briefly, they object to the EPA using a “seasonal average” to determine pathogen levels in coastal waters. As they write, “this is entirely incompatible with the Clean Water Act goal of “fishable/swimmable” waters. Quite simply, no one swims, paddles, or fishes in “average” water – they come into contact with water in whatever condition they find it at the particular time they are recreating in or on our waterways.” New York City has 27 billion gallons of combined sewer overflow (CSO) a year, and waters on the New Jersey side of the city are closed to direct shellfish harvesting, not a good sign of water quality. More at the NDRC blog.