EPA poised to allow more raw sewage

Although the Clean Water Act requires that raw sewage be treated to remove dangerous viruses, parasites and other pollutants before it is discharged into streams, lakes and drinking water sources, the Environmental Protection Agency is poised to finalize a new policy that would allow sewer operators to mix sewage that is not fully treated with treated sewage before discharging it into our waterways whenever it rains.

The policy would mean more bacteria, viruses and parasites in our recreational waters and drinking water supplies, where they would make more people sick. Every year, millions of Americans get sick from contact with inadequately treated sewage that ends up in water that we swim in or drink. (More than half of all waterborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. in the past 50 years were preceded by heavy rainfall). Exposure to untreated sewage contaminates shellfish, kills fish, and closes beaches.

In November 2003 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a draft policy guidance that would allow publicly owned treatment plants to discharge inadequately treated sewage, including human waste, into our nation's lakes, rivers, and oceans.

What You Can Do

Three members of the House of Representatives, Reps. Shaw (R-FL), Stupak (D-MI), and Pallone (D-NJ), are urging their colleagues to sign on to a letter that calls on the EPA to abandon its proposed policy to expand sewage dumping into the nation's waters. Write to your representative at:

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0001

Urge them to sign onto the Shaw/Stupak/Pallone anti-sewage letter.