What's in your Maryland drinking water? Environmental groups sue EPA for quality clarity

Three Maryland environmental groups have announced plans to file a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for failure to abide by conditions in the Clean Water Act.

The Environmental Integrity Project, Waterkeeper Alliance and Center for Biological Diversity sent the federal agency a notice of intent to sue for its failure to issue a national report on water quality as required by the 1972 Clean Water Act.

According to the groups, "the landmark 1972 law requires the EPA to report on the condition of America’s streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries at least once every two years. But EPA’s last national water quality report was released seven years ago, in 2017, according to the notice," the notice stated.

Additionally, a national coalition of more than 50 clean water organizations sent a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan urging the agency to address failing to update and strengthen technology-based standards for industry water pollution control systems, which legally should be updated regularly; and not identifying the funding needed to fulfill EPA’s Clean Water Act responsibilities.

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“With all of the environmental challenges our nation faces, it’s critically important that EPA doesn’t forget about the Clean Water Act – a cornerstone law that has been neglected and only partially implemented. The Clean Water Act can’t live up to its promise if EPA won’t report on polluted waterways, as required, or update its standards to keep pace with technology,” said Meg Parish, senior attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project.

According to environmental groups, a result of the "badly outdated standards" is that chemical manufacturing plants, among other industrial sources of water pollution, are releasing far more pollution into local waterways across the U.S. than they should, as detailed in a new report released by the Environmental Integrity Project.

A policy briefing by the integrity project released last Thursday states the "EPA needs to review and revise the effluent limitation guidelines for petrochemical and plastics plants, along with those for oil refineries, fertilizer plants and other industries with outdated technology-based limits."

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Discharge of industrial pollutants poses 'serious risks to public health'

Betsy Southerland, former director of the EPA's Office of Science and Technology, underscored the importance of industry pollution in waterways.

“EPA's effluent limitation guidelines have been on life support since most of its staff and funds were transferred to other programs in 2000. Consequently, the discharge of industrial pollutants posing serious risks to public health and the environment, including newly recognized pollutants such as PFAS, has continued unabated for decades," Southerland said.

Among the pollutants the legislation is designed to curtail are nutrients, phosphorous, chemical oxygen, organic carbon, dissolved and suspended solids, salts, Sulphur and chlorides.

“The EPA has obscured essential information about waterway pollution and aquatic ecosystem health for seven years, leaving us no choice but to launch this lawsuit," said Hannah Connor, Environmental Health Deputy Director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "I urge agency officials to quickly provide this assessment of how much states and the EPA have done to reduce pollution, how much remains to be done and what actions are needed to restore polluted waterways to health.”

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PFAS issues and Salisbury drinking water

Locally, the city of Salisbury has responded to concerns about PFAS contamination in its water supply, saying it currently meets all quality regulations required by state and federal agencies.

According to city officials, water standards from the Maryland Department of Environment and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were met despite a newly released EPA report that led to increased attention to the existence of Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, in drinking water nationwide.“

These regulations did not come as a surprise,” said Salisbury Director of Water Works Cori Cameron. “We understand that residents are concerned about the water they use every day. The city of Salisbury did not create this problem, but we have been and are currently working to correct it. The new rules allow water systems five years to plan, design and find the best solutions for their community.”

The city also contends it has been planning and researching solutions for "forever chemicals" for years for its water system to meet the new standards, which are slated to go into effect in 2029.

The city of Salisbury, which serves an estimated 30,343 residents, was found to exceed safe PFAS levels by 400% in three tests in 20 which were completed. The results found two pollutants in the area's water supply.

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This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Clean water enforcement at center of EPA lawsuit by Maryland groups