http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=54633a09cab18ccf&cat=9dd26ff7f3fbfc0eTRENTON, New Jersey - May 4 - Nearly one thousand water-bodies across New Jersey are too dirty for fishing or swimming, according to the latest agency figures posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Many of the 970 polluted lakes, rivers, bays and estuaries serve as drinking water sources, habitat for fish and shellfish, and recreation for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents.
Water pollutants include nutrients such as phosphorus; toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, and lead; pesticides; toxic chemicals including PCBs and dioxin; and pathogens such as fecal coliform bacteria. One direct result of this pollution has been a rise in the number, scope and severity of health advisories against consuming local fish or shellfish.
“Given how bad this news is, no wonder the state tried to low ball this report,” stated New Jersey PEER Director Bill Wolfe, noting that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which issues news releases on a daily basis did not feature this new report in any press statements. “Setting aside the technical details, the quality of state waters is getting worse each year while the state sits on its thumbs.”
Under the federal Clean Water Act, New Jersey is required, every two years, to prepare and submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency a list of polluted or “water quality limited waters.” This list has been known as the Impaired Waters or “303(d) List” (after the Clean Water Act subsection requiring it).
This formal listing has significant regulatory implications. For example, development in polluted watersheds must be more strictly regulated by DEP as well to control “non-point” source pollution. Sewage treatment plants and industrial pollution discharges to listed waters must also be more strictly regulated. In addition, these dischargers must upgrade their plants to install additional pollution controls.
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When you look at us and what we are doing to our environment are we any different than China or Russia???