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2003 Environmental News
December, 2003
World's largest mozzarella maker settles Nebraska wastewater stream pollution case. Leprino Foods Company to pay an $85,000 fine and donate another $15,000 to help upgrade the local wastewater treatment plant. The Independent 12/28/03
A big beer spill and wastewater overflow in Colorado may yet improve wetlands for wild animals. The accidents wiped out thousands of fish, but the Coors brewery is restoring habitat as part of its penalties. Denver Post 12/28/03
Minnesota to add 211 polluted lakes and streams to its federally-mandated clean-up list. The state's total now is almost 2,000 with nearly 90 % of lakes and 95% of rivers still not assessed. Pioneer Press 12/23/03
Editorial: Industries that pollute West Virginia rivers and streams want to relax clean water rules. Some have written scripts for lawmakers to recite. The Legislature should say no. Charleston, West Virginia Gazette 12/22/03
Environmental groups say they fear Bush administration will launch holiday season attack on Clean Water Act. Shifting enforcement from EPA to states would weaken protections, they argue. Naples Daily News 12/21/03
New York City trying to protect its water supply by protecting its watershed. New York Times 12/20/03
Shocked
Washington state senator to introduce bill requiring regulation of water
quality in public schools. Tests by parents showed high levels
of lead and other contaminants. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 12/19/03
Undoing
Chinatown. Los Angeles to give up water to restore 62 miles
of the Owens River. Eastern Sierra region drained dry nearly century ago
to give L.A. water. AP/San Jose Mercury News 12/18/03
Bush administration abandons effort to rewrite Clean Water Act protections for wetlands. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 12/16/03
EPA gives power plants up to 15 years to install mercury-reducing technology. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 12/15/03
EPA to help North Dakota clean arsenic from groundwater. AP/LA Times 12/15/03
Illinois communities finally face deadline for removing radium from water nearly 25 years after federal government set safety limits. Almost half a million in state may be drinking tainted water. Chicago Sun Times 12/15/03
Feature: Mercury in water, air a growing concern. EPA deadline today on new rules that critics argue weaken health protections against mercury. Chicago Tribune 12/14/03
Schwarzenegger order may delay California water-saving clothes washer law. Other states are watching. AP/Mercury News 12/13/03
Urban heat and pollution change rain patterns, cheating some areas of much-needed rain and snow while dousing others, scientists say. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 12/12/03
Maryland Farm Bureau members support changes in the state's Water Quality Improvement Act designed to make it easier for farmers to report how they use fertilizers. AP/Baltimore Sun 12/10/03
Winter winds are blowing ash and contaminants from the Southern California forest fires into local water supplies. Consumers will see higher water prices. North County Times 12/10/03
Editorial: Dirty trick on waterways. The White House should dump proposed changes to the Clean Water Act before it takes U.S. water protection back 30 years. Los Angeles Times 12/8/03
Editorial: Safeguard 'minor' bodies of water. Congress must remain vigilant in its support of the Clean Water Act. Atlanta Journal Constitution 12/8/03
Florida county's health officials looking at pipes, not drinking water supplies, as possible source of radium contamination. Pensacola News Journal 12/1/03
November 2003
Feature: So near and yet so far. How Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin solved its radium problem and tied into the Great Lakes water system. Lowell, Indiana was denied permission to do the same thing to cure its fluoride problem. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 11/30/03
Feature: Great Lakes Basin water management. The big exception: Chicago Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 11/30/03
China weighs value of economic development against cost of water sources pollution. Xinhua 11/30/03
Cold War-era uranium mine continues to contaminate Spokane Indian reservation. EPA creating plan to clean up huge areas of water and soil pollution in Washington state reservation. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 11/29/03
Press Release and PDF of Clean Water Act letter to Bush signed by Congressmen. Press Release 11/26/03
American Rivers praises House members for clean water stance. Press Release 11/26/03
Half of U.S. House members sign letter asking Bush to keep Clean Water Act. AP/ABCNEWS 11/25/03
Feature: U.S. Supreme Court to hear Florida case on pumping water and its pollutants from one area to another. Twenty four states are lined up on one side or the other of the issue. Sun-Sentinel 11/24/03
Health officials to test Pensacola Bay, Florida area drinking water for radium. Local utility accused of providing residents with contaminated drinking water for a decade. AP/Herald Tribune 11/24/03
IBM to pay to pump clean water into New York state areas where groundwater was polluted years ago by a contractor. Poughkeepsie Journal 11/17/03
California's new Robert Redford Building is one of the "greenest" in the U.S. The toilets flush themselves with rainwater and the building uses 60% less water than conventional offices. Reuters 11/13/03
More perchlorate found in eastern Iowa water wells. EPA seeking the source. Des Moines Register 11/13/03
Is missing uranium in Nevada's drinking water? Tracking uranium more than 25 years later. AP/Salt Lake Tribune 11/10/03
Community project: Working together, residents, students and state and federal agencies reduced the level of nitrates in the water of a northwest Iowa town by half, officials say. AP/Sioux City Journal 11/10/03
Pentagon to launch new Nevada perchlorate study. Federal defense bill includes study of southern Nevada water supply. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 11/8/03
EPA draft rule would dilute the Clean Water Act. If implemented, streams and wetlands would be open to development. West to bear the brunt. L.A. Times 11/6/03
Leavitt takes over as EPA chief. AP/Newsday 11/6/03
High salt levels and increasing contamination from other sources in Andover, Mass. water supply prompts call for building controls. Health director calls drinking water situation: "A crisis waiting to happen." Andover Townsman 11/6/03
Corps of Engineers issue plan for restoring Florida's Everglades. Environmentalists fear it leaves too much to chance. Sun-Sentinel 11/5/03
EPA approves most Kansas water standards, including those from new legislation. AP/Topeka Capital Journal 11/4/03
EPA to ease sewage treatment rules. Allow plants to skip a process for killing some pathogens after heavy rains or snow melts. Newsday 11/3/03
Pompano Beach, Florida drinking water samples fail lead test. Residents offered tips to avoid excessive levels of the heavy metal. Sun-Sentinel 11/3/03
October, 2003
California farmers granted more time to meet irrigation testing rules. Merced Sun-Star 10/29/03
Nevada to test groundwater around old mine for uranium. Documents show very high levels in mine's wells. AP Exclusive 10/29/03
E.coli found in Massachusetts town's water supply. Public not to be notified yet, official says. Townsend Times 10/29/03
EPA widely differs with Air Force over impact of perchlorate in drinking water. National Academy of Sciences may settle the dispute. AP/Casper Star-Tribune 10/28/03
California farmers must control wastewater leaving their land. Rules are 10 months behind schedule, but some still caught by surprise. Hollister Free Lance 10/28/03
Environmental groups say poll shows Tennesseans strongly support stringent environmental laws and regulations to protect clean air and clean water. U.S. Newswire 10/28/03
Former EPA head Whitman writes book calling for moderation. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 10/28/03
Three Texas environmental groups join a chorus of opposition to the potential sale of vast amounts of state-owned water to private investors. Star-Telegram 10/24/03
Sierra Club accuses Washington's governor of damaging water supplies throughout the state. Post-Intelligencer 10/23/03
Tucson concerned state officials didn't warn them of extent of gasoline contamination. Will test water supply. Arizona Republic 10/23/03
Water from two wells near Tampa, Florida phosphate plant was safe, officials say. But some area residents are waiting for tests arranged by Erin Brockovich's L.A. law firm. Tampa Tribune 10/22/03
EPA orders Southern California water district to stop spills in sewer system. Waste News 10/22/03
Officials: `Significant' groundwater contamination discovered from Arizona gasoline pipeline break. Discharge may have been much larger than originally believed. AP/San Francisco Chronicle 10/21/03
Jacksonville, Florida homeowners complain they never were warned against using contaminated well water on lawns, to wash cars or other outdoor purposes. News4JAX 10/21/03
EPA gives Maryland $378,000 for water quality protection. Press Release 10/19/03
World Water Monitoring Day: Maryland students test river waters. Baltimore Sun 10/19/03
World Water Monitoring Day is today. Event began last year and 75,000 participated. Santa Barbara Daily Nexus 10/17/03
EPA will try to find the source of Grand Island, Nebraska water well contamination. AP/The Omaha Channel 10/17/03
An extensive study by the state Health Department shows untreated water in Rhode Island is pretty clean. AP/The Westerly Sun 10/17/03
Tennessee official says he was mistaken when he said half of state's groundwater is contaminated. Actually, there's no way to know. Tennessean 10/16/03
Leavitt's EPA nomination advances but Senators vow tough vote ahead. NY Times 10/15/03
EPA seeking cost-effective arsenic removal treatments for small drinking water systems. 10/15/03
Chesapeake Bay will be site of first World Water Monitoring Day event Friday. U.S. Newswire 10/13/03
Contaminated groundwater widespread near Tennessee landfills, state official says. Tennessean 10/13/03
Coastal California county water district moves groundwater pumping inland to ease seawater intrusion. PR News 10/13/03
Wyoming still has almost no one on-the-ground monitoring coal-bed methane water quality regulations, according to a legislative report. AP/Casper Star-Tribune 10/13/03
Contaminants found in New York community college drinking water. Disagreement over precautions. Daily Freeman 10/13/03
Environmental group sues EPA over Missouri water quality. Kansas City Star 10/11/03
Connecticut chemical company agrees to pay $4.5 million to clean western Pensylvania water supply. AP/PennLive 10/8/03
Winter road salt seeping into Dedham, Mass. drinking water. Once in the water, salt levels don't drop, officials say. Daily News 10/8/03
Special Report: Great Lakes--Thousands of companies regularly flush more toxic chemicals into the Great Lakes and the nation's other waterways than the law allows. Detroit News
Pennsylvania creates six regional water resources committees. They'll develop state water plan. PR Newswire
Self-sufficient house in Thailand even produces its own water supply. Arab Times
September, 2003
Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson and more create CD promoting universal right to clean air and clean water. Business News
Environmentalists blast Schwarzenegger over $100,000 donation from Montana-based developer accused of more than 400 EPA violations. His stand on California EPA also questioned. AP/San Francisco Chronicle
Despite arguments that water around DuPont's West Virginia plant is safe, concerns raised about the Mid-Ohio Valley water supply. Tests 20 years ago showed chemical C8 might cause birth defects. The Marietta Times
Higher than expected level of radioactive contaminant found in Idaho aquifer. AP/San Francisco Chronicle
Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Army to share $3.2 million TCE clean-up cost. Tuscaloosa News
Task force backs expanded environmental role for Kansas Water Authority. Lawrence-Journal World
Dickson County, Tenn., water wells near a leaking landfill will be contaminated with toxic chemicals for years, officials say. Need to hook residents to public water system. Tennessean
Salt Lake City launches $570,000 campaign to convince public to protect the quality of water in the Wasatch Mountains. Salt Lake Tribune
A federal commission charged with improving water quality in the Illinois River watershed needs a consistent way of measuring pollution, say Arkansas and Oklahoma regulators. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Environmental group gives Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin "F" for clean water enforcement. New Jersey best overall in nine-state study. The Macomb Daily
New report: Few California water polluters fined by regulators. Oakland Tribune
New Oregon water rule proposal too strict on housing developments and agriculture, county officials say. News-Register.com
More wells installed near polluted Plant City, Florida area to find source of arsenic, boron and other contaminants. Tampa Bay Tribune
New Jersey drinking water report studies increase of rare cancers in areas where radium exceeds federal limits. Gloucester County Times
Grand Island, Nebraska discovers industrial solvent in some water wells. Source is a puzzle. The Independent
EPA will scrutinize Florida's management of Pensacola water agency that provided drinking water with high radium levels to its customers for four years. Pensacola News Journal
When the rains come: California seeks volunteers to catch the first drops of water runoff when the rainy season begins. Testing determines priorities for pollution control. Ukiah Daily Journal
Alabama hog farm sued over fears it pollutes the Tennessee River. AP/Tuscaloosa News
MTBE likely to get Congressional protection from water pollution lawsuits, AWWA executive predicts. State and local water agencies oppose exemption. Scripps Howard News Service/Knoxstudio.com
More than 40 groundwater polluters in California's San Gabriel Valley given Sept. 22 state deadline to agree to negotiate a clean up plan. Area has been a U.S. Super Fund site since the 1980s. PR Newswire
Corps of Engineers asks power plant developer to come up with more environmentally sensitive Muskingum River dredging plan. Zanesville Times Recorder
EPA returns to Iowa town to distribute drinking water, test for more perchlorate and try to determine the extent of contamination. Iowa City Press-Citizen
Oklahoma offers Arkansas new plan for phosphorus discharges into river. Allows northwest Arkansas 20 years of growth. The Morning News
Alaska to take responsibility for ensuring state's water meets federal standards. Currently U.S.EPA monitors state drinking water. Alaska Journal of Commerce
Radium woes may add $180 to yearly Fond du Lac, Wisconsin water bills. That's an 80% increase. The Reporter
Water bans keep some Massachusetts towns dry: growth out running well supplies. Milford Daily News
North Carolina clean water agency spends $362.8 million over seven years in grants to 453 projects. New Bern Sun Journal
Mercury contaminates two public water wells in Maryland. State asks feds to help find source. Daily Times
Onancock, Md. defends water facility. Chesapeake Bay Foundation wants lower nitrogen discharge into the bay. delmarvaNow.com
U.S. Conference of Mayors and Urban Water council back EPA's water quality trading policy. U.S. Newswire
Company that created nine-mile perchlorate plume that spread to California county's drinking supplies, proposes plan to fix it. Mercury News
Environment teachers get lessons in importance of water. North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee teachers study wetlands and water purification. AP/Washington Post
Nearly
100,000 of Wisconsin's 800,000 water wells may have unsafe levels of nitrate,
officials estimate. Users may not know of problem. Post-Crescent
Missouri
passes federal drinking water standards tests, says new report.
AP/KRCG
World
Bank Study: Saving forests is the best way to cheap, clean water.
Reuters/Yahoo
Russian technology cleaning Montana reservation water. Zap that pollution. The Missoula Independent
Aerojet and Boeing to pay $25 million settlement in Sacramento, Calif. rocket fuel water contamination suit. AP/Sacramento Bee
August
More controversy at Milford, Conn. power plant. Contamination in near-by wells is under investigation. WTNH
Nebraska heat adds bicarb and bubbles to the water. "If you get a glass of water and can't see through it" says water superintendent, "I can understand their concern." Beatrice Daily Sun
The federal Environmental Protection Agency is testing lead levels in every water tap in Syracuse, N.Y. schools. Post-Standard
Environmental groups sue EPA over Kansas water regulations. Feds moving too slow on water quality standards, suit says. AP/KCTV-5
EPA to study northwest Arkansas watershed. Test aquatic life in the Illinois River and Kings River watersheds. AP/Longview, Texas, News-Journal
Officials fighting federal use of Nevada's Yucca Mountain to store nuclear waste argue it would contaminate state groundwater. Las Vegas Sun
No perchlorate in Napier, Iowa water supply. Town does own tests after EPA reports privacy laws don't allow it to tell where it found chemical in area well. DesMoinesRegister
Earlier: EPA finds perchlorate in Iowa well. Says privacy laws prevent disclosing location. Des Moines Register
Is perchlorate in the Ventura County, Calif. wells near Boeing Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Lab? State tests contradictory. More sampling to come. Ventura County Star
Ah, that image problem. Reclaimed water fights for respect. Glendale Star
New Jersey residents pour out pollution proof. City officials vote connection to water lines. Messenger-Press
Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection tests home wells for radioactive groundwater. The Middletown Press
Boron, arsenic traces found in water wells near Plant City, Fla. phosphate plant. State EPA providing filters, bottled water to nine area families. Cause under study. BayNews9
Ohio EPA warns Lisbon. Elderly, sick and infants should drink bottled water. Morning Journal News
Batavia, Ill., to seek radon removal extension. Daily Herald
