New Federal Rule Allowing Water Pollution Challenged

RELATED INFO Case:
EPA Water Transfer Rule
Lake Okeechobee Backpumping, Florida
Issue:
Water
Region:
Southeast
Office:
Florida
Buck in Brief:
News from the Sunshine State (06/15/05)
Fact Sheet:
Lake Okeechobee Backpumping Fact Sheet
Feature:
Pumping Pollution into Our Waterways
Press Release:
In Latest Anti-Clean Water Action, Bush Administration Gives Polluters OK to Pump Wastewater into Drinking Water Supplies (06/09/08)
Pumping Polluted Water into Lake Okeechobee Ruled Illegal (06/15/07)
Court Rules Pumping Polluted Water into Lake Okeechobee Violates Clean Water Act (12/11/06)
EPA Water Transfer Rule Proposes New Pollution Exemptions (06/01/06)
Closing Arguments Summarize Lake Okeechobee Contamination Case (04/19/06)
Additional Resources:
Florida Wildlife Federation's Arguments, Part 3
Florida Wildlife Federation's Arguments, Part 2
Florida Wildlife Federation's Arguments, Part 1
Reports:
Lake Okeechobee Pollution Crisis and the St. Lucie River and Estuary
South Florida Water Management District Legislative Budget Request Admitting Contamination of Drinking Water Taken from Lake Okeechobee
Report by City of South Bay on Water Quality Violations in South Bay Drinking Water
Army Corps of Engineers Report Showing Canals and Lake Okeechobee are Chemically Distinct and that Backpumping Sends Polluted Water into the Lake
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Report on Health Impacts of Lake Okeechobee Water
Victories:
A Historic Victory for Everglades Restoration
Relief for Lake Okeechobee Is on the Way
Polluting Lake Okeechobee Declared Illegal

Press Release
New Federal Rule Allowing Water Pollution Challenged
Bush administration okays pumping of polluted waters into clean rivers, lakes and streams
June 27, 2008

Discharge into Lake Okeechobee
Tallahassee, FL -- Earthjustice filed suit in U.S. Circuit Court in Atlanta today to challenge the Bush administration's latest attempt to weaken the Clean Water Act.
On June 9, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule that says polluters don't need to comply with the Clean Water Act when they transfer dirty water -- from canals contaminated by urban or agricultural pollution, for example -- directly into public lakes and streams.

Representing Florida Wildlife Federation, Earthjustice contends in its lawsuit that such water transfers should be protected by the Clean Water Act.
"The Bush administration has no right to create exemptions in the Clean Water Act that endanger public drinking water supplies," Guest said. "The public won't stand for this last-ditch move to protect polluters."

The Bush administration's water transfer rule has been the subject of legal challenges since it was first proposed in 2005. The issue arose out of a court case at Lake Okeechobee in South Florida. That case challenged the practice of "backpumping" water from contaminated drainage canals into Lake Okeechobee. The drainage canals are laced with fertilizer and urban and agricultural wastes. The practice has had disastrous effects on the lake, a major drinking water supply.

Earthjustice and the Florida Wildlife Federation sued, and won. The federal court ruled that the polluted water, coupled with routine disinfection at public water plants, creates "toxic disinfection byproducts that can sicken humans."

Transfers of contaminated water have already triggered numerous toxic algae blooms around the United States. The algae growths can make people sick and sometimes kill livestock or pets that drink the water. The drinking water supplies for millions of Americans across the country have been affected, including notable cases in Florida, Colorado, New Hampshire, and California. The dirty water is a health risk for pregnant women, and taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional treatment costs while polluters put more profits in their pockets.

"Instead of tightening protections and cleaning up the pollution, the EPA chose to legalize it," said Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation. "We had no choice but to file suit."
Read the suit (PDF)
Contact:
David Guest, Earthjustice, (850) 681-0031

Earthjustice 426 17th Street, Oakland, CA 94612 1.800.584.6460 info@earthjustice.org Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations and communities.

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