FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2009
EPA Administrator Announces Plan to Retool and Reinvigorate Clean Water Enforcement Program
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced today at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that the agency is stepping up its efforts on Clean Water Act enforcement. The Clean Water Action Enforcement Plan is a first step in revamping the compliance and enforcement program. It seeks to improve the protection of our nation’s water quality, raise the bar in federal and state performance and enhance public transparency.
“The safety of the water that we use in our homes -- the water we drink and give to our children -- is of paramount importance to our health and our environment. Having clean and safe water in our communities is a right that should be guaranteed for all Americans,” said Administrator Jackson. “Updating our efforts under the Clean Water Act will promote innovative solutions for 21st century water challenges, build stronger ties between EPA, state, and local actions, and provide the transparency the public rightfully expects.”
The plan announced today outlines how the agency will strengthen the way it addresses the water pollution challenges of this century. These challenges include pollution caused by numerous, dispersed sources, such as concentrated animal feeding operations, sewer overflows, contaminated water that flows from industrial facilities, construction sites, and runoff from urban streets.
The goals of the plan are to target enforcement to the most significant pollution problems, improve transparency and accountability by providing the public with access to better data on the water quality in their communities, and strengthen enforcement performance at the state and federal levels. Elements of the plan include the following:
· Develop more comprehensive approaches to ensure enforcement is targeted to the most serious violations and the most significant sources of pollution.
· Work with states to ensure greater consistency throughout the country with respect to compliance and water quality. Ensure that states are issuing protective permits and taking enforcement to achieve compliance and remove economic incentives to violate the law.
· Use 21st century information technology to collect, analyze and use information in new, more efficient ways and to make that information readily accessible to the public. Better tools will help federal and state regulators identify serious compliance problems quickly and take prompt actions to correct them.
Last July, Administrator Jackson directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to develop the plan in response to data showing that the nation’s water quality is unacceptably low in many parts of the country.
More information on the plan: http://www.epa.gov/compliance/civil/cwa/cwaenfplan.html
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Algae blooms: Judge hears objections
Algae blooms: Judge hears objections to Florida pollution agreement
It's seen as precedent-setting case that could serve as model for other states
By Associated Press
Monday, November 16, 2009
TALLAHASSEE — A judge is considering objections to an agreement by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to set surface water pollution standards for Florida.
It's seen as a precedent-setting case that could serve as a model for other states.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/nov/16/algae-blooms-judge-hears-objections-florida-pollut/
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle was set to hear arguments Monday on the proposed settlement between EPA and environmental groups.
If approved, the EPA for the first time will set limits on farm and urban runoff blamed for causing algae blooms in inland and coastal waters.
Opponents include business interests and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson. He says the standards would be too costly for farmers.
© 2009 Sc
Florida's next cash crop - water now doing to tide?
Dominica signs deal to export drinking water - To Miami?
eTaiwan News - David McFadden - 13 hours ago
Earlier this month, Skerrit said Dominica plans to export bottled water to Asia and sell electricity to its neighbors after a two-year study found the ...
Dominica signs deal to export drinking water
By DAVID McFADDEN
Associated Press
2009-11-15 04:47
The lush but poor Caribbean island of Dominica will allow an export company to ship billions of gallons of its river water to parched countries around the globe, officials said Saturday.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's Cabinet signed a deal Thursday with a Colorado company to collect drinking water from the volcanic island's interior and ship it to countries as far away as the Middle East, said Lucien Blackmoore, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Utilities, Energy and Ports.
The 10-year license allows Sisserou Water Inc. to collect 3 billion gallons (11 billion liters) of fresh water annually from the Clyde River, Blackmoore said.
He said studies found extracting the water will not harm islanders or damage the delicate ecological mix of Dominica, a tropical island of 71,000 people about 30 miles (45 kilometers) long and 16 miles (25 kilometers) wide. The country brands itself as the Caribbean's "Nature Island."
One of the company's four directors is former Cabinet minister Atherton Martin, who in 1998 won a Goldman Environmental Prize for protecting Dominica from being despoiled by a major copper mine. Martin did not answer telephone calls Saturday.
Sisserou, which has Dominican and American shareholders, is registered in Dominica but has its headquarters in Telluride, Colorado. In a telephone interview from Telluride, Sisserou president Tim Jilek said the company will invest $32 million to build a pipeline, terminal and storage tanks in Dominica's rugged north.
"This is an island that gets 300 inches (760 centimeters) of rain each year, and the water comes out totally clean," Jilek said, adding that the business will generate revenue and jobs for Dominica.
Jilek said the company has had early discussions with potential clients from other Caribbean nations, Florida's Miami-Dade County and the Middle Eastern countries of Yemen and Qatar.
A few people in Dominica are expressing concerns.
"I am not a scientist, but I'm a little skeptical because it sounds like a huge amount of water from the river, and because it has not been discussed with the public," said Bernard Wiltshire, former acting attorney general and founder of the island's Waitukubuli Ecological Foundation.
The deal with Sisserou is one of several ways in which island officials say they will tap into Dominica's natural resources to boost the economy.
Earlier this month, Skerrit said Dominica plans to export bottled water to Asia and sell electricity to its neighbors after a two-year study found the island has underground sources that produce more than 20 million gallons (75 million liters) of water a day.
He said the island's geothermal resources could support up to four power plants capable of producing 30 megawatts of energy each. Dominica could sell the power to the nearby French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique via submarine cables, possibly by 2013, Skerrit said.
____
On the Web:
http://sisserouwater.com
US company secures deal to export Dominica water
Caribbean360.com - Nov 13, 2009
"Sisserou Water Inc. shall provide full time employment for at least eight Dominican Nationals at its waterextraction and exporting facility at Clyde River ...
DOMINICA: Gov't grants company 10-year license to export billions of gallons ...
eTaiwan News - 11 hours ago
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ The lush but poor Caribbean island of Dominica will allow an export company to ship billions of gallons of its river water to ...
Chapter 373, F.S. Water Resources; Revisions
Chapter 373, F.S. Water Resources; Revisions?
Fri, 10/16/2009 - 11:09 — Voice Moderator
http://static.lobbytools.com/press/Chapter_373_F_S_Water_Resources.pdf
The Florida Legislative Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation just released an interim report regarding water resources. The Interim report reviews the history of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, and makes recommendations regarding the reorganization of the Chapter. Everglades Trust just posted the newly released interim report on our website! To learn more click here: Committee on Environmental Preservation & Conservation released new interim report!
Keep water clean: Contact Congressman Mack
From:
John Cassani (jcassani@comcast.net)
Sent:
Mon 10/19/09 9:41 AM
To:
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10/19/09 News-Press
Keep water clean
For the past decade, the judicial system has systematically neutered the Clean Water Act. The result has been predictable. Many of our waterways have become seriously diminished as regulatory agencies struggle to interpret the policies when it comes to enforcement.
In Lee County, key waterways are prime examples and are now listed as officially "impaired." The challenges to restoration or to even slow the rate of decline in a time of biodiversity crisis (extinction at a rate 1,000 times the historical record) and global climate change are immense.
The problem goes well beyond declining natural systems and threatens human health. A recent analysis of EPA data by the New York Times indicated that 40 percent of the nations's drinking water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once last year. Our own drinking water plant in Olga was shut down several times last year due to toxic algae blooms in the Caloosahatchee River.
One positive step is to urge our congressional representatives to support the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA), which appears to be stalled in the Congressional Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Most importantly, the CWRA would help better define agency jurisdiction muddied by past politics. Our representative here in District 14, Connie Mack IV, serves on this committee.
Please let Rep. Mack know how you feel about this important issue.
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