COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 4, 2009 (ENS) – Columbus residents can expect a decrease in sewer overflows and basement backups after rains and snowmelt once the city’s newly approved $2.5 billion wet weather management plan is completed. On Thursday, the Ohio EPA approved the city ‘s plan to control overflows from the sewer system and proposed…
WASHINGTON, DC, January 21, 2009 (ENS) – In one of the final acts of the Bush administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will set “water quality standards for nutrients” for all Florida surface waters. The standards will apply to concentrations of the agricultural nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus in state waters. The…
HONOLULU, Hawaii, January 6, 2009 (ENS) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today issued final decisions to not renew the City and County of Honolulu’s variances exempting the Sand Island and Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment plants from full secondary treatment requirements. The decision forces the city to upgrade both plants to bring them into compliance with…
PORTLAND, Maine, December 8, 2008 (ENS) – Properties with more than one acre of impervious area, such as parking lots and large roofs, must from now on apply for a Clean Water Act permit for stormwater discharges to Long Creek, which drains a watershed in the Portland metropolitan area. Long Creek does not meet required…
DOVER, Delaware, November 13, 2008 (ENS) – Delaware has adopted new regulations governing the pollution control strategy for the Indian River and Bay, Rehoboth Bay and Little Assawoman Bay watersheds. The strategy is designed to reduce the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the Inland Bays and their tributaries to levels required to meet water…
SPOKANE, Washington, September 8, 2008 (ENS) – This week, scientists from the Washington state Department of Ecology will begin using a fluorescent dye to study flows in Hangman Creek, also known as Latah Creek. The information is being gathered in an effort to understand how to improve water quality in the creek. The Hangman Creek…
LOS ANGELES, California, September 1, 2008 (ENS) – A coalition of 21 cities in Los Angeles County and the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation has lost its legal bid to prevent the California state and LA regional water boards from applying clean water quality standards to stormwater. Ruling on a post-trial motion by three environmental…
COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 31, 2008 (ENS) – The Ohio EPA has issued a water quality certification to Ohio River Clean Fuels, LLC for a proposed coal-to-liquid fuels plant in Columbiana and Jefferson counties. The water quality certification to impact wetlands and streams is the first of three major state environmental permits Ohio River Clean Fuels…
SANTA ROSA, California, June 18, 2008 (ENS) – A California Superior Court judge has invited the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to exercise its authority to regulate water quality to rid the Klamath River of toxic algae. The ruling by Judge Elaine Rushing comes in a lawsuit filed by Klamath Riverkeeper, the Karuk…
BOSTON, Massachusetts, June 2, 2008 (ENS) – In a precedent-setting decision, a federal court judge ruled Friday that the Massachusetts Highway Department violated federal clean water law by failing to develop an adequate stormwater cleanup plan for its 2,500 miles of urban roads and bridges. The decision, by Judge William Young, stems from a lawsuit…
BELLINGHAM, Washington, May 8, 2008 (ENS) – Dishwasher detergents for sale in Whatcom County must be practically phosphorus free starting July 1. A statewide ban across Washington on high-phosphorus dishwashing detergents does not take effect until 2010, but this year state legislation brings better water quality protection in two counties – Whatcom and Spokane –…
HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, February 23, 2008 (ENS) – The state Senate Republican Policy Committee this week held a hearing on the cost of cleaning up Pennsylvania’s waterways to meet federal Clean Water Act nutrient reduction requirements for the Chesapeake Bay. The lawmakers noted their disappointment with Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat, for not including funding for…
OLYMPIA, Washington, February 21, 2008 (ENS) – Although the key definition of whether a pesticide applied to surface waters is, or is not, a pollutant is still to be decided in court, the Washington State Department of Ecology Wednesday reissued a general permit for the application of pesticides to control aquatic weeds in irrigation water…
COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 4, 2008 (ENS) – Ohio’s 23 large rivers have nearly reached Ohio EPA’s goal for 80 percent of large rivers to meet water quality standards by 2010, the agency said in a new report issued Thursday. The report shows that 78.7 percent of the state’s large rivers now meet clean water goals.…
WASHINGTON, DC, January 17, 2008 (ENS) – A total of $202.5 billion is the nationwide capital investment needed to control wastewater pollution for up to a 20 year period, according to a new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. Delivered to Congress this week, the 2004 Clean Watersheds Needs Survey summarizes the results…
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, December 20, 2007 (ENS) – The U.S. Forest Service is closing an off road vehicle trail system in the Nantahala National Forest to limit damage and muddy runoff into trout streams. Intensive use has turned some of the ORV trails into ditches more than seven feet deep. “It is our goal to…