Chesapeake
D.C. Strikes Deal for Benning Road Power Plant Cleanup
cleaning the anacostia
The Anacostia is one of the ten most polluted rivers in the nation. For too long we have accepted that a polluted Anacostia has to be a reality for the District. However, under pressure from the EPA, the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) is finally dealing with the six most toxic sites along the Anacostia, one of which is Pepco's Benning Road power plant. On February 2, 2011, DDOE announced that it had reached a "consent decree" with Pepco that it believes will address the legacy of pollution at Benning Road (to learn more click here). The proposal is promising, as there have been six documented releases of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from the site over the years. PCBS are known cuase developmental problems and are carcinogenic in humans and wildlife, for example two-third of all brown bull-head catfish (pictured above) in the Anacostia have tumors.
Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake
In 1983, 1987 and 2000, Maryland Governors and their counterparts in Virginia, the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed signed formal agreements that set timelines for cleaning up the Bay. The most recent agreement called for deadlines that were to be met by 2010. That deadline will not be met.
Update the Clean Water Act
clean water progress
Under current federal policies many water bodies are vulnerable to pollution and destruction. The Obama Administration has proposed to fix this problem but powerful special interests oppose this clean water progress. Last year, their allies in Congress attempted to block the Administration’s proposals several times last year. With your help we fended off those attacks.
As 2012 begins, we need to remind the White House that people support clean water policies and that they need to keep this process moving.
Letters to Senators
it takes a broad movement
The Barrasso/Heller Amendment to the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 2354) is bad news. It would permanently bar the Army Corps of Engineers from restoring longstanding Clean Water Act protections to water bodies throughout the country. This undermines the common-sense protections that Americans expect to ensure clean water for drinking, swimming and fishing. We have to stop it - and we will.
On the Hill
fighting for water on the hill
The Clean Water Act brought Lake Erie back to life, cleaned up rivers like the Cuyahoga and the Potamac, and made drinking water safe for nearly all Americans - we're not done yet. It's been 39 years since the Congress first passed the Clean Water Act. We were making steady progess until nine years ago.
Help us stop the Senate from passing the dirty water amendment today!
ALL our Water
protecting our water:
it depends on what your definition of ALL is.
EPA's Lisa Jackson on protecting ALL our waters!
The Senate is pulling out the dictionaries for a debate over our water. The question they have to answer is whether "ALL" means "everything" or whether it means "only things that aren't inconvenient". Seriously, we're not kidding. Polluting interests continue to oppose the Administration’s efforts to clarify that ALL bodies of water are protected by the Clean Water Act. Now they’re forcing a vote in the U.S. Senate.
Find out what the amendment to H.R. 2354 means. Tell your Senators: Don't let December become a polluter free-for-all. Keep anti-environmental amendments and riders off of year-end bills.
Chesapeake Currents - Fall 2011
chesapeake currents
fall 2011 edition
Inside
- We Can't Live Without Clean Water
- Uranium Mining
- Virginia Endorsements
- Winning in Baltimore
- DC - Leading on Stormwater
- Delaware's Senator Takes on Diesel
we can’t live without clean water
It’s that simple. But sometimes, the people we elect seem to forget that. And they’ve been forgetting it a lot lately in Washington, DC and in too many of our state capitals.
Clean Water Action’s job – which we can only do in partnership with you,
our members — is to keep the pressure on the politicians in Washington,
and in their home districts across the country, telling them to protect
our water.
From the Director - Chesapeake
we can’t live without clean water
It’s that simple. But sometimes, the people we elect seem to forget that. And they’ve been forgetting it a lot lately in Washington, DC and in too many of our state capitals.
Benning Road Cleanup
We all know that the Anacostia River is polluted. District residents and our neighbors in the Chesapeake Watershed have waited years for something to be done. Finally, the District of Columbia and the District Department of the Environment (DDOE) are taking action to clean up some of the river’s worst toxic sites.
Fracking the Air
fracking & your air
- Find out more about EPA's proposal.
- EPA page on Oil and Natural Gas Air Pollution Guidelines
- For the Wonks: The proposed rule
- Testimony from Myron Arnowitt, PA State Director
- Recap: The Pittsburgh hearing
- Recap: The Denver hearing
- Recap: The Arlington Hearing
- Testimony from David Foster, Texas State Director
Oil and gas operations in the U.S. produce significant air pollution – everything from drilling to the production and processing of natural gas affects our air. In fact, the oil and gas industry releases millions of pounds of pollutants like methane, benzene, and sulfur dioxide into our air each year.
Gas Drilling Operations
These toxins pose a threat to our air quality and contribute to serious health problems like asthma, cancer, and neurological issues. Currently more than half of Pennsylvanians live in an area that doesn’t meet federal air quality standards for smog and nearly 800,000 suffer from asthma.
Federal air pollution standards for drilling are woefully outdated. In July the EPA proposed new safeguards to reduce air pollution from the oil and natural gas industry to get us back on track.
