pollution

The addiction to instant gratification has turned e-commerce into an environmental monster. The fascination with on-demand service and the growth of a “got-to-have-it-now” culture has compelled shipping companies to carry fewer items in their vehicles in order to meet time demands. For expedited shipping orders the e-commerce giant Amazon sends trucks only halfway or partially filled to meet arrival deadlines.

We lost the Pinelands.

Just like that; the Pinelands Commission in lockstep with Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg, struck down 40-years of carefully crafted protections last month that would keep industry out of the fragile forest preserve.

One wonders if those who voted in favor of the 22-mile, high speed gas pipeline even know the definition of the word “precedent,” which four past governors and the architects of the comprehensive management plan tried to drive home in letters to the commissioners.  

The City of Alexandria is dumping raw sewage into our waterways - and has been for more than 40 years. Alexandria is not only putting public health at risk, it is also breaking state and federal law. This uncontrolled toxic dumping is not only health hazard to city residents and visitors, but also multiple downstream communities, and undermines the rights of Virginians to drinkable, swimmable, and fishable water.

Did you know that enough plastic exists to cover the entire Earth in cling wrap? Everywhere you look, you can find water bottles, grocery bags, random pieces of polystyrene foam, nylons and other plastics.

When Baltimore City’s sewer system was first installed in 1909, it was considered cutting edge technology. Now, after over a century of neglect, it is undersized and outdated, and has led to raw sewage flowing into the city’s waterways and flooding residents’ basements.

Stormwater runoff is one of the leading contributors to pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. After big storms, the water carries whatever is on the ground and in the streets into our waterways. Impervious surfaces, such as the roads and pavement that cover densely populated areas, don’t allow rain to seep into the ground, causing more polluted stormwater to enter the Bay.

Every time it rains, the combined sewer systems of Washington D.C. and the City of Alexandria dump untreated sewage into the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Although the District has begun projects designed to prevent raw sewage from entering local waterways and rivers, such as holding tunnels, Alexandria recently missed an opportunity to adopt a modern Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) for its own aging sewer system.

Last night, the Baltimore City Council held a public hearing on two ordinances that would provide transparency and accountability for how funds being collected from Baltimore City residents intended to be used for stormwater infrastructure improvements and environmental restoration are being spent. Check out the bills for yourself:

Right now, over 90 percent of New Jersey's waters do not meet one or more water quality standards. These standards are set by New Jersey under the law and the state is obligated to meet them.

So, one would think that our state government would be doing all they can to improve the quality of our water by ensuring the standards are enforced. Nope. They are, in fact, doing the complete opposite.

Earlier this month, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Department of Health released an advisory to avoid contact with Scott Pond in Lincoln, Rhode Island due to the presence of blue-green algae in the water.