We're Getting Hosed on Clean Water
Ben Harley
Issue date: 3/2/10 Section: Opinion
America's water is in jeopardy. After a controversial 2006 decision by the Supreme Court that restricted the Clean Water Act, the New York Times says that the EPA is finding it difficult to enforce laws on companies dumping waste into America's waterways.
According to New York Times, the problem with enforcing the law is in the wording. The bill, originally passed in 1972, says that the government can regulate any, "navigable waters."
For 30 years regulators took that term broadly, and filed lawsuits against companies dumping into most all waterways, but recent Supreme Court decisions have changed their course of action.
The new interpretations of the law says that "navigable waters" may not include waterways that are entirely within one state, creeks that sometimes go dry and lakes unconnected to larger water systems.
While this may be the correct definition of the word navigable it is allowing companies to dump human sewage, harmful bacteria and other waste products into bodies of people's drinking supplies.
So what does Congress do about the situation? According to The New York Times they are trying to pass the Clean Water restoration act that would strike the word "navigable" from the original bill. But broad coalitions of industries are fighting to stop such reform.
According to the The New York Times, lobbyists are trying to scare farmers and other land owners that by striking the word navigable the government will control all of the water in the nation. Thus, the measure is having a hard time passing.
This is disgusting. Playing on people's fears so that corporations can save money by poisoning the population is evil. There is no other term that fits. It is evil.
So why don't we try to expand the bill, and change the word instead of striking it all together. Perhaps words like "communal" would be a good fit. "Connected" could work.
Come up with your own words, what we are running up against is the joke that is any government. We spend years fighting over semantics when we should be worried about the safety of the community.
Of course we need to ensure that personal property rights are protected, but we cannot sit idly by as 117 million Americans are being poisoned.
So until we can end the greed that makes companies think its okay to dump waste into our tap water, we will have to regulate them. I wish the EPA the best of luck in this endeavor, and I hope the Clean Water Restoration Act passes soon.
According to New York Times, the problem with enforcing the law is in the wording. The bill, originally passed in 1972, says that the government can regulate any, "navigable waters."
For 30 years regulators took that term broadly, and filed lawsuits against companies dumping into most all waterways, but recent Supreme Court decisions have changed their course of action.
The new interpretations of the law says that "navigable waters" may not include waterways that are entirely within one state, creeks that sometimes go dry and lakes unconnected to larger water systems.
While this may be the correct definition of the word navigable it is allowing companies to dump human sewage, harmful bacteria and other waste products into bodies of people's drinking supplies.
So what does Congress do about the situation? According to The New York Times they are trying to pass the Clean Water restoration act that would strike the word "navigable" from the original bill. But broad coalitions of industries are fighting to stop such reform.
According to the The New York Times, lobbyists are trying to scare farmers and other land owners that by striking the word navigable the government will control all of the water in the nation. Thus, the measure is having a hard time passing.
This is disgusting. Playing on people's fears so that corporations can save money by poisoning the population is evil. There is no other term that fits. It is evil.
So why don't we try to expand the bill, and change the word instead of striking it all together. Perhaps words like "communal" would be a good fit. "Connected" could work.
Come up with your own words, what we are running up against is the joke that is any government. We spend years fighting over semantics when we should be worried about the safety of the community.
Of course we need to ensure that personal property rights are protected, but we cannot sit idly by as 117 million Americans are being poisoned.
So until we can end the greed that makes companies think its okay to dump waste into our tap water, we will have to regulate them. I wish the EPA the best of luck in this endeavor, and I hope the Clean Water Restoration Act passes soon.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Selby Cole
posted 3/09/10 @ 7:19 PM CST
I can't believe that companies can just dump toxins into our waterways and argue that the government cannot control everything that we do as individuals. (Continued…)
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