PennEnviornment Hails New Clean Water Act Announcement

PITTSBURGH – PennEnvironment today hailed the Obama administration for releasing a proposed guidance that, if adopted, would restore Clean Water Act protections to vital streams across Pennsylvania and protect Pennsylvanians’ drinking water.

“Right now, waters like the Delaware, Susquehanna, and Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers are at risk as the very streams that feed them and the wetlands that keep them clean may no longer be protected by the Clean Water Act. We need to stop giving polluters a free pass and start protecting our waterways and our drinking water,” said Erika Staaf, Clean Water Advocate for PennEnvironment.

One of America’s core environmental laws, the original Clean Water Act, was intended to protect all of our waters from harmful pollution. But over the past decade, developers and others have used litigation to create loopholes in the Act, leaving thousands of streams and millions of acres of wetlands likely beyond its scope.

Here in Pennsylvania, this means that 59% of the streams in the Pennsylvania and waters that feed the drinking water supplies of more than 8 million Pennsylvanians may no longer be protected by the Clean Water Act, according to EPA.

“Restoring Clean Water Act protections to all our waters is crucial to our health, economy, and environment. The clean water guidance released today will take a much needed step towards restoring Clean Water Act protections to these vital waterways,” said Staaf.