Statement of Environment America Clean Water Advocate
Christy Leavitt
We applaud the U.S. House of Representatives for passing legislation
today to protect our communities from sewage spills.
Just after the official start of summer, the House voted to ensure
families heading to the lake or ocean will no longer be left in the dark about
sewage pollution. The Sewage Overflow
Community Right to Know Act, sponsored by Representatives Bishop (NY) and
LoBiondo (NJ), requires public notification when sewage is spilled into our
waterways.
More than thirty-five years after Congress passed the Clean
Water Act, over 850 billion gallons of raw or partially treated sewage are dumped
into U.S.
rivers, lakes and bays each year. This sewage
pollution closes beaches, harms fish and other wildlife, and endangers public
health.
Unfortunately, when bacteria, viruses, and toxics in sewage
are dumped into local waterways, the public is not always informed about it. To truly protect the health of Americans and
clean up our waters, we need public notification whenever sewage is spilled. The bill passed by the House today will do
just that.
We applaud House leadership for taking this action to
protect the environment and call on the Senate to do the same. To safeguard public health and our waterways,
the Senate should pass this important sewage right to know bill.
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Environment America,
a federation of state environment groups, is the new home for U.S. PIRG’s
environmental work. www.environmentamerica.org
