Report finds millions of pounds of chemicals dumped into Pa. waterways
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An environmental group released a report yesterday chronicling the millions of pounds of pollutants released by industrial facilities into Pennsylvania's waterways, saying that the state is the sixth-largest dumping ground for toxic discharges in the nation.
The report, released by PennEnvironment, compiled data gathered in 2007 and released in May 2009 by the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the report, more than 10 million pounds of chemicals like formaldehyde, lead and arsenic were legally dumped into Pennsylvania's waterways in 2007. The largest contributor by volume was U.S. Steel's Clairton Coke Works site, which released more than 2.5 million pounds of pollutants into the Monongahela River and a tributary of the river, Peters Creek.
The report also ranked the Ohio River first in the nation for toxic discharges, saying that in 2007 more than 31 million pounds of pollutants were dumped in the waterway, which runs through several states.
"We should be outraged by this," said Erika Staaf, PennEnvironment's clean water advocate.
"Most of us are drinking water that comes out of these rivers," said Myron Arnowitt, who attended the report's release as the Pennsylvania director of Clean Water Action, another environmental group.
The data used in the report was self-reported by the companies that released the pollutants, so it may have underestimated the amounts released, said Ms. Staaf.
"No one is actually out on the water sampling in order to make sure what's supposed to be coming out of the businesses' pipes is actually coming out of the businesses' pipes," said Ned Mulcahy, of Three Rivers Waterkeeper, a local watchdog group.
Ms. Staaf urged companies to use "safer alternatives" to toxic chemicals, and asked lawmakers and environmental agencies to strictly enforce the Clean Water act, saying that violators should be given "credible penalties, not just warning letters."
First Published October 22, 2009 12:00 am
