Originally published July 3 2005
New federal environmental proposal could endanger drinking water
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A new proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency would amend the Clean Water Act to allow partially untreated human waste to be dumped into the country's waterways along with treated sewage -- a process called "blending."
A new proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would amend the Clean Water Act to allow partially untreated human waste to be dumped into the country's waterways along with treated sewage -- a process called "blending."
One Tufts public health expert says that if approved, the measure could endanger the population and turn back decades of environmental progress.
"Congress is about to vote on a measure that would block EPA from allowing sewage blending.
We should remind our elected officials that we want less, not more, sewage in the water," Tufts public health professor Jeffrey K. Griffiths wrote in an op-ed published in The Boston Globe.
Griffiths, an associate professor of public health and family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, is a member of the EPA's National Drinking Water Advisory Council and Science Advisory Board.
He wrote in the op-ed that current procedure mandates sewage to be treated twice -- "by settling out solid materials, and then through a biological process that kills pathogens."
"Clear, scientifically credible information shows that blending sewage lets enough of these germs into our water so that the risks are increased," he wrote in the Globe.
"Sewage blending will increase shellfish bed closings, drive shellfish growers out of business, and increase the health risks to the population from eating shellfish," he wrote in the column.
The proposal, said Griffiths, is a shortcut -- not an answer -- to solving problems associated with sewage treatment.
"The EPA's 'solution' effectively legalizes the problem and undermines three decades of progress in cleaning up lakes, rivers and coastal waters," he contended.
"While I sympathize with these towns regarding finances, these infrastructure challenges should not be met by weakening public health protections," he wrote.
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