A REPORT TO THE  DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR
    POLLUTION CONTROL IN THE U.S. —

SOME EXAMPLES OF  RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
           November  24,  1976
                    c ompiled by:
                      The Program Evaluation  Division

                    US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION  AGENCY
                    401 M Street, SW
                    Washington DC 20460

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                 TABLE OF  CONTENTS
TOWARD A  REACHABLE GOAL                                1

HOW TO TELL  IF IT'S PROGRESS                           3

CLEANING  THE NATION'S WATERS                           5
  What the Law Says
  Two Spoilers of Water  Quality

A GALLERY OF NORTHERN RIVERS                           7
                                      S_t_a.te
  Seven  from New England
     Naugatuck                        CT               7
     Housatonic                       CT               7
     Willimantic                      CT               8
     Pemigewasset                     NH               8
     Contoocook                       NH               8
     Stevens Branch of  the
       Winooski River                 VT               9
     Androscoggin                     ME,  NH          10

  A Trio  of  New York Rivers
     Mohawk                            NY               11
     Hudson                            NY               12
     Susquehanna                      NY               14

  The Urban  Rivers of New Jersey
     Hackensack                       NJ               15
     Navesink                         NJ               15
     Shrewsbury                       NJ               15

RIVERS  OF THE  SOUTH                                    17

     Pearl                             LA               17
     Sope Creek                       GA               19
     Arkansas                         OK,  AR          20
     A Mountain River                 NC               22
     Lower  Escatawpa                  AL,  MS          23
     Lower  Savannah                   GA,  SC          24

A ROLL  CALL OF  RIVERS                                  25

     Ohio                             WV,  PA, OH
                                       IN,  KY, IL      25
     Kanawha                          WV               26
     Neche s                           TX               26
     Tar Creek                        OK               26
     Little Deep  Fork                 OK               26
     Maunesha                         WI               26

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           TABLE OF CONTENTS  (Cont'd)

                                      State          Pagi
A  ROLL CALL OF RIVERS  (Cont'd)

      Dry Auglaize Creek               MO             27
      Mobile-Tombigbee                 AL             27
      Chester & Campbell Creeks        AK             27
      Calumet                          IL             27

THE  GREAT LAKES                                      28

   Lake Erie -- The Beginnings         OH,  NY
     of a Comeback                     MI,  PA         29

   Lakes Michigan and Ontario
      Lake Ontario                     NY             31
      Lake Michigan                    IL,  WI
                                       IN,  MI         31
   The  Tributaries
      Cuyahoga River                   OH             32
      Detroit River                    MI             32
      River Rouge                      MI             33
      The .Grand                        MI             34
      Kalamazoo River                  MI             35
      Fox River                        WI             36
      The Indiana Tributaries
        Train &, Salt Creeks            IN             37
        Grand Calumet River            IN             37

   A  New Threat                                       38

BAYS,  HARBORS, OCEANS,  AND LAKES                     40

      Escarabia River Basin             FL,  AL         40
      Gulf  of Mexico                   FL,  AL,  MS,
                                       LA,  TX         42
      Delaware Coast                   NJ,  PA         44
      Kodiak Harbor                    AK             45
      Pearl  Harbor                     HI             46
      Charleston Harbor                 SC             47
      Two Western Harbors
        Port Angeles Harbor            WA             48
        Gray's Harbor                  WA             49
      Two Northern Lakes
        Annabessacook Lake             ME             50
        Minnetonka  Lake                 MN             51

WATERS  MADE BY MAN                                   53

     Houston Ship  Channel              TX             53
     Las  Vegas Wash                   NV             55
     Two  Reservoirs
        Stockton Lake                   MO             56
        Dillon Reservoir               CO             57

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          TABLE  OF  CONTENTS (Cont'd)

                                     State           Page

INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY --
  FIND.ING SOMETHING BETTER                           59
     Muskegon  County's Better Idea    MI              59
     Lake Shagawa                      MN              60
     Jasper                            AR              61
     St. Petersburg                   FL              62
     Largo                             FL              63
     Military  Innovations
       Tyndall Air  Force Base         FL              64
       Eglin Air Force Base           FL              64
       Dobbins Air  Force Base         GA              65
       Hobbs -- Selling a City's
         Wastewater                   NM              65

NONPOINT SOURCES                                     67

  The Monogahela -- Pollution
    from the Mines

     Monogahela River                 WV,  PA         67
     Dents Run                        WV              69

  The Colorado -- A Salt Problem      CA,  AZ, NM,
                                       NV,  UT, CO     70
  A Metropolitan Lake
     Lake Quinsigamond                MA              71

DRINKING WATER                                       72

  Cambridge  and the Lead Problem      MA              72

  Huron  and  the Chloroform Problem    SD              73

  Two Villages in Alaska
     Emmonak and Wainwright           AK              73

AIR POLLUTION  — SEEN AND UNSEEN                     75

  The Mandate                                         75
  The National Accomplishment                        75
  S02 and  Particulates --
    Twin Problems                                    78

  The Big  Three                                      78
  Places Where the Air is Cleaner                    79
     New  England States  S02           CT,  RI, MA,
                                       VT,  NH, ME     80
     Massachusetts Incinerators       MA              80
     New  England Paper Mills          NH,  ME         80
     Portland                          OR              80
     Springfield                      MO              80

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          TABLE  OF  CONTENTS (Cont'd)

                                     S ta t e           Pagt

  Places Where  the  Air  is Cleaner  (Cont'd)

     New York Partlculates           NY              81
     Detroit                          MI              81
     Gary                             IN              81
     Chicago                          IL              81
     Cincinnati                       OH              82
     Birmingham                       AL              82
     Las Vegas                        NY              82
     Chattanooga                      TN              82
     Philadelphia                     PA              82
     Power Plants - Region III       VA., WVt  MD,
                                      DE, PA          82

  Pollution from  the Exhaust Pipe
     Los Angeles  Oxidant             CA              83
     California  CO                    CA              83

  The Campaign  against  Auto Pollutants
     Vapor Recovery                  DC, CO,
                                      CA, TX          84
  Controlling Auto  Emissions
     Inspection  & Maintenance        A£, IL,  OH,
                                      NJ, OR,  CA     86
     Curbing Vehicle Use             NJ              86
     Spreading  out  the  Traffic
       Lincoln  CO                     NE              86
SOLID WASTE  —  STEMMING THE TIDE                     88

  The Campaign  Against Open Dumps
     St. Thomas Dump                  VI              88
     Wisconsin  Sanitary Landfills     WI              89
     Iowa Dump  Closures and
       Landfills                      IA              90
     Missouri Landfills               MO              90
     Kansas  Landfills                KS              90

  Sludge —  A New Worry
     Lake County Sludge               IL              91

  Another Way to Do  It
     Energy  from Wood  Waste
       American Walnut Company        KS              92
     Recycled Paper
       Federal  Recycling              CO,  DC          92
     Salvaging  Abandoned Cars
       Montana  Junk  Cars              MT              93
     The Bottle Bills
       Oregon                          OR              93

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          TABLE  OF  CONTENTS (Cont'd)

                                      S_t_a_t_e          Page

RISKS, SPILLS, AND  DIASTERS                          96
     Rush Spill                       KY               96

  Dealing with Crises
     Region  IV SPCC                                  96
     Oil Spill Co-op                 WY               97

  A Santa Barbara  Sized Spill
    in Kansas                         KS               98

  A Chemical Spill  in Kentucky
     Lowe Spill                       KY               99
     DNBP Spill                       NJ               99
     Toxaphene Spill                 VA              100

  Toxics in  the  Duwaraish
     Seattle PCB Spill               WA              100

  The PCB Search
     Los Angeles County              CA              101

  Irrepairable Harm
     Kingston Spill                  TN              102
     Philadelphia  BCEE               PA              103
     Baltimore                        MD              103
     Belle DMN                        WV              103

  Detective  Story
     Harrodsburg Creek               KY              103

  Repairing  the  Damage
     Ogden Bay Lagoon                UT              104

INDUSTRY -- MAJOR  ACTORS IN THE
  ANTIPOLLUTION  DRAMA                               107

  Paper Mills                                        107
     New York State                  NY              107
     Gulf States                     AL              108

  Copper Smelters                                    108
     Inspiration Copper              AZ              109

  Power Plants                                       109
     Dairyland Power                 WI              109
     Kansas  City Power and Light     KS              109
     Nashville Thermal Transfer      TN              110
     Diablo  Canyon                    CA              110

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           TABLE  OF  C  ONTENTS  (Cont'd)

                                      State           Page

   Food Processing
      Sugar Mills                     HI              m
      Cattle Feedlots                 ID              112
      Potato Processing  --
        J.R. Simplot                  ID              113
      Citrus Industry                 FL              114

SAVING THE RARE AND THREATENED                      115

      Four  Vanishing Birds
        0sPrey                        NY, CN          115
        Peregrine Falcon                              115
        Bald Eagle                    wi              ue
        Brown Pelican                 CA              H6

      Mangroves -- Father  to
        an  Ecosystem                  PR              11^
      Yellowstone                     WY              118

  Two  Citizen Triumphs                               120

      The Willamette                  OR              120
      The Buffallo                    NY              122

CONCLUSION                                            126

  The  Future                                          127

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                         FIGURES
FlRure

  I     Fecal  Coliform Status                              14
  2     Fecal  Coliform Trends                              14
  3     Dissolved  Oxygen Status                            19
  4     Dissolved  Oxygen Trends                            19
  5     Turbidity  Status                                   20

  6     Construction Grants Awards                         25
  7     Construction Grants Completions                    25

  8     Phosphorus Status                                  30
  9     Phosphorus Trends                                  31
  10    Nitrate  Status                                     52
  11    Nitrate  Trends                                     52

  12    pH  Status                                           68
  13    Phenol Status                                      72

  14    Particulate Levels and Trends  Nationwide          76
  15    Particulate Trends for Selected  Cities            77
  16S02Trends                                         77

  17    N02  Trends                                         77
  18    Oxidant  Trends                                     77
  19    Lead Trends                                        77

  20    Air  Emissions Trends for  Three Industries         79
  21    New  York Metropolitan Area  —  Population
          Exposure to Particulates                         81
  22    Los  Angeles Metropolitan  Area  — Population
          Exposure to Oxidants                             83

  23    Average  Automobile Emissions after
          1  ye ar of use                                    85
  24    Air  Pollution — Compliance by major
          Point  Sources                                   126
  25    Water  Pollution — Compliance  by major
          Point  Sources                                   126
  26    Enforcement Actions                               126

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Acknowledgments

     Many individuals  have played raajo'-  roles  in the eight
month period  during  which this report  has  been assembled.
The most important  part was played by  the  ten  Deputy Regional
Administrators who  directed the assembling of  the Regional
submissions.  These  constituted the bulk of  the material going
into this report.   Countless Regional  staff  members responded
to the DRAs'  call  and  performed admirably  under very tight
dead lines.

     Also playing  major roles were the Monitoring and Data
Analysis Division  in the Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards, and the  Monitoring and Data Support Division of the
Office of Water  Planning and Standards.  Phil  Taylor, Bob
Greenspun and Owen  Mitz of MDSD were especially responsive and
untiring in  their  efforts to develop and generate the water
quality maps  featured  in the first part  of this report.

     Thanks  go as well to Jack Waugh,  who  bore the brunt of
the responsibility  for weaving the materials received into a
fluent, cohesive whole.

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TOWARD A  REACHABLE GOAL
     The  Environmental Protection Agency came  in  with the
Seventies  on  the  wave of environmental concern  already sweeping
t he country.

     Its  mission  was to carry  out the complex,  precedent-
setting air  and  water legislation then beginning  to  issue from
the Congress.   Those first  six years have been  years of
sometimes  slow,  sometimes rapid  progress against  the worst
forms of  pollution that stress the water, land, and  air.

     And  the  years have proved one major fact:  that workable
pollution  controls do exist  and  that where  they are  used,
they improve  the  environment.

     The  struggle for a cleaner,  healthier  environment did not
begin with the  birth of the  EPA  in December,  1970.   It was
being waged  long  before that by  the states  and  by the EPA's
predecessor  agencies in the  Federal Government.   And most of
the improvement  since the advent  of the EPA has been a triumph
not of the EPA  alone, but of a close Federal,  State  and local
partnership.

     In many  cases the Agency's  role has simply been to set a
tone, create  a  presence, devise  a strategy, or  simply establish
a climate  in  which others — State and local  agencies, private
corporations,  the courts, citizen groups and  individual
citizens  —  could continue  to  do  the work already underway.

     This  report  is an attempt to show with individual case
histories  how  this partnership has made the environment
better, qualitatively and quantitatively.   It  is  a  brief
look at some  of  the specific victories of the  last  half
decade —  and  before.  It is an  effort to record  the good
news, to  show  where there have been successes,  signs of hope
for a stressed  and threatened  environment.

     It is not  'intended to  be  a  catalog of  every  pollution
control accomplishment, nor  is it intended  to  be  a  comprehen-
sive survey  of  progress nationwide.  It does  not  go  into much
detail on  problems remaining that are yet to  be addressed
fully, and it  does not indicate  even in the cases described
whether improvements have occurred as rapidly  as  the public
had hoped  or  as  our statutes have required.   It attempts
simply to  present a glimpse, a picture, of  some of  the accomp-
li s hme n t s.

     Our  picture  is by no means  complete — nor is  the job
finished.   There  are few unqualified successes  and  hard-won
gains are  always  subject to  unexpected setbacks.  Progress is

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                              -2-

 still  ahead are large.   The unresolved  problems are  legion,
 and  new  ones are being  discovered almost  monthly.

      As  the examples  in  this report  show,  some gains  are
 impressive  -- even dramatic.  Others  are  modest.  Hopes  have
 not  always  been realized.   Execution  has  sometimes failed  to
 match  expectation.  Nor  has the effort  been without  friction
 between  members of the  partnership itself.

      Cleaning up the  environment is not only a slow,
 difficult  process demanding wide cooperation and involvement,
 it is  also  expensive.  The  examples in  this report,
 however, show that both  the money and the  time spent  are
 paying off.   The record  is  full of specific,  day-by-day
 victories,  both large and  small.

      The campaign against  the  major point-sources  of air
 and water pollution is now  well underway nationwide.
 Standards have  been promulgated.  Key strategies have
 been shaped  and  implemented.   And  needed shifts  of
 emphasis for  the future  are becoming  apparent.

      From the  start the  EPA, an amalgam of  various  executive
 units and agencies  brought  together  under a  single  umbrella
 by  Executive  Reorganization  Plan No.  3 in 1970,  has  faced
 a  often difficult,  at times  seemingly impossible,  challenge.
 It  has  had   to  strike  a delicate  balance between  firm  central
 control and  decentralized implementation -- often  in  the face
 of  ongoing   changes  in  the enabling  legislation itself
 The  challenge would have been  a  large  one for  any agency,
 but  it  was  especially  so for one in  its administrative
 infancy.

      In the EPA's  first  half decade,  the overriding  concern
 was  to  eliminate  the  most obvious  and  damaging pollution as
 rapidly as  possible.   That  is where  the  attack has centered.
 The  challenge now is  to  chart  the  preventive strategies  for
 the  future  and to deal with  the  more  subtle aspects of pollution

      The  Agency has but  one goal:  cleaner air, cleaner  water,
and a more  healthful and  wholesome environment for all of  us.
This  catalog of  individual  accomplishments of  the past several
years shows  it is a reachable goal.

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                            -3-

HOW TO TELL  IF  IT'S PROGRESS
     It  is  not  always easy to  tell  if pollution control  is
wo rking.

     The  EPA  deals in a half-dozen  major areas of  pollution
-- air,  water,  solid waste, pesticides,  radiation,  and  noise.
And often change for the better  cannot be seen until  long
ater the  pollution control effort has beg-in.  Sometimes,
in the  case of  persistent pollutants, it cannot be  seen
until  long  after the pollution itself has been stopped.
Pollution that  has been decades  in  the making is not
cleaned  up  overnight.

     However,  there are three  ways  to know when the  environ-
ment is  better  or likely to become  better:

     First , the evidence can be  seen or felt first  hand:
There  are fewer human deaths and illnesses linked  to  pollution.
Fish and  animals return to once  polluted rivers or  regions.
The economic  losses decline -- fewer farm crops are
damaged  and fewer businesses hurt.   Or the air is  sinply
clearer,  the  water visibly cleaner, or there is no  longer
an unpleasant odor or an irritating, unnecessary noise.

     Second,  the concentrations  of  pollutants actually  in  the
air or water  or on the land are  diminished.

     Third. the volume of pollutants being released  into the
air or dumped into the water is  less.

     The  most certain sign that  the environment is  better  is
the first — when improvement  can actually be seen  and  felt.
That is  conclusive evidence.   But we must often be  satisfied
with other  indications that  the  environment is better --
without  actually being able  to "see" that it is.   When  the
levels of pollutants in the  air  and the water or  the  amounts
being  dumped  into them are diminished, we assume — and
reasonably  so -- that conditions are improving.

     Whenever possible, have tried  to document the  cases in
this report with conclusive, first  hand, visible  evidence  of
improvement.   Where  that has not been possible, then with
carefully documented evidence  that  fewer pollutants are in  the
environment or fewer are entering it.

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                             -4-

      These case histories  show, above all,  that the environ-
ment  can  be made better  and  that in large  and  small ways,
throughout the country,  people are working  to  make it
better.   And not only  that:  they are succeeding.

      The  report that  follows  includes examples from nearly
every  area of pollution  control effort.  It  tells  of how
water  has been made cleaner  and air clearer  and where solid
waste  management has been  improved.  It  talks  of  the steps
taken  in  response  to major  spills that sometimes  threaten
entire communities.   It  tells  of industries  that  have pioneered
in pollution control.  It describes some of  the many triumphs
of the States and  cities as  well as presenting outstanding
examples  of individual and  collective citizen  action.  It
recounts  cases where  innovative technology has worked and in
which  some of the most rare  and threatened  of  our.  wildlife and
natural wonders have been preserved.  And  it talks of the
enormous  challenges still ahead.

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                            -5-

CLEANING THE  NATION'S WATERS
     Water pollution became a problem  with the tremendous
industrial and  population booms of  the last one hundred
years.

     The pollution quickened and  the problem worsened in  the
years following  World War II, when  man-made chemicals began
to assume a  role of new, massive  importance in our lives.
Industries and  cities used rivers as dumping grounds  for
their wastes  and many of the Nation's  streams began to  run
heavy with pollution.

     By the  mid-Seventies, however, a  nationwide attack on  the
problem was  beginning to turn the tide.   Many rivers,
lakes, bays,  and estuaries are still heavily polluted.  But
where the States and cities have  acted and where EPA
strategies and  standards have been  applied, less waste  is
being dumped  and the waters are cleaner.   In some cases the
changes are  dramatic — water bodies  thought to be dying
are seeing new  life.

What the Law Says

     Congress in 1972 passed the  Federal  Water Pollution
Control Act  Amendments (Public Law  92-500).  That Act now
governs the  EPA's water quality strategies and programs.
It was tough legislation that gave  the Agency broad responsi-
bility and authority to oversee the clean-up of the Nation's
wa ters.

     Under the  Act the Agency issues  effluent guidelines
which are used  in setting discharge limitations on industrial
and municipal polluters.  There are two  stages to this
process:  the first stage is to be  implemented by July  1,
1977; the second by July 1, 1983.

     The Act  gives as its interim goal that the Nation's
waters be "fishable" and "swimmable"  by  1983.  The Law  also
calls for an ultimate goal of no  discharge of pollutants  into
these waters.  However,  unlike all other provisions  of the
Act, these "goals" do not carry the force of law.

     Every industrial or municipal  pollution source must  have
a permit limiting its discharge.  The  permits are issued
either by the Federal Government  — under a program called
the National  Pollution Discharge  Elimination System (NPDES)
— or by the  States that have assumed  this responsibility.

     The Agency has developed effluent guidelines for most
major industries.  The States, in turn,  have set water

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                             -6-

 quality standards  that  must be met -- even  if  that means
 treatment requirements  more stringent than  those  called for
 in  the EPA effluent  guidelines.

      The EPA administers  a multi-billion dollar  Federal grants
 program to cities  and  States for construction  of  the municipal
 treatment plants necessary to meet the discharge  requirements.
 And  the Agency oversees  the regionwide and  statewide planning
 called for in the  Act.

 Two  Spoilers of Water Quality

      After the century  or  more of quickening municipal  and
 industrial water pollution, two problems in particular
 needed immediate attention:  pathogens -- disease  causing
 organisms — and dissolved oxygen.

      Pathogens enter the  Nation's waters largely  through
 municipal sewage, but also from feedlot  and pasture  runoff.

      Fecal coliform bacteria,  though benign themselves, are
 a widely  used indicator of  the  number of pathogens  present in
 sewage.   They are present  in  the  intestines of warm-bodied
 animals  and  are also invariably present  in  their  excrement.
 High  levels  of fecal coliform  are a sign of contamination
 by sewage and indicate an  unacceptably high likeihood
 that  disease-causing organisms  from sewage  ar._ also
 pr ese nt.

      Dissolved oxygen (DO)  is  a*problem  when its levels drop
so low that  fish are unable to  breathe.   Low dissolved
oxygen can cause extensive  fish kills.   DO levels decline
 in the  face  of  oxygen-demanding pollutants carried in municipal
sewage  or  industrial wastewater with  high BOD (biological
oxygen demand)  and  in discharges  from industry with  high COD
 (chemical  oxygen demand).

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                             -7-

A GALLERY  OF NORTHERN  RIVERS
     A  region that  has  struggled  with the problems of path-
ogens and  low DO longer  perhaps  than  any other  is  the heavily
industrial,  densely  populated Northeast.

     For  more than  two  centuries  people have  built their
cities  and  industries  on the banks  of the rivers  of the
Nation's  northeastern  tier.  From  New England  to  New York  to
the Delaware Valley  people have  brought industry  and pollution.
And in  their wake  in  the 1960's  and  the 1970's  have followed
the efforts  — largely  by the States  in the  region — to
repair  the  environmental damage  done.

Seven from  New England

     For  decades industrial wastes  flowed untreated into  the
rivers  of  New England.   The towns  and cities,  many of them
but villages to begin  with, contributed to  the  load.  And
pollution,  bringing  with it high  fecal coliform  and low DO
readings,  steadily  but  surely grew.

     The  stories of  pollution reduction on  many  of those
New England  rivers  are  now cause  for  satisfaction.  Among
them, seven  are particularly notable.
  «
     Two  Connecticut  rivers, the  Naugatuck  and  the Housatonic
into which  it empties,  shared polluted lives  for  decades.   Now
they are  sharing the  benefits of  a  major cleanup.

     For  years the  Naugatuck was  one  of the  most  severely
polluted  rivers in  New England.   Historically it  has had
poor quality throughout  most of  its length.   It  was long  a
dumping ground for  untreated municipal sewage and  industrial
wa ste s .

     Connecticut residents can  remember when no  fish
could survive on certain reaches  of the river.   It was a
losing  struggle there even for  most insect  larvae.
Along the  28 miles  before  the Naugatuck emptied  into the
Housatonic,  seven  cities and 57  industries,  among  them
metal forming and  electroplating  firms, were poisoning
the water  with raw  sewage  and heavy metals.   Much  of this
legacy  flowed on to  the  Housatonic, which already had
pollution problems  of  its own.

     In 1967, the  State  of Connecticut initiated  a major
industrial  pollution abatement  program.  Now approximately

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                              -8-

95  percent  of  the Naugatuck's heaviest polluting industries
have  some kind  of pollution control.   Among  the towns  on
the  river,  there are  seven new wastewater  treatment  plants,
paid  for  in  part by  EPA  construction  grant  funds.   More
than  95 percent of Lhe  industries  on  the Housatonic  also
have  controls.

      Bluefish  now swim  from Long  Island Sound  as far  as  15
miles up  the  Housatonic.   Menhaden and blue  shell  crabs  are
back.  The  oyster industry in the  Housatonic,  wiped  out  in
a  1951 storm  and kept out  for years  thereafter  by  pervasive
pollution,  is  now back  to  its former  strength.

      On the  Naugatuck,  the water  that would  support  little
life  five years ago,  now has smallmouth bass,  bluegills,
bullheads,  and  whitesuckers.  Damsel  fly larvae, fish  fly
larvae, worms,  and sowbugs, which  are indicators of  good
water quality  and which  were gone  for so long,  are back.
There are still high  levels- of lead,  zinc, and  manganese  in
the bottom  sand.  Rut the  river  is no longer  sterile,  and
it  is on  a  course toward  the day  when its  waters will  once
again be  swimmable and  fishable  throughout  its  length.

      Three  New  England  rivers with reputations  as  fine  trout
streams in  years gone by,  also became casualties of  the
massive pollution of  the  20th century.  One,  the Willimantic,
is  in Connecticut.  The  other two,  the Pemigewa ss e t  and  the
Contoocook,  are in New  Hampshire.

      In 1963  the Connecticut fish  and game agency  stopped
stocking  the  Willimantic with trout altogether  because  the
pollution was  killing them.  That  powerful and  graceful  river,
which flows  through the  thinly populated northeastern  side  of
the State,  had  become a  dumping ground for upstream  textile
mills and for  the toxic  wastes of  the metal-plating  industry.
Soapsuds began  to boil  on  the river downstream  of  its  water-
fails,  sludgy  residues clogged the  bottom, and  odors  fouled
the air.  There were devastating  fish and  insect kills  in  the
river.

      The Pernigewasset, by  the mid-sixties, had  declined  to
the lowly status of a stream fit only to transport sewage  and
industrial  wastes.  Recreation was  all but eliminated  and
the value of  the river  for water supply virtually  ended.   The
once  beautiful  stream, which ran  through the  heart of  a  prime
New Hampshire vacation  area, was discolored and ugly.

      To the  south, the Contoocook  River was  faring little
better.  It  still had adequate dissolved oxygen levels,

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                             -9-

despite  three paper  mills on  its banks,  and it was  reasonably
free  of  urban and  agricultural  runoff.   But it had  towering
bacteria counts  and  was virtually a condemned river.

      Cleanup campaigns opened  on all  three of these once
highly  fishable  rivers at about  the same time.

      On  the Willimantic in  the  early  Seventies,  32  industries
were  issued NPDES  permits and  started  cleaning up  their
wastewaters before discharging  them.   One municipal sewage
treatment plant  was  upgraded  and another was replaced.  In
1973,  the State  of Connecticut  seeded  the river  with  1700
trout.   The next year  it was  stocked  with 4,000  more.  No fish
kills have been  reported.

      One paper mill  on the  Pemigewasset  closed down.   Another
adopted  a closed wastewater  system.   And newer industries with
sophisticated pollution controls replaced some of  the older
ones.  Five towns  on  the river  have put  in secondary  wastewater
treatment.  Today  more than  55  miles  of  the Pemigewasset  have
been  reclaimed  from  nuisance  status.   Obnoxious  fumes, odors,
and  color are gone.    The river,  remarkably, has  been  lifted  to
a  condition fit  for  every kind  of recreation.

      Mftjor  industrial  dischargers on  the Contoocook River
have  either had  to improve  their existing pollution controls
or  install  treatment  for the  first  time.  Three  paper mills
now  have  the  treatment required  by  their NPDES permits.
Both  the  tannery and  the fiber plant  are tied  into  a
municipal treatment facility.   Only  four small  communities
on  the  river  are left  without  treatment  and  they have
municipal plants on the drawing boards.   Local  residents
now  are using  the  river  for  swimming  and boating.   Some of
the  most  challenging  stretches of white  water  in all   of New
England can now  be used  without fear  of  pollution.

      And  all  three of  those  rivers  are once more living
up  to past  reputations --  they are  prime trout  streams.

      The  problem on the  Stevens Branch of  the  Winooski
River in  Vermont was  different  from  the  others.   It was
degraded  by fine granite powder that  made  it  look  like  a
long milky  way.

      For  years   the granite  and  gravel industries had  dumped
indiscriminately into the  stream.   The granite  powder
caused  gill scour in  fish  and smothered  their  spawning
beds.   Abrasives, including silicon carbide,  carborundum,
tin  oxide,  aluminum oxide,  and  steel  shot  from  wire  saws
and  polishers,   flowed untreated into  the water.

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                             -10-

      In  1971, the  EPA  awarded the  State a $61,000 grant  to
develop  an economical  method to  treat the problem and the
sludge  residue born  of it.  The  State developed  a lagoon
settling method using  a ferric  chloride solution.  Then  the
industry was given until August  1973  to install  controls.
Today all industries on the Stevens  Branch are  recycling
their liquid wastes  and have no  wastewater discharge at
all .

      The river, which  at one time  was classified  over parts
of  its  length as  fit only for industrial use,  is  now
suitable for swimming  and other  water contact  sports.

      The Androscoggin  River begins in the heavily forested
chain of lakes high  on the Maine-New Hampshire  line and
flows 161 miles through Maine to  Merrymeeting  Bay,  where  it
joins the Kennebec and flows out  to  the sea.   It  was once
listed  among the  10  most polluted  rivers in America.
Today it is on its way to a dramatic cleanup.

      As  the Androscoggin flows  toward the sea,  it runs into
its  first big load of  pollution  at Berlin, N.H.,  where this"
town  of  18,000 people  dumps raw  sewage into its  waters.
Brown Paper Company's  huge plant  at  the edge of  town adds
158,000  pounds of  BOD  daily.

      But construction  of a secondary treatment  plant for
Berlin  and its sister  community,  Gorham, is due  to  begin  in
1977.   The paper  company's secondary treatment  plant went
on  line  in late 1976,  about six  months ahead of  schedule.
New  Hampshire's total  BOD discharge  will be cut  by  80 to  90
percent  by that one  plant alone.

      The next major  source of pollution in the  Androscoggin
is  across the stateline in Maine,  at Rumford and  Mexico,
with  14,000 more  people and another  mill — that of the
Oxford  Paper Company.   The river,  which has partially
recovered from the heavy pollution load it picked up at
Berlin,  is hit there with another  major discharge.   Both
the  towns and the  mill, however,  will soon open  secondary
treatment plants.

      At  Lewiston,  the  biggest city on the Androscoggin,  the
river widens and  slows and the  heavy wastes sink to the
bottom.   Their decay,  with summer's  warm water  temperatures,
often dropped dissolved oxygen  levels below what was
necessary to sustain fish and other  aquatic life.  When  the
LewistonAuburn municipal and industrial treatment plant
opened  in 1974, however, much of  that problem  was solved.

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                             -11-

     One  by  one, the more than 25 major sources  of  pollution
on the  Androscoggin  are  being cleaned  up.  Several  completed
wastewater  treatment  facilities were  going through  final
start-up  operations  by  the end of  1976.  The  river  now
stands  to  be one of  the  first to meet  the EPA's  discharge
requirements for 1977.

A Trio  of  New York Rivers

     Three great New York rivers  famous in fact  and  legend
-- the  Mohawk, the Hudson, and the  upper Susquehanna --
were also  heavily polluted and are  now to some degree
r ej uve n a ted .

     Since they run  through  the heaviest concentration of
people  and  industry  in  the country,  they have  presented
enormous  challenges.   But from the  effort have come  the
first  signs  of success.

     The  Mohawk

     The  Mohawk flows  through the  heavily industrialized
Utica-Rome region eastward to the  Hudson.

     Today it is reasonably  clean.   More than  75 percent
of the  river's industrial wastewater  discharges  are  now
being  treated.  Largemouth and smallmouth bass,  walleye,
perch,  sunfish, and  even trout, have  returned  to waters
they once were forced  to leave.   The  rough fish  that  took
their  place — carp,  bullheads, and  suckers — are  in
decline.

     This represents a  comeback,  because the  river  at one
time was  severely polluted.   Behind  the  improvement  stands  a
major  effort by New  York State, with  its Pure Waters  Program,
a  strong  local commitment, and the  EPA.

     One  point on  this  important  river  that exemplifies
the change  is the portion of  the  mid-Mohawk at  Fonda,
N.Y.,  which is dominated by  the urban  and industrial
complexes of  the Johnstown-Gloversville  area.

      Before 1972, the  wastewater  discharged in to Cayadutta
Creek  above Fonda was  treated only  by an ancient and  over-
loaded  secondary treatment plant  built  in 1912.   It  was  only
ineffectively dealing  with the sewage  from the  urban  area
around  it and with  the  wastewater  from  a booming leather  and
tannery industry.

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                              -12-

     The  EPA put  up half of  the money  that upgraded  treatment
was estimated  to  cost.  And  when the  plant was  finished, the
water  quality  in  the Mohawk  began  to  improve.   Further up-
grading  is now contemplated  for the  plant to meet  more
fully  the requirements of  Public Law  92-500.  Although
there  is  still far to go,  the  raw  wastewater discharges
into that stretch  of the river have  ended, and  today
dissolved oxygen  levels in  the water  are on  the  rise.

     The  Hudson

     The  deterioration by  the  mid-1940's of  the  waters of  the
strong,  deep,  fast-flowing  Hudson  River  marked  the end
of a wa y  of life.

     Nowhere was  this more  strikingly  true than  in the 13
miles  of  the Lower Hudson's  shoreline  in Bergen  County.  In
the early decades  of this  century  swimming in that reach
of the  Hudson,  with its beaches and  overhanging  cliffs, was
the height of  fashion.  The  beaches  were lined  with  stone
bath houses, fancy restaurants, dancing  halls,  diving boards,
life guards, and  bathing beauties.   More than 300,000 bathers
came down to the  cliff-side  beaches  along that  stretch of  the
Hudson  in the  summer of 1935 alone, many of  them  riding
ferries  up river  from New  York City.   It was a  swimming hole
13 miles  1ong.

     Then came World War II  and with  it  industrial development
and industrial  wastes.  By  the time  the  war  was  over the
beaches  were unsafe for swimming and  were closed.   They
haven't  opened  since.

     When the  bathers stopped  coming,  the ferries  stopped
running.  Since the pollution had also  driven away  the
fish,  the fishermen left,  too.  Oil  gradually colored the
sands  of  the beaches and the old stone bathhouses  were
abandoned and  vandalized.   The river  along the  beachfront
became  so polluted by the  Sixties  that some  officials no
longer  even bothered to monitor its  pollution levels.

     But  wastewater treatment  also started coming  to the towns
along  the Hudson  in the Sixties.   Some 160 sewage  treatment
plants  have now been built,  or soon  will be, along the
river  and its  tributaries.

     Progress  in  ridding the Hudson  of the more  traditional
forms  of  pollution has been  remarkable,  thanks  to  New York
State's  billion dollar Pure  Waters campaign, dating  from
the mid-Sixt ies .

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                             -1 3-

     But  now the Hudson  has been  dealt a new,  and  even more
serious blow.   PCB's  (po1 yenlorin a ted  biphenols),  a nearly
indestructible and highly  toxic group  of industrial compounds,
have been discovered  in  the flesh  of  many fish in  the river.

     An  estimated 500,000  pounds  of  PCB's lie  menacingly  on
the bottom of  the river  in the 50-mile stretch between
Hudson  Falls and Albany, many miles  to the  north of Bergen
County.   That  is the  biggest concentration  of  PCB's at
large  in  the environment anywhere  in  the world.

     The  PCB's come  from the big  General F.iectric  Company
capacitators below Hudson  Falls.   This pollution is such
a  threat  that  all fishing, which  had  been on  the rise in
the otherwise  much cleaner Hudson,  was banned  in February
1976 __  for the first  time in history.

     Stringent action  against the  PCB  problem  followed.
General  Electric has  not discharged  any significant quantities
of PCB's  into  the Hudson in a year.   And by next summer  it
will stop using the  compounds altogether.   Meanwhile, a
$6 million joint GE-New  York State  effort to  rid the
river  bottom of the  material is underway.

     The  PCB setback came  just as  fish life was  beginning
to flourish again on the Hudson.   Crabs were  returning to
the Bergen County shoreline.  Fishermen were  catching shad
that no  longer  tasted  of oil.  Bluefish had returned.  And
there  was even  talk  -- unthinkable  for 30 years  -- of
swimming  again  off  the beaches under  the overhanging
cliffs.

     The  PCB's  are  not  the only problem the Hudson faces.  It
is still  contaminated  in some reaches by the  more traditional
pollutants.  More  than  225 million gallons  of  poorly treated
and often toxic sewage  still flush into the water near the
Statue  of Liberty  whenever it rains.   And each day New York
City still dumps  200 million gallons  of untreated  sewage
into  the  river.   But the $1  billion North River project,
when  finished,  will  be  the largest sewage treatment complex
ever built.  It  should  sharply reduce the massive load of
pollution into  the  lower Hudson.

      Along much of  the  rest  of  the river  the  State's Pure
Waters program  has  already taken  hold.  The Hudson, once  it   is
rid  of its PCB's,  faces a  far  cleaner future.

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                              -14-

      The  Susquehanna

      The  stretch of the  Susquehanna between  Binghampton and
Smithboro,  N.Y., is also  gradually recovering  from a long era
of decline.

      Its  rejuvenation  is  an example of  the  now familiar cycle
of an  inpouring of money,  the construction  of  massive
municipal  wastewater  treatment plants,  and  visible evidence
of a  river  improving  in  quality.

      An  $11  million Binghampton-Johnson  City  treatment plant
was finished in 1975.  The  EPA funded almost  half of it.
A $4  million facility  at  Endicott went  on line in 1973.

      And  now monitoring  stations all along  that reach of the
Susquehanna  are reporting  cleaner water.  The  station at
Vestal  reports oxygen  depletion cut by  half  and the level
of bacterial contamination  reduced many  fold  — from
a total  fecal coliform count  of 8,000 per 100  milliliters
of water  to  200.  This is  a remarkable  improvement.  Even
the Smithboro station, farthest downstream  from the new
municipal  treatment plants, reports marked  decreases in
coliform  bacteria counts.   The Owego monitoring station
also  reports a drop in total  suspended  solids.

      Such  fish as walleyed  pike, smallmouth bass, and muskel-
lunge  are  back in numbers.   That stretch of  the Susquehanna,
once  mired  in pollution,  is again taking on  the characteristics
of a  healthy river.

      High  fecal coliform  levels like those  previously
found  on  the Susquehanna, have long been a  problem nation-
wide.   It  is still a  significant problem in many areas,
but as new municipal  treatment plants are built, it is
gradually  being alleviated.

      As  Figure 1 reveals,  fecal coliforra levels are now
acceptably  low in the  Northwest, in the  Upper  Great Lakes.
and in portions of Florida  and Colorado.  High levels are
still  found  in much of the  Midwest, the  East  and South.

      Among areas showing  general improvement  in fecal
coliform  levels are Colorado, Nebraska  and Minnesota
(Figure  2).   The turnaround in coliform  trends has not
yet occurred along the lower  Missouri and the  middle
Ohio .

The Urban  Rivers of New  Jersey

      In  the  last five  years two important urban river systems
in New Jersey have also  started the long climb back from
contamination.

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    Figure 1
           Environmental Protection Agency
                   STORET SYSTEM

Fecal Coliform in Water, 1973-1975, 85th Percentiles
 Concentration
 (organisms/100 ml)

* — no data
8 —   0-200
i — 200-400
g — 400-800
• — 800 or more
         Cells included are those for  which  data  has been  supplied
         to EPA.   Cells are approximately  25 by 35 miles.

         Source:  Monitoring and Data Support Division, OWPS, EPA

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  Figure  2
Environmental Protection Agency
        STORET SYSTEM
                        Trends  in Fecal Coliform, 1967-69 to 1973-75
   Trend

 + — Improved  272 cells (59%)

 o — Less than 10% Change

 ^ — Worsened  167 cells (36%)
Small arrows (barely visible)  indicate
  less improvement.
                                     Source:  Monitoring  and Data Support Division, OWPS, EPA

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                             -15-

     The  Hackensack,  which rises  in Haverstraw, N.Y.,  and
flows  languidly southward into  Newark Bay,  was heavily
polluted.   Near its  mouth the  river widens,  flowing  at a
nearly  i nd i seer nab le  rate through a swampy  marsh called  the
Meadows,  which  is  filled with  garhage,  rusting auto  bodies,
industrial oil  slicks, and cattails.

      By 1971 the  Hackensack  bore  all the  symptoms of a stream
in  the  last stages  of deterioration.  The  Hackensack
Meadowlands Development  Commission  issued  a report  calling
it  a  "highly disturbed and truncated ecosystem" which  is
"virtually dead."   Many  of the  fish, the  shellfish  and
crustaceans,   that  had populated  it for thousands of years
had,  over the  span  of a  mere 40 years,  been driven  out.

      A long five-year effort to revive  the  Hackensack is now
starting  to pay off.  The development commission  in 1976 was
able  to report  that  the  river  "is coming  back."   Dissolved
oxygen levels  are up.  Ribbed  mussels have  been  introduced
into  its  waters and have  survived.  Blue  claw  crabs are back
in  abundance.   Wild  fowl  and shore  wading  birds now frequent
its banks, and  stripers,  alewife, and herring  are  turning  up  in
seining nets again.

      A sister  system  of  the  Hackensack, the Navesink and
Shrewsbury  Rivers,  the waters of which  had  also  once been
rich  and  clean but  had  become heavily  polluted,  is  now
making a  come-back.

      In the  late  Fifties commercial clampers  in  Raritan  Bay,
the estuary  into  which  these two rivers empty,  could still
take a good  day's catch.  The waters  were rich  in  shellfish.
The hardshell  and softshell  crabs  and  oysters  were  perhaps
the finest  in  New Jersey.   People  swam  without  fear in  all
reaches of  the two rivers.

      Then,  in  1961,  there was an outbreak of  hepatitis  --
 from contaminated clams  taken from  Raritan Bay.   It was  a
 turning point  in  the  fortunes of  the  two rivers  and their
estuary.   The  swimming  and  the shellfish harvesting abruptly
 s t op ped .

:      The  pollution had  been building  for years,  intensified
 by the  residues of waste from  the  flow of millions   of gallons
 of untreated  sewage  into the Hud son-Raritan  estuarine system.
 People  and  industry  over the years  had  moved  into  the two
 river  valleys  and gradually displaced much of the  farm  land of
 less  polluted   times.

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                              -16-

      The drainage basins  of the Shrewsbury and  Navesink  were
beset  by overflows from malfunctioning  household  septic  tanks,
by runoff from  new shopping centers  and  roads,  and  by inadequately
treated  wastewater from antiquated and  overloaded  treatment
plants.

      Three major  projects were built  with EPA help  -- a
15 mile  outfall  line and  two treatment  plants.

      Today more  than five million gallons of effluent that
once  emptied  into those rivers each  day  no longer  do.
The  two  rivers  and the estuary have  not  regained  their
high  water quality of earlier  times,  but  they are  improved.
Four  years ago  all the waters  were closed to she 11fishing .
Now  two-thirds of Raritan Bay's 25,250  acres are  open on  a
restricted scale  to some  forms of shellfish harvesting.   So
are  nearly all  of the waters of the  Navesink and  Shrewsbury
Rivers .

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                              -17-

 RIVERS  OF  THE SOUTH
      Many  major rivers of  the South, no  less than of  the
 North, have  experienced  the  familiar pattern of gradual,
 choking  pollution.  Some  of  them, too, have been witness  to
 urgent calls  for cleanup.   And many have  made striking
 comebacks.  Among the many,  here are a handful  of notable
 ex am pies.

 The Pearl

      One day  in 1960 a diver  donned a face  mask and wet suit
 and slipped into Bogue Lusa  Creek, a tributary  of the Pearl
 River in Louisiana,  to examine the impeller of  a fixed
 aerator  at a  paper company outfall.  Every  part of his body
 not protected  by his wet suit suffered severe chemical
 burns.

      Two years  later a young  employee of  the  Louisiana State
 Department of  Health came down to the edge  of the Bogue Lusa,
 barren now of  all  vegetation  and  devoid of  all  signs of life
 and dipped a  thermometer in  the  water.   When  he pulled it out,
 he  was unable  to  read  the temperature because all of the
 paint on the  thermometer had  been stripped  away.

      At  about  the  same time,  the  Pearl  River  in Mississippi,
 just  below Jackson,  was so heavily polluted  that  even pollu-
 tion-tolerant bloodworms, virtually the only  life  still in
 the water,  were  forced to leave  the  river and re-establish
 themselves  in  springs  along its  edge.

      Parts  of  the  Pearl  and stretches  of  the  Bogue  Lusa had
 become  as polluted as  rivers  can  get.   Yet  the  Pearl  once had
 run  fast, beautiful  and  clear  for 475  miles  from  east  central
 Mississippi south  through Louisiana  to  the  sea.   It  ran
 through  country  timbered  with  southern  pine.  Mink,  deer,
 turkey,  and waterfowl  populated  its  banks,  and  catfish swam  in
 its waters.

      But  at the  turn of  this century,  a  small sawmill  was
built on  Bogue Lusa  Creek.   During  World  War  I,  it became
the largest pine sawmill  in the world,  giving birth  to
the City  of Bogalusa.   In  1917, another  paper plant
settled  on  the creek and  grew  in  size  through the years.
A large  chemical company  moved onto  the Pearl upstream.
The cities, the paper mills,  and  the chemical company
used  the  river and its  tributary  at will  to  dispose  of
their wa s te s .

      Papermill wastewater  was  pumped into  Bogue Lusa Creek
untreated.  The city of Bogalusa discharged  raw sewage.

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                               -18-

 The creek became  little more  than a  channel for .carrying
 undiluted wastes  to the Pearl  River.   Sludge deposits
 settled  on the  bottom.  Gas  rose and  bubbled constantly in
 the creek and  oily  wastes  clung to any  object on  the banks.

      Only the  most  pol1utant-resistant  of  life  forms could
 survive  in the  creek and life  was perilous for  fish  in the
 Pearl  River downstream of  where the  creek  entered  it. In  1960,
 dead and  dying  fish floated  in  the Pearl  River  as  far as  30
 miles  below Bogalusa.

      In  1963,  citizens in  the  area had  had enough.   The
 first  interstate  conference on  pollution  of the Pearl River
 convened  in New Orleans and the chief  sources of  pollution on
 the Bogue Lusa  were pinpointed  -- the  Crown Zellerbach paper
 mill and  the  City of Bogalusa  itself.

      Crown Zellerbach  was  dumping an average of 76,167 pounds
 of  BOD into the river  every day.   The city's untreated sewage
 was building  up bacterial  pollution over  150 times more dense
 than the  maximum  considered safe  for water contact sports, and
 over 30 times more  than is acceptable  for  general  recreation.

      Even before  the conference convened,  however, Crown
 Zellerbach had begun moving to  clean up its discharges.   A
 treatment  plant was  already in  the works and  would be in
 operation the next  year.    By 1972  the company's discharges
 were down  to  20,000  pounds of BOD -a  day.

      The  City of  Bogalusa  moved  less rapidly.   It  had  one
 primary treatment plant  in operation in 1963.   In  1967,  the
 voters  defeated a $2,300,000 bond  issue to  build additional
 primary and secondary  treatment  facilities.:

      In 1971,  EPA served  the city  with a 180-day notice
 for  discharging inadequately t r ea ted, m un ic ipa 1  wastes  into
 the  water  in  violation  of  Fed e r al-S t a te standards.   Finally,
 in  1972,   a  referendum  was  passed  by  the electorate.   A $4.6
 million treatment plant  was started  -- 75  percent  of  it
 financed   with EPA funds.   It was  finished  in  1975.

      At about  the  same  time, Jackson, upstream  of  the  Pearl
 River,  opened  a new  wastewater  treatment system, built with
 the  financial  help of  the  State and  the EPA.

      Slowly the river  and  its tributary have begun to
 return  from the shadows of  pollution.   Bogue Lusa  Creek's
color has   improved.   Fish  have  returned  --  free  of the
 turpentine  taste that once  permeated  their  flesh.   Bream,
white perch,  trout,  and,catfish are  back in  the  creek  and
 in  the  river  below.

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                             -19-

     Downstream from Jackson,  floating sewage  and  odors are
gone.  River  sludge deposits  appear to have  been flushed
out.  Dissolved oxygen levels  have risen  over  the  last  six
or seven  years.  There is  now  hope for the  river.

     Dissolved  oxygen problems of the sort  that plagued the
Bogue Lusa  and  the Pearl were  once the most  common of all
water pollution problems in the U.S.  But with the construction
of municipal  treatment plants  and the control  of discharge
from such  industrial dischargers pulp and paper mills,
these problems  are rapidly being eliminated.   DO levels are
now general high --which is desirable --  in  most areas  of
the country.  (Figure 3).

     Undesirably low DO levels are still  found along the
Gulf and  Atlantic Coasts from  Louisiana  to  New Jersey.  Low
levels in  the swampy bayous of the South  may be due  in
great part  to natural decay of dead plants  and organic
material  in the warm stagnant  waters.  Low  DO  levels are
also found  in Ohio, and Indiana and in sections of Wisconsin,
Minnesota,  Washington and  Maine.

     DO  levels  have been  improving noticeably  in several
areas including the Carolinas  and Virginia.,  Illinois and
Michigan,  Nebraska and Texas.  (Figure 4).

Sope Creek

     The  Chattahoochee River's Sope Creek was  hardly better
off in the  Sixties and early Seventies than  the Pearl's
Bogue Lusa.

     Flowing  through metropolitan Atlanta,  Ga., and  beset
by a surge  of suburban development, the  Sope became  little
more than a foul-smelling  open sewer.  Abandoned by  all
pollution-sensitive aquatic life, it  had  been left largely
to a g'rowing  population of -unsightly  bloodworms.

     Along  the  same lush river banks  where  Chief Sope and
his Che r oke e' na t io n once  encamped, swimming, fishing, and
picnicking  were  no longer  allowed.

     Sope Creek's problem  was caused  by  inadequately
treated  wastewater dumping into  it  from  one  major sewage
treatment plant  and five  smaller package  plants.  Trie
treatment provided, which  had been more  than adequate when
the Sope  was a  tumbling,  splashing and picturesque stream
on  the outskirts of the city,  was no  longer  adequate.   In
the Sixties,  the basin had developed  faster  than anyone had
anticipated,  and the plants were consequently operating
well beyond their design  capacities.

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  Figure 3
     Environmental  Protection Agency
             STORET SYSTEM
                    Dissolved Oxygen in Water, 1973-1975, 15th Percentiles
* _
 Concentration
    (mg/1)
   - no data

   - greater than 5
   - 4-5
   - 2-4

   - less than 2
Cells included are those for which data has been supplied
    :PA.  Cells are approximately 25 by 35 miles.

Source:  Monitoring and Data Support Division,  OWPS,  EPA

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Figure 4
       Environmental Protection Agency
               STOREt SYSTEM


Trends in Dissolved Oxygen, 1967-69 to 1973-75
   Trend

 ^— Improved  396 cells (41%)

 0 — Less than 10% Change

 ^— Worsened  140 cells (14%)

Small arrows  (barely visible) indicate
  less improvement.
                                  Source:
                    Monitoring and Data Support Division, OWPS, EPA

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                              -20-

       In  1967, an EPA  predecessor agency  had  funded a
 project  to build a  secondary wastewater  treatment plant  on
 Sope  Creek.   In the early Seventies  the  EPA  increased the
 grant  to  include necessary interceptor sewers.   The  treatment
 plant  was  finished  in  1973,  the interceptor  sewers were
 nearly  finished by  October 1975, and most  of  the package
 plants  had been eliminated.

       Change  for the better in Sope Creek was  almost  immediately
 evident.   Within two months  all bloodworms had  disappeared
 and the odors that  residents had complained  of  had been
 eliminated.  The shoals  in  midstream have changed back to
 their  natural color, and  algae that had  built  up in  the
 creek are  gone.  The common  bluegill bream,  the  warmouth
 bream, and largemouth bass are back in the creek and  being
 caught by  fishermen.  The  creek is now beginning to  look
 like  the stream that had  once been so pleasing  when  the
 Cherokees  camped by its side.

 The Arkansas

      The Arkansas  was  a river beset by another major  enemy
 of  water quality -- turbidity.

      A measure  of  water's  murkiness,  turbidity is  generally
 caused by  suspended or dissolved  solid particles --  sediment
 --  from municipal  and  industrial  sources  or from such
 nonpoint sources as farming.,  construction,  and logging.

      Much  of  the country (Figure  5)  enjoys  very  low  levels
 of  turbidity.   Exceptions  are the  Pacific Northwest,  Idaho,
 Michigan,   Florida,  New York,  Delaware,  most of Pennsylvania,
 the  Susquehanna  and the Monongahela  Rivers, and  certain
 streams in central  Vermont.

      The Missouri-Mississippi  River  system  along  its  entire
 length is  naturally turbid.   Turbidity  levels are  also  high
 in  the  Rio  Grande  as far upstream as  northern New  Mexico
 and  in  the  tributaries  of   the Gila  in  Arizona and  the Red
 River  of  the  South.  The Kansas  River  and the Scioto  River
 in  central  Ohio  are also turbid.

     And  so is  the  Arkansas.   For decades silt had settled
 in  the  river  as  it  ran  its course through Oklahoma and
Arkansas.   Sediment  came down from  the  arid  regions of
Oklahoma  and  Kansas, aggravated by the  same  farming practices
that  triggered the  dust  bowl   in the Thirties.

     And during  the  same period, salt became  a major  problem.
Sodium  chloride  and  gypsum  draining down  out  of   the natural
salt flats  and salt  springs contributed more  than half of

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 Figure 5
       Environmental Protection Agency
               STORET SYSTEM

Turbidity of Water, 1973-1975,  85th Percentile
 Concentration
     (JTU)

* —  no data
g—  0-25
|—  25-100
|~  100-200

|~  greater than 200
   Cells included are those for which data has been supplied
   to EPA.  Cells are approximately 25 by 35 miles.

   Source;  Monitoring  and Data Support Division/ OWPS, EPA

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                              -21-

 the river's  high salt content.  Much of  the rest came  from
 the oil  fields,  where the  quickest and  cheapest way  to  get
 rid of  the  salt  water pumped  up with the  oil was to  dump  it
 into the  nearest river.  The  Arkansas got  more than  its
 share.

      By  1955,  the river  was  so heavily  choked  with silt
 that people  were saying  it  was "too thick  to pump and  too
 thin to  plow."  In the summer  the river  often  ran nearly
 dry.  In  the  winter and  spring it rampaged.   The treacherous,
 unpredictable  currents and  raw sewage from  over half a
 million  people made swimming  impossible  and  boating  improbable.

      The  river was already  in  such a polluted  condition
 from the  salt  and the silt,  that  the cities  and industries
 rising on  its  banks simply  wrote  it off  for  any use  except
 receiving  wastes.

      But  the  river was too  important for that.   Two-thirds  of
 the land area  of  Oklahoma drained  directly  or  indirectly into
 it.  The people  in  its basin wouldn't let  it go for  a sewer.
 They began to  pressure officials,  and a combine of  Federal,'
 State,  and local  agencies, joined  by the industries  themselves,
 responded.  The  effort has  saved  the  Arkansas.

      With Federal  financial help,  the two biggest  cities,
 Tulsa  and Oklahoma  City,  have  installed new  wastewater  treat-
 ment plants.   Town  after  town  along  the river's course has
 either  done the  same,  or  soon  will  -- Webbers  Falls,  Wagoner,
 Sand Springs,  El  Reno, Stillwater,  Norman, Okmulgee,  Tahlequah,
 Miami,  and Ponca  City.

      In  Arkansas,  Little  Rock  has  built a new  facility.
 North  Little Rock,  Fort  Smith,  Van  Buren, Ozark,  Clarksville,
 Dardanelle, and Morrilton,  among  others, are acting  to lessen
 their  contamination  of the  river.

      Industry, under  Public Law 92-500,  is cleaning  up
 its  discharges.   And  the  MeClel Ian-Kerr  Arkansas  River Navi-
 gation  project has made  the river  navigable  from  its  mouth  to
 the  Port  of Tulsa.  The project stabilized  the  banks  of the
 river with a  series of locks and dams on the Arkansas itself
and  with  dams  for silt entrapment  and flood  control  on the
maj or  tributaries.

     The  total amount  of  water coming down  the  river  is
unchanged.   But the flow  now is more  evenly distributed
Likewise,  the  salt load is  still high,  but  there is more
water to  dilute it during critical low  flow periods.   So the
peak concentration is  lower.

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                               -22-

      The  tide of other forms  of  pollution has also  turned  in
 the Arkansas.  The river's dissolved oxygen content  is  better
 and its bacterial count lower  than ever before.  And
 the fish  are returning -- among  them the sauger, a  fish
 fastidious  in its water quality  requirements, and the big-
 mouth bass.

      The  entire length of the  river  now is suitable  for a
 variety of  water uses.  Much  of  it,  including the 50-mile
 reach upstream from Little Rock,  is  clean enough for swimming
 and water skiing.  Below Little  Rock,  fecal coliform counts
 have plummeted -- from 15,094  organisms per 100 railliliters
 of water  in  1972 to 184 in 1974.   At  another point below the
 city the  count dropped from 29,738 in  1972 to 584 in 1974.

      Officials in the  two states  are  saying now that the
 Arkansas  is  now cleaner than  it  has  ever been.

 A  Mountain River

      In the  mountains  of  western  North  Carolina in the  1950's
 another southern river, the French Broad,  was being polluted
 by an unchecked  flow  of wastes from  two  major industries and  a
 city.

      The Olin  Corporation,  American Enka Company,  and the
 City of Asheville  had  dumped  raw  sewage,  suspended  solids,
 and heavy metals  into  the  river until the  dissolved  oxygen
 along  its entire  reach from Pisgah Forest  to  Asheville  had,
 on occasion, dropped almost  to zero.

      Together  those three  sources, by the  early  Seventies,
 were dumping an  average of  55,323 pounds  of  BOD,  61,977
 pounds  of  suspended solids,  and large quantities  of  metal
 precipitates and  salts into  the river every  day.   Many  por-
 tions of  the stream reeked  with foul odors  and  ran  black under
 a  cover  of foam.  There was  little life  left  in  the  water.

     The  EPA,  together  with  the State of  North  Carolina,
 developed  effluent limitations and compliance  schedules  to
 diminish  the flow of wastes  from the three major  polluters.
 By  September 1974, all  three  had been issued  NPDES  permits to
 control  their waste discharges.  Even before  that,  the  EPA had
 given American Enka Company a  demonstration grant  to  help
 build an  innovative treatment  facility to  curb the  zinc
 content of its effluent.

     Both  companies were receptive.  They took the actions
called  for by the State and the EPA and  -j^v:. "soon in  compliance
with their permit requirements.  The  Ol-;1^: Co rpor a t io n completed

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                             -23-

 a  biological treatment  plant In March  1976.   American Enka
 Company Is upgrading  its present wastewater  treatment plant
 and  has changed  production processes  to  reduce the levels of
 heavy metal in  its discharge.

      The city ,'  however ,  had trouble living  up to its permit
 requirements.   Only after a meeting with  the  EPA in early 1976
 did  it begin to make  satisfactory progress.   Now it also  is  in
 c omplianc e.

      Already these steps are reflected in  the condition of
 the  river.  The odors and the foam are gone  and  the water's
 natural color is returning.  Dissolved oxygen levels have
 reached 60 to 70 percent of saturation and  fish  have started
 to  r eap pear.

 The  Lower Escatawpa

      The lower  six miles of the Escatawpa  River  in Mississippi
 was  one of the most grossly polluted estuaries in the  Southeast.

      A paper mill, an organic chemical plant, three fish
 meal  processing plants,  and the towns of Moss Point and
 Escatawpa were discharging  inadequately treated  wastewaters
 into  the river.  Low  river  flow In the summer months and
 poor  natural flushing of the  estuary were aggravating  the
 condition. In 1964, the  Mississippi Game and  Fish Commission
 reported extensive fish  kills.   Fishery prospects on the
 river  were judged nil.

      The five industries and  the Jackson County  Board  of
 Supervisors  took some initial  steps after the  publication of
 the  Commission's report.  The  International Paper Company
 installed  primary treatment.   Thiokol Chemical put  in  minimal
 treatment, and  the three fishmeal  companies started  recycling
 their  process wastewaters.   Secondary treatment  facilities were
 built  to handle the municipal  wastes from Moss Point  and
 Esca tawpa.

      But  still  the river  was  polluted.  The EPA  in  1972  reported
 that  the  lower  portion of the  estuary  registered  zero  dis-
 solved  oxygen.   Sediment  deposits  were heavily contaminated  and
 little  life  existed in the  water.

     Since  then, the  Jackson  County  Port  Authority  has built a
 secondary  treatment system  for  International  Paper  Company
wastes.   Thiokol is injecting  its  concentrated wastes  into
deep wells,  and  all three flshmeal  companies now  have  essen-
 tially  closed  wastewater  systems.

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                              -24-
      Fish  are returning  to  the estuary and  the  water quality
 in the  critical summer months is notably  improved.

 The Lower  Savannah

      The Savannah River  runs  for 310 miles  through the heart
 of the  South  on its way  to  the Atlantic.  It  is one of the
 main interstate waterways of  the Southeast,  forming the
 boundary between Georgia  and  South Carolina.

      Citizens requested  an  interstate conference on the
 Savannah in  the early 1960s.   Many of them  complained that
 the river's  heavily urbanized  and industrialized lower 22
 miles had  become a threat to  the health of  residents in the
 area.   In  1963,  an EPA predecessor agency within the Depart-
 ment of Health,  Education and  Welfare convened  a conference
 with the water  pollution  control agencies of  Georgia and South
 Carolina.  It was  decided there  that HEW should study the
 pr oblem.

      HEW's study confirmed  everyone's suspicions.   Only
 one-fifth of  all the  sewage from a population of  146,000
 people  on  the 22-mile reach received even primary  treatment.
 The other four-fifths of  the  sewage  ran directly  into the river
 untreated.   Industries on the  lower  Savannah discharged
 processed wastes,  cooling water,  and chemical wastes equi-
 valent  in impact  to  the  raw sewage of an estimated  1,000 000
 people.

      Consequently,  the dissolved  oxygen content  of  the  lower
 reach of the  river  was low.   Game  fish  and commercial  fish had
 become  scarce and  11,000  acres of  coastal  waters  in  the
 Savannah area were  closed to she 1Ifishing.  All  the  symptoms
 of  an imperiled  river  were present.

      As  they have done on many rivers,  the existing  Federal
 agencies,  and later  the  EPA, joined  with  the States  to
 attack  the  problem.   Making  use  of  persuasion together  with
 the limited enforcement  authority  available  to  them,  they
 saw to  it  that adequate wastewater  treatment facilities
 were  built  and put  in  operation.   By  1975  all major
 dischargers of organic wastes  into  the  lower Savannah were
 in  compliance with  their  effluent  limitations.

      BOD discharges from  point sources  in  the river  have
dropped  by  90  percent.  In 1975, for  the  first  time  on
record,  there were no  reported dissolved  oxygen violations
at  the Fort  Jackson monitoring site.  Aquatic life was
quickening  on  the river reach  once again  and fish were
swimming  where they had not  been seen in many years.

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                             -25-

A ROLL  CALL OF RIVERS
      Ho  list  of polluted  rivers  on which some degree  of
clean-up  has  now been achieved  can possibly be  complete.

      Under  Public Law 92-500  every river must be  brought
back,  so  the  attack is broad,  reaching to every polluted
stream in  the country.  And the  role of the EPA varies  from
river  to  river.  Because  every  river is different,  the  rate of
progress  and  the degree of  success already achieved  on  each
varies  considerably.

      Some  efforts,  as we  have  seen, border on the  spectacular.
Other  rivers  improve only slowly,  and some not  at  all.  The
quality  on  a  few is still worsening somewhat.   But  as  the
cases  above show, the progress,  where it has occurred,  is
heartening,  sometimes impressive.   And the prospects  for
more  improvement are good.  For  many streams, higher  water
quality  depends only on the completion of projects  now
underway.   On others, where municipal wastewater  treatment
plants  are  required, construction  merely awaits the  availabilty
of Federal  funding.

      The  EPA  disburses the  $18  billion earmarked  by  the
Congress  in  P.L. 92-500 for the  States and cities  to  use  in
building  municipal  treatment  plants.  The Federal  share of
such  construction is 75 percent.

      Figure 6 shows the dollar  amounts awarded for  construc-
tion  nationwide, by county, since  January 1970.    Figure 7
shows  the  total dollars spent on  treatment plants completed
since  then.   The two maps show  that the distribution  of
dollars compares well with  the distribution of fecal  coliforra
and DO problems (Figures  1 and  3),  and also with  the  distri-
bution  of  population.

     Meanwhile, from rivers and  streams all over  the
country,  some  famous, some little  known, there come  signs
that as treatment plants are  funded and built and as
industries  comply with discharge requirements, the quality
of the water  improves.  Some  examples:

     o  On  the  mighty Ohio. 891 miles long and touching six
        states,  97  percent of  the  sewered population  is
        served  by wastewater  treatment  of some kind.
        Nevertheless, 54 percent of this  treatment is less
        than  secondary and must be  upgraded.   The PCB's
        recently discovered in the  river  also require

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    Figure 6
 GRANT DOLLARS AWARDED FOR CONSTRUCTION
OF MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
      JANUARY 1,1970 - JUNE 30,1976
Symbol size indicates
   dollars awarded
     (by county)
X  	
         $4718-211,200

         $211,200-839,906

         $339,906-3,632,753

         $3,632,753-167,527,500
       Total grant dollars awarded, by county.  Counties
       in the Western STates are larger and fewer in number
       bnan are counties in the Eastern States.   Symbols
       are located at county centroids, not at sites of
       treatment works.
                                   Source: Grants Administration Division and Monitoring
                                           and Data Support Division, EPA

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     Figure 7
GRANT DOLLARS AWARDED xOR MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER
    TREATMENT WORKS COMPLETED IN THE PERIOD
         JANUARY 1,1970 - JUNE 30,1976
Symbol size indicates
   dollars awarded
     (by county)
     — $4718-100,703

     — $100,703-300,250

     — $300,250-974,270

     — $974,270-36,728,000
     Grant dollars  awarded, by county.  Counties  in the Western States
     are  larger and fewer  in number than are counties  in the Eastern
     States.   Symbols are located at county centroids, not at sites
     of treatment works.

     Source: Grants Administration and Monitoring and  Data Support
             Divisions, EPA

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                         -26-

    action.  But  the water  quality has  improved  enough
    so that,  in  1975,  100  successful  bass tournaments
    could  be  held on  the upper reaches  of the Ohio  in
    West Virginia.  That would have been unthinkable
    five years  before.

 o   West Virginia's heavily industrialized Kanawha
    River ,  though still far from clean,  has had its
    dissolved  oxygen content rise from  below standards
    to acceptable levels.   Fish and fish food organisms
    generally associated with cleaner water are beginning
    to return.   Among  the  .fish species  sighted  now in
    the river  are crappies, spotted bass,  white bass,
    and saugar.

 o   On the  Neches River in  southeast Texas, the bass
    are back after 15  years, and  as one  fisherman
    reports, they are  "scrappy ones, and  tasty, too."

 o   Tar Creek, a little prairie stream  in  northeastern
    Oklahoma, was once a water lifeline  for buffalo.
    But it became heavily  polluted  in this century.
    Its cleanup  is now underway and the  long absent
    wildlife are beginning  to return to  its banks.

 o   Not far to the south,  Oklahoma's Little Deep Fork.
    once  a clear  stream rolling down to  Lake Eufaula,
    was also running  dark  and discolored  by mid-century.
    A  new treatment  plant  went on line  in  the town of
    Bristow last  year  and  the waters of  the  stream are
    clear again  and  free of  odor.

 o   Wisconsin's  Maunesha River near Waterloo was
    heavily polluted  in the  mid-Sixties  by wastes  from
    a  sauerkraut  and  pickle  cannery, a cheese factory,
    a  slaughter  house, and   from the town  itself.  Four
    miles of the  river were  without life of  any kind.
    A  treatment  plant was built to  handle  wastes from
    all the dischargers.   Now a balanced  community
    including pol1ution-in  tolerant  organisms once  more
    lives in the  river.

0   Dry Auglaize  Creek runs  through Lebanon,  Missouri
    and which empties  into   the  Missouri  River has  been
    saved  in its  downward  slide into pollution  by  a new
    EPA funded  treatment plant, which  went  on line in
    April  1976.

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                    -27-

In 1970,  the  Mobile-Tombigbee River  system in  Alabama
was contaminated by mercury and  closed  to commercial
fishing.   The flesh of many bass  carried concentra-
tions more than four  times higher  than  the allowable
limit in  food for human  consumption.   Alabama  and
the EPA moved jointly  against the  contamination.
The chloralkali plants in the area pared the quantities
of mercury they were  discharging.   Mercury concentrations
in fish and  in  the bottom sediments  declined,  and  the
ban on commercial fishing was lifted.

Chester and  Campbell  Creeks in  Anchorage, Alaska,
in 1970 were  posted for  no swimming,  no body
contact,  and  no recreation.  Only  8  percent of the
sewage  then  flowing into the creeks  was treated.
And because  of  the high  cost of  building treatment
plants in Alaska, nothing was being  done.  The EPA
and the State of Alaska, in consort,  funded a
cleanup effort  and the local communities began to
act.  Now, though the  problem is  still  not fully
solved, 78 percent of  the waste  is being treated.
And the creeks  are beginning to  clear.

Ten years ago the Calumet River  in the  heart of
Chicago was  little better than  an  oily  open sewer
where industry  dumped  its wastes.   Pressed hard by
the Illinois  Environmental Protection Agency and
the Federal  EPA, the  industries  -- including  four
steel mills  --  spent  $100 million to  clean the
Calumet.   A decade ago it was considered the
dirtiest  of  the nine  or  10 important  streams  in
Cook  County.   Today it is rated  by the  State  as the
second  cleanest.

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                              -28-

 TKE GREAT  LAKES
      The  five  Great Lakes  are the world's  largest reservoir
 of  fresh  water -- 95,000 square miles.   They were also  a
 major setting  for the American industrial  revolution,  that
 enormous  outpouring of energy and people  and power and
 production,  which brought  pollution to  the  lakes to match
 the ir size.

      For  more  than a century  the wastes  poured  in:  raw and
 Inadequately treated sewage  and runoff  from  the cities;
 chemicals -- sulfates, chlorides, phenols,  and  ammonia;
 oil and heavy  metals from  industry and  shipping; and
 pesticides,  herbicides, and  chemical fertilizers from
 agr ic ulture.

      Even so vast a reservoir of water  as  the  Great Lakes
 can take  only  so  much effluent.   Lake Erie  became overloaded
 with  nutrients,  largely from  municipal  wastes  and rural
 runoff -- but  also from industrial wastes and  urban runoff.
 Much  of its waters became  clogged with decaying nuisance
 plants that  used  up the oxygen necessary to  support other
 aquatic life,  and the lake began to  age prematurely.

      Parts of  Lakes Ontario and  Michigan also  became
 heavily polluted, Lakes Superior and Huron  Less so.   In
 some  parts of  the hardest  hit lakes, pollution  exceeded
 levels considered safe for humans.  It also  jeopardized
 the continued  existence of many  native species  of fish.

      Most beaches on Lakes Erie,  Michigan, and  Ontario were
 closed.   Many  fish died.    And  some fish pulled  from the
 lakes  and its  tributaries  even today are still  not  considered
 safe  to  eat, because of the high  levels of industrial,
 agricultural,  and municipal discharges that  they carry.

      In  1972,  the two  Nations  that share the Great  Lakes --
 the United States and  Canada  --  signed  the Great Lakes
Water  Quality  Agreement to  continue  jointly  a long-term
attack on the  pollution.

      In  the  most  severely polluted  lakes --  Erie,  Ontario,
and Michigan -- big  problems  still exist.  But  in  the  last
few years, in  the  lakes  and along  some  of their  tributaries,
the States,  backed  by  the  Federal  Government, have  pressed
their  part of  the  cleanup effort.  The  bulk of the job  still
lies  ahead.   But  there  are  signs  even  now that  point  to
pr og r es s .

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                             -29-
Lake Erie  --  The Beginnings  of  Comeback

     A decade ago, Lake  Erie,  a 20,000 year-old inland  sea,
was held  up  as the most  tragic  case of pollution in the
Nation.

     From  the beginning,  Erie  has been the  shallowest of
the Great  Lakes.  It was  also  farthest along  in the natural
process  of eutrophication in which, over  time, a young,
clean body of water ages,  taking on sediment  and wastes  and
growing  shallower until  it  first becomes  a  marsh or swamp,
then a meadowy grassland,  and  finally a  forested woodland.

     In  the  early 1800's  man began accelerating this
natural  process in Lake  Erie,  until by the  middle of  this
century,  he  had telescoped  it  alarmingly.

     "First,  the early  farmers  with their  plows began
stripping  away the natural  protective cover from the  rich
farmlands.  Sediment began  working down  Erie's tributaries
and  piling up in  the lake's  already shallow western basin.

     Then industry followed  agriculture  along the banks  of
the  lake's main tributaries  --  the Detroit, the Maumee,
the  Cuyahoga, and the  Niagara.  With  industry came  the
booming  big cities --  Cleveland, Detroit,  Buffalo --
bursting along its shoreline.    And into  Erie came pouring
the  nutrients --  primarily nitrates and  phosphates--that
hurry  the aging process.

     The nitrate  and  phosphate  pollution fed the algae
blooms  that began  to  lay down blankets  of green slime
across  parts  of the  lake.   And as the  algae spread  it
consumed the  oxygen  needed   to keep other forms of life
alive.   By 1966,  65  percent of  the bottom water in  the
lake's  central basin  was without oxygen  in the summer
months.    Beaches  on  the  shores  of  the  States  that ring  Lake
Erie --  Michigan,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and New York  --  were
closed  because of  high bacteria counts  from sewage  discharges,
or not  used  because  of the  algae  in  the  water.

      Before  the EPA  was  formed, the  deteriorating  condition
of the  lake  was already moving  State  agencies  and private
citizens  to  act.   Gradually the concern  of the middle  and
late Sixties  began  to  be translated  into money and  programs.
Then in  the  Seventies  came  the  EPA,  the  joint  Canada-U.S.
campaign  against  pollution  in  all  the lakes,  and the  tough

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                             -30-

new amendments  to the Federal Water  Pollution Control Act.
A major  effort  was launched jointly  by  the States, the EPA,
Industry,  and  private citizens.

     Phosphate  detergents were banned  or  limited in four
states bordering the Great Lakes —  Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota,  and  New York.  In  the two-year span from 1972-73
phosphate  treatment of wastewater  was  improved and the
phosphorus  load dumping into  Lake  Erie  was reduced  by
about 46 million pounds.  DDT use  was  curtailed, industrial
pollution  was  reduced, and municipal  sewage systems were
impr oved.

     Then  came  the first signs that  conditions in the open
waters of  Lake  Erie were improving --  or  at least not worsening
Aircraft pilots began to notice  that  the  sheets of shimmering
green algae were receding.  Clear  water game fish planted
in the lake survived.  A few  years before they would have
died.  Some beaches that had  been  closed  for more than a
decade began to reopen.  And  in  1975,  only 6 percent of the
deep water  in  the lake's central basin  was reported without
oxygen,  instead of the 65 percent  of  10 years before.

     This  does  not mean that  Lake  Erie  is no longer "aging."
The natural processes still go on.   And people are still
contributing to it.  Some dischargers  continue to violate
established requirements.  But the headlong nutrient input
that was hurrying the process appears  to  have been slowed.
The cleanup effort is, having  some  effect.


     Lake  Erie's waters are far  from  being the only ones
experiencing severe nutrient  problems.  Indeed, with the
increasingly successful control  of other  pollutants,
nutrients  remain, with toxics, one of  the few classes of
pollutants  yet  to be addressed satisfactorily nationwide.

     For there  to be a nutrient  problem in any given waters,
two separate pollutants must  be  present in overabundance 	
phosphorus  and  nitrogen, each in any  one  of its many forms.
On any given stream or lake,  nutrients  are best controlled
by limiting discharges of the specific  pollutant in least
supply.  On Lake Erie, as we  have  seen, this meant control  of
phospohrus;  elsewere nitrogen compounds — nitrates especially  •
are in least supply and control  of nitrates is critical.

     As  Figure  8 indicates, phosphorus  levels are now at
reasonable  levels in the Northeast,  the Northwest and the

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                             Environmental Protection Agency
    Figure 8                         STORET SYSTEM

                 Total Phosphorus in Water, 1973-1975, 85th Percentiles
                                * * * * * « » j,^,
                                «»«««1»«^
                               ..* * »! * * * * *
                                V X
Concentration
   (mg/1)

• -- no data
    less than 0.074
    0.075-0.160
    0.161-0.379
    greater than 0.379
Cells included are those for which data has been
supplied to EPA. Cells are approximately 25 by
35 miles.

Source:  Monitoring and Data Support  Division,  OWPS,  EPA

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                            -31-

Upper Great  Lakes.   Levels are still  high in the Missouri
River Basin  and  in  Illinois and Ohio  generally.  The
current low  levels  on much of the  Great  Lakes are due  to
control efforts  over the last few  years.  (Figure 9).   Little
has been  achieved  elsewhere, and several  major rivers  --
the Ohio,  the  Mississippi and the  Missouri -- show worsening
condi t io ns.

Lakes Michigan and  Ontario

     Progress  on the other Great Lakes,  as on Erie, is just
beginning.   The  same degradation,  the same outpouring  of
wastes  from  industry and agriculture, and raw sewage  from
the cities,  has  blighted the other lakes as well and  require
massive cleanup  efforts.

     Lake  Ontario,  next  to Erie  the  hardest hit, also  began
showing the  telltale signs of diminished oxygen content  in  its
deeper  waters.  And there has been little progress against
euthrophication  in  that  lake since 1967.

     Lake  Michigan  at its southernmost tip had neither
the great  depth  nor the  strong  currents necessary to  absorb
and dilute the wastes flowing into it from the greater
Chicago area.   The  lake's slow  flushing time made it  a
virtual cul-de-sac  for pollution.   The new Chicago  Sanitary
and Ship  Canal has  diverted much of  Chicago's  pollution
into the  Mississippi River system, which, when required
treatment  is in  place, will be  better able to  absorb  it.

     On both of  those lakes there  are the first faint  signs
of  progress.  Federal grants for municipal treatment  of
wastewater on the various tributaries, and the NPDES  permits
limiting  industrial discharges  have made inroads.   The  water
quality is improving.  Lake Michigan's shoreline had  improved
enough  so  that 11 beaches on the  Illinois North Shore  were
able to  reopen in 1975 for  the  first time in  six years.
Ontario  Beach Park in Rochester,  N.Y., reopened in  1976,  after
being  officially closed  for a decade.

The Tributaries

     The  rivers that empty into  the Great Lakes have  played'
pivotal  roles both  in polluting  the lakes and  in the  success
so  far  in cleaning  them  up.  Like  the lakes  themselves,
the  tributaries illustrate various degrees of  accomplishment.

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 Figure 9
Environmental Protection Agency
        STORET SYSTEM
                          Trends  in Phosphorus,  1967-69  to  1973-75
   Trend

 ^ — Improved  182 cells (49%)

 o — Less than 10% Change

 ^— Worsened  129 cells (35%)

Small arrows (barely visible)  indicate
  less improvement.
                                 Source:
           Monitoring and Data Support Division, OWPS, EPA

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                              -32-

      The  Cuyahoga

      No  river in the  United States has a more  notorious
national  reputation  than  the Cuyahoga, which  flows through
Akron and Cleveland  on  its  way to Lake Erie.

      The  Cuyahoga, called  "crooked waters"  by  the early
Indians,  was fed by  pollution from the steel  and  chemical
industries along its  banks  and by raw or inadequately treated
municipal wastes.  It was  running muddy brown  in  color by the
1960's.   Into it, from  the  industrial canyon  along the last
five  miles of its course,  poured 155 tons a day  of chemicals,
oil,  iron, and acid  wastes.  Gas from decaying  organic material
fermenting along its  bottom rose and burst  into  bubbles on its
surface.   It had a bacteria count -- particularly after a heavy
rainfall  -- matching  that  of raw sewage.  It became known
nationwide as the oil-slicked river that was  so  polluted that
it had  caught fire and  burned.

      The  Cuyahoga has attracted considerable  EPA  attention
and assistance.  Since  the  beginning of the Seventies the
Agency  has issued grants  for 17 municipal sewage  treatment
projects  in the Cuyahoga  Basin -- projects  worth  nearly
$148  million.

      The  visible oil, which made the Cuyahoga  a  fire hazard,
has nearly disappeared.   In 1967, a reporter  from the Chicago
Tribune dunked his hand into the river and  pulled it out
coated  with oil.  Last  year he dipped it in again and it came
out oil-free.  BOD,  cyanide, and phenol levels  are also down.
A report  by the Cleveland  Utilities Department  also reports a
substantial drop in  phosphorus (reduced 45-51  percent) and in
various  forms of nitrogen.

      But  dissolved oxygen  levels, a prime measure of the
health  of a river, are  still low.  And some debris and
sewage  still float on its  surface.  An EPA  study  predicted
that  the  lower Cuyahoga,  even with the municipal  and industrial
treatment programs scheduled to be completed  by  1978, will
still  have difficulty supporting anything but  the most pollution-
tolerant  forms of aquatic  life forms.

      The  Detroit

      The  main Erie tributary -- the Detroit River -- is
being  acclaimed nationally  as a major, if still  incomplete,
cleanup  success.
     The
Clair  and
fast-running  30-mile long river,  which ties Lake  St.
 the upper Great  Lakes to Lake  Erie,  runs past the

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                            -33-

City of Detroit.   From the day the  great French explorer,
Cadillac,  founded  the city in  1701  until the Civil War,  the
Detroit River  was  admired as perhaps  the most beautiful  and
pure in the  Midwest.

     In it  sported the most delicate  of freshwater fish  --
trout, whitefish,  tnuskel lunge , smallmouth bass, perch,
sturgeon,  and  the  little  emerald  shiner, a bait fish
susceptible  to the slightest  pollution.

     But  after the Civil  War,  in  the  tumult of  the industrial
revolution,  the river became  a vessel for the wastes  of  the
industries and the cities that burgeoned on its banks.   An
appalling  tide of  effluents,  sewage,  chemicals, waste oils,
acids,  garbage, trash, and sludge from  paper plants  poured
into the  river.

     By  the late  1940's,  the  pollution  had  reached a
zenith.   Thirty-five  thousand  gallons of oil were being
dumped  every day  into its waters.  A quarter-inch thick
coating  of oil covered  its  shoreline.   Grease  balls  eight
and  10  inches across  washed  up on its banks.   And tons of
unseen  phosphorus were  being  washed  down  the  river  into
Lake  Erie.

      In the cold  winter  of  1948,  in  the most  dramatic episode
 illustrating  the  extent  of  the river's  deterioration, 20,000
 ducks  diving  into openings  in the ice  came  up  oil-soaked  and
 died.   Massive duck kills,  with  as many as  40,000 dying
 a year, continued on into the Sixties.

      The Detroit's  most  industrialized  tributary, the River
 Rouge,  flowed  rich  orange from the thousands  of gallons of
 pickle liquor, a  steel  processing acid, that  was dumped
 into it.   But  its surface was so coated with  oil that the
 orange showed  only  momentarily in  the  wake  of  passing
 boats.   A  State of  Michigan biologist  once  drew a bucketful
 of water  from the Rouge, and  in  an hour and a half,   acids
 had eaten  away the  bucket's bottom.

      Environmental  concern began to  stir  along the Detroit
 River for  the first time in the  1920's.  In 1929, Michigan
 passed its  first  basic  water  quality law.   But it wasn't
 enough.   In the  early 1960's, the  Lake Erie Cleanup  Committee,
 an active  and vocal citizen group, began to press hard  for
 a full scale  cleanup of  the river.

      In  1962, the first  joint Federal-State conference  on
 the Detroit convened and out  of  it came effluent limits for

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                              -34-

Its major industries and municipalities.   When the  1972
amendments to  the  Federal Water Pollution  Control Act  were
passed,  the State  of Michigan,  supported  by the EPA,  began
issuing  permits  limiting discharges into  the water.

      The  City  of  Detroit in  1969 began building major  additions
to  its  enormous  sewage  treatment plant.   By 1976, $345
million  had been  spent on the  project.   When the work  is
finished  in the  mid-1980's,  $714 million  will have  been
spent,  $452 million of it in  construction  grants from  the
EPA.  The 60 industries on  the  Detroit waterfront have
already  spent  between $300  million and $400 million  on new
equipment to treat or recycle  wastewater.

      Today the oil that had  been dumped  for so long  into
the river is virtually gone.   The 35,000  gallons a  day in
the 1940's were  reduced to  3,600 gallons  by the Sixties.
Now it  is down to  651 gallons.   Chloride  and phosphorus
discharges have  been cut in.half since 1966.

      In  late 1975, Detroit  Mayor Coleman  A. Young led  a
fishing  expedition out on the  river.  He  droped his  line in
water  that was once again blue-green  in  color.  Fishermen
looking  down could see  the  boat's propeller four feet  below
and could remember when they  couldn't see  four inches.
Some  fishermen again are calling the  Detroit River  "the
world's  biggest  trout stream."

      There have  been no major  duck kills  since 1968.   Even
the River Rouge,  which ran  orange and black with pickle
liquor  and oil only a decade  ago, is  flowing green  again.
And the  egrets are returning  to its banks.

      The  Grand

      Three rivers  that empty  into Lake Michigan also  stand
as  successes or  partial successes in  water  pollution
control.   Of the  three, two  —  the Grand  and the Kalamazoo
—  run  through Michigan.  The  third,  the  Fox, flows  into
the lake  from  Wisconsin.

      In  the mid  1960's, despite vigorous  cleanup efforts by
State  and local  agencies and  several  citizen groups,  the
Grand was still  heavily polluted.  In the  summer as  it made
its way  past the  three biggest  cities on  its banks  —
Jackson,  Lansing,  and Grand  Rapids — it  gave off a  strong
and disagreeable  odor.  For  21  miles  downstream of  the
Grand  Rapids-Wyoming-Grandville municipa1-industrial

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                            -35-

complex, it  had  serious dissolved  oxygen problems.   Untreated
sewage poured  into  it at Ionia.  Grand  Rapids had  only
primary treatment.   The river  ran  brownish-green  in  color.
In August  1966,  thousands of minnows  and carp were killed
by cyanide  that  entered the  river  through storm drains.   In
Octob'er 1976,  another kill wiped out  2,000 salmon, a
substantial  part of the season's run.

     Weeds  and other vegetation  in the  river complicated
the problem.   Tannery wastes and accidental spills from  the
metal-plating  industries in  Grand  Rapids fouled its  waters.

     In the  summer  of 1968,  the  newly created Grand  River
Watershed  Council joined the Michigan Water Resources
Commission to  address the crisis on the river.  Plans  were
blueprinted  to upgrade  treatment  to secondary levels
basin-wide.   Grand  Rapids adopted  an ordinance  to  control
the discharges of its industries,  including its more than
40 metal-plating companies.

     In  1974,  primary sewage treatment  plants at  Spring
Lake and  Grand Haven were replaced by a large complex
providing  secondary treatment.  The town of Wyoming  finished
an activated sludge  treatment  system in 1976.   Grandville
had its  secondary system on  line  by 1973.  And  by that same
year,  the  amount of metals discharged by industry had
dropped  by 90 percent  since  1966.

     As  those things happened, the fish began to  return.
Fishermen now come out  in force  to catch the  salmon  migrating
to spawning grounds  up  river.  "By   1972 the Izaak  Walton
League was reporting a  successful   trout fishing  contest,  a
certain  sign  that  the  Grand  no longer ran  as  polluted  as it
o nc e did.

     The  Kalamazoo

     Not  so many years  ago,  observers from the  air said the
Kalamazoo River, meandering  westerly through  southeastern
Michigan, looked like  a thick milk shake.

      It  had a reputation  as  Michigan's  filthiest  stream.
In  the 1940's,  one of  the  largest   fish  kills  on record hit
the  river.  During the  summers of   1950  and  1951  there was
no measurable dissolved oxygen in  the water  over  a section
 10  to  20 miles  below the  city of  Kalamazoo.

      By 1951, an attack that Tiad  been mounted  by  the Michigan
Water  Resources  Commission  on the  pollution  of  the Kalamazoo

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                             -36-

River  started to hear  fruit.  A primary treatment  plant  was
built  near  the city  of  Kalamazoo.   But  that was only  a
beginning:   a 1956  survey called for  still further  reductions
in  the  waste loads  being  dumped into  the river.

     Paper  mills were  ordered to cut  back their oxygen
consuming  discharges.   And in 1963,  the State, the  City  of
Kalamazoo,  five paper  making companies, and a pharmaceutical
company joined in a  program of water  pollution control.   By
1967,  a high rate activated sludge  plant that treated  both
industrial  and municipal  wastes was  built.

     By the time the EPA  entered the  picture in the early
1970's, the oxygen-consuming wastes  discharged into the  river
at  the  City of Kalamazoo  had been cut by 75 percent.   All the
way from Battle Creek  to  Kalamazoo  the  water began  to  run
clearer —  clean enough and with oxygen enough to  support
g am e fish.

     However, Michigan  officials in  early 1976 discovered
that the Kalamazoo  River  is the State's single largest
source  discharging  PCB's  into Lake  Michigan.  Coping  with
that problem and obtaining the advanced wastewater  treatment
now required for Kalamazoo and Battle Creek are the challenges
ahead  for  the State  and the EPA.

     The Fox

     The Fox is the  largest river that  flows into  Lake
Michigan.   It originates  in central  Wisconsin and  flows
through Lake Winnebago  and into the  southernmost  tip  of
Lake Michigan's Green  Bay.

     Before the turn of the century  several paper mills
were already operating  on the Lower  Fox downstream  from
Lake Winnebago.  Today  the Fox supports the heaviest
concentration of paper  manufacturing  in the United  States.

     Eighteen paper  mills and 11 municipal sewage  systems
were discharging into  a 39 mile stretch of the lower  Fox,
and their discharges were devastating portions of  the
river.   Until recent times it was one of the most  polluted
streams in  America.  Phosphates, ammonia, phenols,  and
other  organic contaminants pouring  into this big  river  had
at  times wiped out dissolved oxygen  for distances  exceeding
20 miles .

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                            -37-

     In  its  era  of  heaviest pollution,  massive fish kills
were a yearly  disaster.  As recently  as 1974 a kill left
dead fish  strewn from one end  of  the  river to the other.

     In  the  past five years municipal and paper mill
discharges of  oxygen consuming wastes have been cut from
400,000  pounds of  BOD a day to less  than 100,000.  The  City
of Green Bay has installed an  innovative and effective
wastewater treatment system.   The  portion of Green Bay
hardest  hit  by diminished oxygen  levels has shrunk from 150
square miles to  50.   Bay Beach, a  park and beach area near
the mouth  of the Fox at the City  of  Green Bay, had been
closed in  1936 because of bacterial  contamination.  It  was
reopened in  the  summer of 1976 for the first time in 40
years.

     The cleanup of  the Fox River, however, is only beginning.
Many industries  have cooperated beyond what was expected  of
them.  But others  haven't.  And the  oxygen-depleting waste
loads  in the middle stretch of the river may have to be
reduced  40 percent beyond the  1977 requirements because the
loadings will  still exceed the capacity of the river to absorb
them.  Most  cities on  the Fox  have sewer systems that bypass
the sewage treatment plants during heavy rainfalls.  That
sewage needs to  be collected  and  treated.  And PCB's that
contaminate  the  river  and southern Green Bay must still be
brought  under  control.

     Those are reminders that  while the Fox is on the way
back from  overburdening pollution, it still has  far  to
go.

     The Indiana Tributaries

     Another system of tributaries enters Lake Michigan
from the Indiana side.  At least  three of those  streams --
Trail  Creek, Salt Creek, and  the  Grand Calumet River -- run
cleaner  than they did  five years  ago.

     In  the  fall of 1972, many chinook salmon  attempting to
migrate  up Trail and Salt Creeks  were killed.  The  same
thing  happened again in 1973.      (

     Investigators  soon found  that the stretch of  Salt
Creek  downstream from  the Valparaiso municipal wastewater
treatment  plant was critically degraded.  At  times  migrating
salmon simply could not survive  the low concentrations  of
dissolved  oxygen and the high  concentrations  of  ammonia and

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                              -38-

 reach clear  water above  the town.   The same  situation held
 on  Trail Creek downstream  from where  Michigan  City's
 treated wastewater and  combined sewer overflows  were
 entering the  water.

      Both cities were  issued NPDES  permits and  ordered
 to  take the  first steps  toward installing advanced  treatment
 systems.  The  Indiana  Stream Pollution Control  Board
 meanwhile started a systematic stop-gap upgrading  program
 that  employed  various  improved treatment techniques and
 emphasized better use  of chemical additives.

      During  the  1975 migrating season, salmon  moved unharmed
 up  Salt Creek  past Valparaiso.  On  Trail Creek  the  number
 of  fish kills  dropped  sharply.  But  the final  triumph lies
 ahead,  when  full scale  advanced treatment becomes  a reality
 on  both of those Lake  Michigan tributaries.

      The Grand Calumet  River,  which  flows via  the  Indiana
 Harbor  Channel through  Gary and Hammond and  then  into Lake
 Michigan,  and  which is  in  many ways  the twin of  the Calumet
 River in Chicago, was  once considered  "grossly  polluted."
 Chemical pollution still persists and  oily film  can still
 be  seen occasionally,  but  there are  no longer  the  big
 chunks  of  grease and oil that  floated  in the water  in the
 early Seventies. The Grand Calumet  today is  a much  cleaner
 river.

 A New Threat

      To date,  the joint efforts of  the Great Lakes  States,
 the Government of Canada,  and  the EPA,  have  centered on the
 pollution  that everybody thought constituted the central
 problem — the raw wastes  from industry and  the  raw sewage
 from  the cities.

      But recently a  new and  perhaps more ominous threat —
 that  of toxic  chemicals -- has begun  to loom large, much of
 it  from a  new  and unexpected source,  the sky.

      High  levels of  PCB's  have been found  in fish  in Lakes
 Ontario, Huron,  and  Michigan.   Mercury contamination of
 fish  is a  problem in the western basin of  Lake  Erie.
 PCB's,  mercury,  and  high concentrations of  asbestos fibers
 have  been  found  in Lake Superior.   Arsenic  has appeared.
 DDT,  while not the problem it  once was,  still persists.
 And even mirex,  an insecticide used in the  southern United
 States  to  kill fire  ants,  has  been found  in  fish and bottom
 sediments  in Lake Ontario.   Mirex  comes to  the Lake in
discharges from  a chemical  plant at Niagara  Falls.

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                              -39-

     Sorae  scientists now  suggest that  much  of the Great  Lakes
pollution  may  not come  directly from sources on the  shore,
but from  the  atmosphere.   Particles of  phosphorus, heavy
metals, pesticides, and  toxic industrial  compounds from
industrial  processes and  incinerators  escape into the  air  and
enter  the  lakes with the  rain and snow,  and as "dust."

     Toxics,  however they reach the Great Lakes, have  become
a pressing  environmental  challenge  that  must be met.   The
toxics  problem there takes its place beside the lakes'
still  unresolved nutrient problem as one  of the two  most
severe  forms  of pollution yet to be dealt with adequately.

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                               -40-

 BAYS,  HARBORS,  OCEANS AND  LAKES
       Of  all waters,  perhaps  none are as  vulnerable  to
 pollution as those  where  the  land meets  the  sea --  in  the
 nation's  bays, harbors and  estuaries.

       The  home of  the most delicate of marine ecosystems,
 many  of  them have been ravaged  by pollution.  But most  of
 them  are  now on  their way to  eventual recovery.  The  Nation
 has clamped restrictions on  ocean dumping.   The EPA,  the
 States,  local governments,  and  citizen groups  have  again
 and again allied  themselves  into a force  for cleanup.   And
 their  impact on pollution in  those important waters has
 been  felt.   The cases that  follow stand  as reminders  that
 improvement is possible --and  is happening.

 Escambia  River Basin

       In  1968,  the Escambia  River Basin on  the  Gulf  Coast
 of  Florida  appeared  to be polluted beyond hope of recovery.
 One local  resident mourned  the  deterioration of this
 one-time  haven for commercial  fishermen,  sun-worshipers,
 and sport-fishermen  in this way:

       "Once  my  whole  family enjoyed swimming  in  the  clear
      water  with sandy  bottoms and  sandy beaches where now
      you  would wade  in sludge.   We caught in  half an hour
      enough  speckled  trout  for  supper on  the beach.  Now
      there  is  no  clean water  to  swim  in.  I  cannot let my
      dog  wade  in  the  shallows because he develops a skin
      eruption.   There  are no  oysters.  There are no speckled
      trout  in  the area.   After  one of those  fish kills...,
      about  25  egrets,  little blue  herons, and  great blues
      were wiped  out   from  eating  these fish.  It  is rather
      heartbreaking to  see the old  lovely bay become a death
      trap . "

      By all  signs, the  140 square  mile  estuary  was in  an
advanced  state  of eu t r oph ic a t io n .   In Pensacola  Bay,
commercial  shrimp landings were  down  99  percent.   The
commercial  oyster business had virtually ceased  to  exist
and  porpoises,  once  common,  had  disappeared.

      Fish kills were  rampant.   Forty-one kills  in  Escambia
Bay  and 32 in  Pensacola Bay  and  the adjoining bayous of  the
Santa  Rosa Sound  wiped  out millions of  fish.   The  biggest
kill,  in  September 1971,  had to  be measured  in  square  miles
of  dead-fish.  And  the  gulf menhaden,  a  small  commercial
fish,  was hardest  hit  of  all.

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                             -41-

      The principal  polluters were  the industries  that had
mushroomed in the basin since  the  1950's and  were dumping
millions of gallons  of  untreated  or  virtually  untreated
wastewater into  the  river and  its  bays.   BOD  loadings from
fertilizer production wastes,  alcohol, ammonia, polyvinyl
chloride, and nylon  fibers were  strangling the marine
ecosys tern .

      Effluent from  a  Pensacola  sewage plant was being
discharged after  inadequate treatment.  Sewage from  neighboring
Alabama  and Florida  municipalities  travelled  down the
Co neeuh-Escambia  River  into the  bay.   The eventual  build-up
of  organic as well  as,  nitrogenous  and phosphorus wastes
became  intolerable.

      Heated water from  a  major manufacturer and a power company
added  to the problem.   Temperature  increases  in the  Escambia
River  surpassed  limits  recommended  by EPA's National  Technical
Advisory Committee --  a 4 degree  (F)  increase  from  September
through  May and  1.5  degrees from June through  August.  Hot
water  discharges by  the manufacturer  and the  power  company
had  raised the surface  temperatures  of the Escambia  River by
increments of 18.5 degrees and  12.25  degrees,  respectively,'
immediately below their outfalls.

      Pollutants are  not easily flushed from Escambia  Bay.
Shallow  areas and topographic   features limit  a free  inter-
change between the estuarine waters  and  the gulf.   Consequently,
extensive sludge deposits developed.   The L&N  (Louisville
and  Nashville) Railroad bridge bisecting Escambia Bay further
restricted flow.  When  bridge   pilings needed  replacement the
railroad  installed new  ones without  removing  the  old  ones.  A
virtually impenetrable  barrier was eventually built  across
Esc amb ia Bay.

      By  the late 1960's the situation had become  urgent.
In  December 1969, Florida Governor Claude Kirk called  on an
EPA  predecessor agency  in the  U.S. Department of  the  Interior
for  help.    A conference,  convened in January  1970, drew up a
blueprint  for action.

     The  plan called  for  a 94  percent reduction of organic
and  nitrogenous  waste discharges into the basin,   a 90  percent
reduction  in  phosphorus discharges,  immediate removal  of all
settleable solid wastes,  reconstruction  of  the L&N railway
bridge by  January L973, and  the eventual goal of  zero  discharge
of  pollutants into the  bays.

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                              -42-

      At  Florida's  request, EPA  established  an Escambia  River
 Recovery  Study in  1972.   It was  to monitor  and assist  in
 enforcing  standards  set  by Florida, Alabama,  and the  Federal
 Government,  and to  investigate  other ways  to  accelerate
 recovery  in  the bays.   The City  of Pensacola  was awarded an
 EPA construction grant  for an advanced sewage treatment
 plant .

      The  impact of  these actions  has been  substantial.   Since
 1969 industries and  municipalities have drastically reduced
 waste discharges.   In  the five  year period  between September
 1969 and January 1974,  BOD discharges have  fallen by  57
 percent, nitrogen  discharges by  73 percent, and  phosphorus
 discharges by 92 percent.  By January 1977, when all  dis-
 chargers must meet  effluent limitations, BOD,  nitrogen,  and
 phosphorous  should  be  reduced by  at least 88,  88,  and 89,
 percent respectively.

      Today,  thanks  to  State, private, and Federal  cooperation,
 the water  is  clearing.   Fish kills are down more than 75
 percent since 1970.  Shrimp, oysters, and menhaden are
 returning.   In April' 1975,  more  than a million striped bass
 were released in the Escambia River Delta.  Authorities
 expect that more than  half the  fish will survive.   Of those
 that do not,  more  will be eaten .by other fish  than will  die
 because of polluted  water.

      The Escambia, Pensacola, and  East Bays had  recovered
 enough by July 1,   1975,  for the  EPA to terminate its recovery
 study.   The Escambia estuary system may never  recover to  its
 original state,  but  it is clearly  an example  of  what can
 be  accomplished  when private citizens,  the  State,  and the
 Federal Government work  together.

 Gulf of Mex i c o

      The Gulf  of  Mexico  ranks fifth in  size among  the seas
 of  the  world  --  582,100  square miles.   It has  served  as  a
 long-time shipping port  and  as an  invaluable  source of sea-
 food.

      During the  last few  decades,  a quickening tourist trade
 and  a  myriad  of  corporations  such  as  DuPont,  Shell  Chemical,
 GAF,  and  Ethyl  Corporation  have added  new dimensions  to  the
 area's  economy.   However,  as  the economy boomed, the  gulf's
 fragile marine  ecosystem  began to  run  the serious  risk of
becoming  a dead  sea -- a  dumping ground  for toxic  wastes.

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                            -43-

     There  is  scant documentation  on the volume  of  industrial
wastes discharged into the gulf  before the Marine  Protection
and Sactuaries  Act was passed  in 1973.  However, the  Council
on Environmental  Quality reported  in 1970 that 696,000  tons of
industrial  wastes were believed  to  have been dumped  in  1968
alone.   And, while the number  of companies and the  types  of
wastes involved  are unknown, the EPA believes that  the  volume
of ocean dumping  between 1968  and  1973 more than doubled  and
could have  reached a high of 2,000,000 tons a year.   It  is
known that  wastes were dumped  as close to shore  as  10 miles,
and, in  some cases, very near  to or on top of several unique and
valuable coral  reefs in the  northwestern gulf.

     In  1971,  several drums  of toxic wastes were washed  near
shore and were  caught in the trawls of commercial  shrimpers.
The EPA's Region  VI and the  State  of Texas launched  investiga-
tions.   The  need  for stringent controls became evident.
Partially decomposed wastes  from the U.S. and Mexico  were
being washed about in the gulf and  were often deposited  on
shore.   So  the  EPA, under the  authority of the Marine Protection
and Sanctuaries  Act, issued  the  following regulations:

     o   Ocean  Dumping was to cease  or be strictly  regu-
         lated  until companies  and  municipalities could
         build  adequate treatment or disposal facilities;

     o   Ocean  disposal of toxics was to stop as  soon  as
         po s sib le ;

     o   Industrial polluters were  to cut ocean dumping  by 80
         percent;  and

     o   Inspection and chemical  analyses of wastes would  be
         required  before barges departed to offshore dumping
         sites.

     Those  and  other regulations  have brought substantial
progress.   In  just two years,  the  EPA and industry have
reduced  dumping in the gulf by more than 90 percent.  A
comparison  the  amount of ocean dumping in 1973,   1974, and
1975 follows:

                                    1973
Company           Place             Year Tons   1974 Tons     1975 Tons

DuPont            La Place,  La.          250        0             0
                  La Porte,  Tx.      540,000     268,000       38,400
                  Beaumont,  Tx.      480,000     307,000         0
                  Belle,  W.  Va.       90,000      90,000         0

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                             -44-
 Company

 Shell Chemical

 GAF Corp.

 Ethyl Corp.




 *Sludge only
  Place
1973
Year Tons
  Deer Park,  Tx.     81,000

  Texas City,  Tx.   216,000

  Baton Range, La.    1,680
                  1,408,930
1974 Tons

 66,000

216,000

  1,680


948, 680
                          1975 Ton.

                          100,000*

                             0

                            1, 680


                          140, 080
      Levels in
 127,000 tons
1976 are expected  to  fall to approximately
      Virtually all  toxics have been eliminated.   Only non-
 toxic sodium- and  calcium-bearing sludge  and  biological
 sludge remain.   In  order to achieve these  reductions,
 all  dischargers  into  the gulf have had  to  develop alternative
 methods to dispose  of  toxics and sludge.   One alternative
 currently being  used  experimentally is  ocean  incineration.
 In  1974 and 1975,  Shell  Chemical burned chlorinated hydrocarbon
 at  sea under two research permits and two  interim permits.
 Monitoring conducted  aboard the vessel  and  in the surrounding
 air  revealed a 99.9 percent destruction of  chlorinated
 hydrocarbons, with  no  detectible air or marine pollution.
 It was not conclusively  proved, however,  that oxidation was
 complete  and that  all  of the products of  the  burn were less
 dangerous than the  original waste material  itself.   For this
 reason, in October  1976,  Shell was issued  a special three-year
 permit to continue  its  testing of ocean incineration.  The
 company,  however, must  still meet certain  ocean  dumping
 criteria.

      Central to  all the  efforts to keep the gulf  as free
 from  pollution as  possible  was a vigorous  public  demand that
 it be protected.   The gulf  has clearly profited  from this
 strong public attention.

Delaware  Coast
      Just  as the Marine  Protection and Sanctuaries  Act  halted
toxic  dumping in the Gulf  of  Mexico, it also forced  action
the Delaware Coast.
                                             on
      In  1971,  the Food and  Drug  Administration, fearing  that
commercial  shellfish harvesting  areas off the coast  might
become contaminated, ordered  them closed as a precautionary
measur e.

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                             -45-

     After  the Marine Sanctuaries and Protection Act  passed
the Congress in  1973, the EPA  ordered the  two cities  most
heavily  involved  --  Camden,  N.J., and Philadelphia,  Pa.  --
to move  their sewage sludge  dumping sites  40 miles offshore.
They had  been dumping only  12  miles out,  where the combination
of shallow  depths  and ocean  currents brought the sludge  back
toward  the  shore.

     Lowered pollution levels  due to the  relocation  of  the
dumping  sites made possible  the  reopening  of the shellfish
harvesting  areas  in  January  1975.  The  next step is  to  halt
dumping  altogether.   Camden  is now under  an F.PA order to
stop all  its ocean dumping  by  1979, and  Philadelphia  by
1981.   To help them  meet those deadlines,  the EPA  is  fostering
development of ways  to make  use  of the  sludge generated  in
the waste treatment  processes.  Camden  is  working  on  composting
processes that could end its ocean dumping earlier — within
18 months.

Kodiak  Harbor

     Foul odors  hung particularly heavy  over Kodiak,  Alaska,
during  the  warm  August of 1971.   And this  wasn't new.  Since
1967 the  citizens  of Kodiak  had  complained of strong  smells
in the  air  over  the  town and its small  boat harbor.

     Ironically,  the source  of these acrid odors was  also  the
economic  backbone of the community.  The  15 seafood  processing
plants  operating  in  Kodiak  Harbor and Gibson Cove  processed
over 110  million  pounds of  shrimp, salmon, crab, scallops,
clams,  halibut,  and  herring  every year.

     But  untreated wastes from the canneries were  polluting
the harbor.  In  1971, an estimated 72 million pounds  of
untreated waste  solids, including decomposed fish  and shell-
fish,  were  dumped  under the  docks and into the inner  harbor.
Dissolved oxygen  levels fell as  low as  1.3 milligrams-per-1iter ,
well below the levels required for a healthy marine  community.
The normal  range  of  DO levels  for those  waters is  9  to  14
milligrams-per-liter.

     Dumping reached such staggering proportions that 50
acres  of  harbor  bottom were  "matted" over  with a black,
foul-smel ling sludge.  The  toxic and noxious hydrogen sulfide
gases  given  off  by the decomposition of  the sludge bubbled  to
the water's  surface.  Floating wastes contributed  to  the
aesthetic degradation and the  water grew murky.

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                              -46-

      In  1969, after  two years  of  citizen  protests, the  Federal
 Water Pollution  Control Administration, an  EPA predecessor
 agency,  issued a  study showing  DO levels  in  Kodiak Harbor to
 be abnormally low.   Water quality continued  to decline,  and
 the EPA  called an  enforcement  conference  in  September  1972.
 One month  later,  Congress adopted Public  Law 92-500, and  in
 1973 the  EPA issued  its first  NPDES permits  to the canneries
 requiring  that the quantities  of  solid waste discharged  into
 Kodiak Harbor and  Gibson Cove  be  substantially reduced.

      Processors began  to install  appropriate equipment.
 One company built  a  facility to  convert solid  seafood  waste
 into a dry packaged  protein meal  for export  as animal  feed.

      Water quality began to improve.  A 1974 EPA study  showed
 significant reductions in the  amount of sludge and hydrogen
 sulfide gas in the harbor.   While DO levels  rose, they
 were not yet high  enough in 1974  to meet  Alaska's water
 quality standards  for  marine life protection.   Sludge beds
 persisted  in near-shore areas  where water circulation was
 poor.   Permits were  revised in  1975 to require relocation of
 wastewater discharge sites  away from existing  sludge beds to
 zones  where water  conditions were better.  When permit  require-
 ments  are  met in  1977,  Kodiak  Harbor should  meet water
 quality s tandards .

      But even now, the  seafood processors have drastically
 reduced the  solid  waste pollution in the  harbor.   Mounds  of
 waste  no longer  rot on the  harbor floor as they did  five  years
 ago,  and escaping  gas  no longer bubbles to the Harbor's
 surface.   The citizen  protests are  paying off.

 Pearl  Harbor

      In 1969,  Pearl Harbor,  one of  the nation's most beautiful
 and  renowned  harbors was suffering  from high volumes of
 pollution  discharge.   More  than 7 million gallons of  raw  and
 primary-treated  sewage  poured  into  it  every  day.

      Since  World  War II,  the  harbor  had been closed  to  the
 public,  partly  for security  reasons  and partly because  it  was
 so  heavily  polluted.

     Spreading  over nine  square miles  of  the island  of Oahu,
 Pearl  Harbor  is  a combination  of  three locks or embayments,
originally drowned river valleys  that  have been modified  over
 the course of  time.  Its waters had  fallen prey to  sewage,
sediment,  and  debris; nearby  open burning  dumps  also  contributed
leachates.    The  harbor's oyster beds had  been  covered  with
human  sewage  and  municipal  refuse.   Wastes from  power  plants,
from sugar  processing,   from  burning  dumps, and  from  naval
operations  added  to the  bacterial build-up,  nutrient  loadings,
sediment,  and debris.

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                            -47-

     A 1970  Executive Order required  all Federal facilities
to meet environmental standards,  and  the Navy gave priority
to Pearl Harbor.   In concert with the  Army and the Air  Force,
the Navy moved  quickly to control many of its waste  problems.
A sewage treatment plant was completed in 1971.

     In September of that year,  EPA called an enforcement
conference  to  review the harbor's municipal and industrial
discharge problems.  HPDES permits and Federal grants  for
sewage treatment  plant construction mandated by Public  Law
92-500 were  brought to bear.   To  win public support  for the
cleanup program,  the Navy opened  the harbor.  By  1976,  con-
ditions had  improved.  The open  burning dumps were closed.
Sewage discharges were controlled and a regional  sewer  system
to remove discharges from critical harbor areas was  under
construction.

     While  conditions are  improved, much  is still  to be done.
As is  often true   in clean-up  situations,  early efforts  brought
dramatic  change,  and later progress has been  slower.  But
further progress   is  still  being  made.  The  public  can now
safely swim, boat,  and  fish  in much of  the  harbor.

Charleston  Harbor

      Charleston  Harbor  in  South Carolina, as  famous  for
the  sound  of shot  and shell  as Pearl  Harbor,  is  also experiencing
remarkable  environment  improvement.

      For  many years  the  old  harbor, where so  much history has
been written, had  suffered  from heavy  pollution.   Before
 1970,  discharges  of  raw  sewage added  30,000 pounds of BOD
loadings  a  day to  the waters.   Fish kills were  common.
Boaters,  water skiers,  and  fishermen  found  conditions in the
harbor steadily  deteriorating.   Scum  and  a  film  of oil often
covered  portions  of  its  surface.

      Revitalizing  the  harbor has  cost  in  excess  of $37 million.
The  EPA  has contributed  $12  million  of  that total.  Virtually
all  of Charleston's raw sewage had  been discharged by outfall
 pipes  running across the tidal flats.   Today  the pipes have  been
 plugged,  and sewage is  collected  in  tunnels deep beneath the
 city and  the harbor floor, then  piped to  the  Plum Island
 Sewage Treatment Plant.   Sewage  from  North  Charleston  and the
 U.S. naval  base  is treated in an  even larger  plant.  And there
 are  new facilities at  St.  Andrews,  at Mt . Pleasant, and at
 Sullivan's  Island.

      Fishermen,  boaters, and skiers  now find  the water
 free of scum and oil,  and  less murky.  Fishing is improved:
 flounder, trout, bluefish, jack,  and  even mackeral  and  cobia
 are  being  caught in increasing numbers.  Shrimp are  also
 returning  to formerly polluted  areas.  Daily levels  of  BOD

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                               -48-

  discharge  have been  pared by nearly 50 percent --  to  about
  17,000 pounds.  Eventually they  will be  cut  to about  4  500
  pound s .         .

       Conditions in Charleston  Harbor might be  worse  today had
  it  not been  for some  late 19th century foresight.  In  1895-96
  the  city's  sewage commissioners  started  planning an  innovative
  system of  separated  wastewater and  stormwater  sewers.   The
  brick and masonary structures  they  built are  still in  use
  today.  This  foresight  saved the  old city from the sewer
  separation problems now plaguing  many of the  Nation's older
  cities.

       However,  the  ancient sewers  are causing another problem
  Old  age  has  set in.   The  system  is  leaky and  it  lets in  the
  sea  water.  At  high  tide  the flow to the treatment plant  often
  is  triple that  at  low tide.   That means  the sewer is presently
 acting much like  a sieve.  Since most  of the sewers are  in the
 older  section  of  the   historical  district, they will be diffi-
 cult  and  costly to replace.

       However,  the  city  now has  an EPA  grant to  correct such
 infiltration-inflow problems  and  to  build a secondary municipal
 treatment  plant.   Meanwhile,  most of  the  industrial wastes  now
 receive  the equivalent  of secondary  treatment  or  better.

 T^wo Western Harbors

      Two  harbors,  both  in Washington State,  are  also  cleaner
 today  than  they were  two  decades  ago.

      One  of  them,  Port Angeles  Harbor,  is a  beautiful bay  on
 the  Straits  of  Juan de  Fuca .  This harbor historically had
 supported  an  abundant and varied  marine  life,   with  large
 populations  of clams,  shrimp, bottom fish,  and  crabs.   Migrating
 salmon also  ran in  the harbor.

      By the  1950's, however,  industrial  development  in  the
 area had severely  degraded the  harbor's waters.

      Three  pulp and paper mills contributed heavily to
 the  economy of the area  but they  also discharged  large  quan-
 tities of wastes directly into  the  harbor.  The natural  flow
 patterns prevented adequate flushing of the wastes.   The
 waters became  toxic to some marine  life,  oxygen levels  fell
 below acceptable minimums, and  large cellulose  fiber  sludge
deposits covered much  of the  bottom.   The harbor was  no  longer
 a  suitable habitat for the various  species of  fish  and  shell-
 fish  that had  long  lived there.

      During the  1960's,  the  State  of  Washington and the
Federal Government  initiated  regulatory actions to eliminate
the  pollution  problems.   These actions  were stengthened  by the
formation of  the EPA and  passage  of  P.L.  92-500

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                            -49-

     One  of  the  pulp mills was  shut down  for  economic reasons.
And since  1970,  the remaining  two mills have  substantially
reduced waste  discharges going  into the harbor.   The mills  are
not yet in  compliance with  final treatment  requirements and  in
fact are  strongly opposing  them.  But  the benefits of the
waste  reductions achieved  to  date are  becoming  evident.   Water
clarity in  the harbor has  improved and  fish and  shrimp
are returning.  A strong trend  to higher  water  quality is
evident.   The  next  few  years  should see the harbor regain much
of its  former  value as  an  important marine  resource.

     Water  Quality  in Grays  Harbor, to  the  south of Port
Angeles,  directly reflects the  contributions  from its upstream
tributaries and  industries.   And unlike many  other estuarine
systems,  Grays Harbor  is greatly affected  by  both point and
nonpoint  sources.

     Wastes from  the  wood  products industry are the single
most important  factor  in  the  water quality  of the area.
Besides  the large quantities  of  wastewater  discharged from  the
local  pulp mills, the  waters  are also  influenced by runoff
from woodwaste  landfills,  by  log storage  wastes, and  by
erosion resulting  from  poor forest management practices.

      Bacterial  contamination in  Grays  Harbor is caused  in
part by inadequately  treated  sewage  from  four major upstream
treatment plants.   Raw sewage overflows and discharges  are
common during periods of  heavy  rainfall.   These, together with
pulp mill wastes  that are  held  for high flow releases,  join
the  other contaminants entering  the  river and the harbor.

      Point  source discharges from  local fish and shellfish
processors  also  pollute the harbor.   Lumber companies and
cranberry processors  add  to the  problem.   And there  is  the
seasonal  influence  from ocean upwelling,  from the  input  of   the
Chehalis  River  system,  and from  agricultural wastes  and  septic
tank leacha te .

      In years past, pulp  mill wastes  helped  lower  dissolved
oxygen concentrations to   the point that migrating  salmon
could  not  pass  through to  their  spawning  grounds.   Recent
pollution  controls, however, have  nearly doubled  the  dissolved
oxygen concentrations, and salmon once again can  safely
pass.

      A comprehensive program to reduce point source pollution,
 including  plans to upgrade the  area's  sewage treatment, is
now underway  at Grays Harbor.   A nonpoint  source  abatement
 program  will  also be necessary, and  is under development.

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                              -50-

 Two Northern Lakes

      A  pair  of high  and beautiful northern  lakes, one  in
 Maine and  one in  Minnesota, both  of which  have become
 severely  polluted, have also  started back  on  their way  to
 r ec ov er y .

      Prior  to 1972,  the Annabessacook in Maine was a notoriously
 polluted  lake.  Algae  blooms  lasted 70 days a  year, and  it  was
 rare to  look into the  lake and be able to  see  more than  three
 feet beneath its  surface.

      The  trouble  at  Annabessacook was easily  traced.  The  lake
 had been  the long-time victim  of  four major polluters --  the
 towns of  Winthrop and  Monmouth, the Carleton  Woolen Mills,
 and Globe Albany, a  wool  finishing  plant.  These  four polluters
 together  dumped  more  than  30,000  pounds of. virtually untreated
 wastes  into  the  lake  each  year.

      Both Winthrop and  the Carleton Woolen Mills  had wastewater
 treatment.   However,  Winthrop's antiquated sewage treatment
 system was  inadequate  and  the  Woolen Mills facility was only
 marginally efficient.   Even worse,  Monmouth had  no existing
 municipal wastewater plant at  all,  and  Globe Albany discharged
 its wastes entirely  untreated.

      In  1968,  Maine's  Department  of  Environmental Protection
 classified Annabessacook as one of  the  four most  severely
 polluted  lakes in the  State.   Conditions  had deteriorated to
 the point where  action  was essential.

      Several  possible  solutions were investigated for cost as
 well  as  for  environmental  effectiveness.   And   after  much
 deliberation  a direction that had initially been  considered
 bizarre  and  unworkable  was selected.   It  called for  the
 cooperative  efforts  of  the cities of  Monmouth, Winthrop,
 Manchester,  Hallowell,  and Augusta.   The  wastes from  all five
 were  to  be collected  and transported  to  a proposed  secondary
 wastewater treatment  facility  in   Augusta, treated,  and  then
 discharged into  the  Kennebec  River.   The  political,  institu-
 tional,  financial, and  legal  problems of  negotiating  with five
 communities  and  their  associated   industries at first  seemed
 formidable.    But  the  plan  proved   to  be  the  least  costly and
 the most environmentally sound.   So  it  was  adopted.

      In  1971,  the  Winthrop  to  Augusta  interceptor  was com-
 pleted.   Since then  the improvements  in  the quality  of  the
Annabessacook's waters  have been   striking.   Phosphorus
levels are down by 80 percent  and  nitrate levels  by  44  percent.

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                             -Sl-

it is  possible  to  see nine feet  down  into  the lake  instead of
three,  and  algae blooms now  last no more  than 15 days  a '
year .

      Now .that the  Monmouth to  Winthrop  to  Augusta  interceptor
has  been finished,  there is  every reason  to believe  that
Annab es sac ook' s restoration  is assured.   But the story does
not  end there.  The  Aug us t a-Cab b es se e  regional agency  is now-
making  plans  to preserve the  lake's entire watershed.   Controls
on growth and development are  expected  permanently  to  insure
Annabessacook Lake's environmental integrity.


      Perhaps  none  of Minnesota's 10,000  lakes is more  cele-
brated  than Lake Minnetonka.   It was  the  "Shining  Big-Sea
Water" of Longfellow's Hiawatha.  It  was  also a victim of
20th century  urban development.

      Minnetonka,  15  miles west of Minneapolis, is  the  State's
10th largest  lake.  It is a  series of  bays, points,  and
islands with  31 interconnecting  channels  covering  14,31.0
acres,  with 110 miles of shoreline.   Its  waters are  favored  by
small-craft sailors  and its  northern  pike, bluegill, walleye,
and  largemouth  bass  attract  hundreds  of  fishermen.   Aside
from its 60 marin.as  and private  and public launch  sites,  the
area contains many picnic areas, parks,  golf courses,  schools,
and  resort  hotels.

      By the early  1960's, however, the  lake's quality  had
become unacceptable  to sportsmen.  Green  scum and  weeds were
abundant.  Several fish kills  had occurred.  Many  species of
bottom organisms  important  in  the food  web — snails among
them — had disappeared .

      A few decades before, many  lake  homes had used  on-site
septic tanks  for  sewage treatment.  And  often during high
water levels  some  tanks overflowed and  contaminated  the
lake.  To deal  with  this recurring problem, seven  of the
lake's local  municipalities  built secondary treatment  plants
in  the mid-1950's.  For the  next decade,  plants dumped their
treated effluent  into  the lake without  apparent  ill  effect.
But  by 1963,  the  abundance  of  nitrates  and phosphates  had
caused severe euthrophication.  Weeds and algae grew and
consumed the  dissolved oxygen  so necessary to fish life.

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                              -52-

      Despite  Minnetonka's nutrient  problem,  adjacent Minnehaha
 Creek, because  of  its swift-noving  waters,  did not become
 severely polluted.   But there were  other  complications.
 Spring floods were  a common threat  and  in late summer and
 early fall  the  creek often dried up.

      With  12  separate municipalities  around  the lake and six
 along Minnehaha Creek,  no single one  of  them on its own would
 have been  able  to  clean up and control  the  pollution.
 Consequently, a watershed district  of  27  municipalities, A
 townships,  and  2 counties 'was formed.   Pollution and flood
 problems were studied,  and population  projections and hydro-
 logical and engineering studies were  performed to help develop
 an overall  water management plan.

      A water  flow control plan evolved  and  a dam was built a
 half mile downstream from the point where Minnehaha Creek
 joins the lake.  Flood-plain zoning was adopted in order to
 curb unwanted development,  and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed
 District endorsed a  Metropolitan Sewer  Board plan to divert
 all  sewage  effluents away from Minnetonka to the  Minnesota
 River,  which  could better handle the flow.   The diversion plan
 called  for  abandoning  the seven secondary waste treatment
 plants  and  diverting sewage to the Blue Lakes  central treatment
 plant.

      The effluents were  diverted  in 1971-72.   Today nutrient
 levels  are dropping  and  surface algae are disappearing.
 Lake Minnetonka and  adjoining  Minnehaha Creek  are gradually
 recovering.


      Lake  Minnetonka  and  Minnehaha Creek  serve  an example
 of those  areas with  nutrient  problems where  nitrates  as  well
 as phosphorus  must be controlled.   A more common  situation
 with regard to nutrient  is  that  in which nitrate  levels  alone
 are  crit ical.

      Figure 10 reveals  that  there  are high nitrate  levels on
 the  lower  Missouri,   the middle Mississippi and  the  entire Ohio
 River.   High levels  are also  found  in such areas  as  the
 Northeast  Coast, Northern Alabama  and on the Willamette  and
 Snake Rivers in  the   Northwest.  Low  levels are  common  on  the
 upper Great Lakes in  northern  New  England  and in  most  of  the
 So ut he as t .

      As was  the  case  for phosphorus  (Figure 9), nitrate
conditions  are,  for   the most part, worsening. (Figure  11).
With  regard  to nitrate levels,  Florida,  California  and Washington
State are  among  the  few areas  showing  general improvement.

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 Figure 10
       Environmental Protection Agency
               STORET SYSTEM

Nitrate in Water, 1973-1975, 85th Percentiles
 Concentration
    (mg/1)

* — no data
|| — less than 0.272
1 -- 0.272-0.690
1 -- 0.690-1.48
• i— greater than 1.48
    Cells included are those for which data has been supplied
    to EPA.  Cells are approximately 25 by 35 miles.


     Source:   Monitoring  and  Data  Support  Division,  OWPS,  EPA

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  Figure 11
    Environmental Protection Agency
            STORET SYSTEM

Trends in Nitrate, 1967-69 to 1973-75
   Trend

 f — Improved (35% of cells reporting)

 o ~ Less than 10% Change

 ^ ~ Worsened (50% of cells reporting)

Small arrows (barely visible)  indicate
  less improvement.
                                 Source:  Monitoring  and Data Support Division, OWPS, EPA

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                             -53-

WATERS MADE BY  MAN


     The  Nation in  its exuberance  to  grow,  has not only
polluted  natural  waters, it has also  hewn out manmade waters
and polluted  them as well.

     And,  as  with all its waters,  it  must now clean them  up.
Two examples  are  well known -- the  Houston Ship Channel and
the Las  Vegas Wash.  Two others,  Stockton Lake and Dillon
Reservoir,  are  important manmade  lakes  in raid-continent.

Houston  Ship  Channel

     President  Woodrow Wilson went  to Houston in  1914,  and  to
the booming accompaniment of cannon,  pushed the button  that
officially opened the Houston Ship  Channel.  It was an  act
that turned Houston, until  then  a mid-sized inland city of
160,000  people, into a port.

     No  one could have foreseen  it  then, but Houston was
destined to become  the third largest  port in the  Nation and
the ship channel  one of the Nation's  filthiest streams.

     Houston itself exploded.   In less than 20 years its
population doubled.  Then came  World  War II and during
the Forties it nearly doubled again -- from 384,514 to
596,219.

     In  the early years few were  worried about pollution  in
the channel.  Buffalo Bayou, which winds  through the city  and
forms  the channel's upper reaches,  was a lazy little stream
notable  for its Sunday swimming  and canoe races.

     It  wasn't until the  mid  Sixties  that people  realized the
ship channel had gradually  become mired  in pollution.   By 1968
the BOD  load dumped into  it by  the city  and  the industrial
giants along its banks, was 406,000 pounds a day.

      In  December 1967,  a  group  gathered  at the edge  of  the
channel  in downtown Houston to  mourn its death.   They  con-
ducted a mock  funeral service  and issued a death  certificate:
death  due to strangulation.  The EPA was later to call  the
channel  one of the  10 most  polluted major waterways  in  the
United States.

      Wastes were being  dumped  raw into  the ship channel.   The
only agency then trying  to  stem the  tide was  an understaffed
and  underfunded Texas Water Pollution  Control  Board.   It  had a
stream monitoring  program and  water quality  standards  and
permit procedures.   But  there  were no  enforcement teeth.

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                              -54-

      In  September  1967,  the  Texas Legislature created  the
 Texas Water Quality  Board, adequately  funded it, and  author-
 ized it  to  look after  the quality of the  waters  throughout  the
 State .

      By  1970,  the  BOD  being  dumped into  the channel  had  been
 pared from  over 400,000 pounds  a day to  300,000.   By  1972
 the load  had  dropped  to 123,675  pounds a  day.

      The  first signs  of a reawakening  of  fish life  in  the
 channel  appeared.   Shrimp and  crabs and  other marine  life were
 being found at water  intake  pipes five miles below  the
 Channel's  turning  basin.  Officials were  delighted.   One
 company,  Diamond Shamrock, threw a party  and served  ship
 channel  shrimp.

      But  the  victory  was difficult to  sustain.   People  were
 still flocking into  Houston  at  a rate  of  2,000 new  residents
 a  month.   And  in 1973,  the BOD  level had  jumped  back  to
 175,000  pounds a day.   But the  loading is now down  again — to
 90,000 pounds  a day  — and headed towards a hoped-for  41,000
 pounds by  1979.

      The  City  of Houston has been a major offender  in  the
 pollution  of  the Channel.  It  is the source of 75  percent of
 the BOD  load  dumped  into the belabored waterway, and  the
 State's  attorney general has filed suit  aga1' .st  it  for  contam-
 inating  Clear  Lake.   Houston,  however, has now started  to
 expand and  modernize  its wastewater treatment facilities with
 the help  of EPA construction grants.

      When  the  EPA  came on the  scene in the early Seventies,
 it joined  the  Texas  Water Quality Board  to put all  dischargers
 under the  strict discharge permits mandated by the  new
 amendments  to  the  Federal Water  Pollution Control  Act.

      Plankton  now  inhabit the  entire 25-mile course  of  the
 channel  from  Houston  to Galveston Bay.   Tarpon have  been
 caught within  five  miles of  the  turning  basin, and  dolphins
 appear now  in  the  lower end  of  the channel.  In  1972,  the
 Texas Water Quality  Board collected six  species  of  marine
 life on  screens in  the  channel.  . A year  later it gathered 22
 different  species.   There has  even been  talk of  constructing
 a  $3 million  hotel  and  tourist  center  on  Brady Island,  only
.two miles  from the  turning basin, where  the water  once  ran
 foul and  toxic.

      The  channel is  unlikely ever again  to run as  clean  as  it
 did the  day Woodrow  Wilson dedicated it.   But it appears to
 have a future  far  cleaner than  its recent past.

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                             -55-
Las Vegas  Wash
     This  little stream  in  the middle  of  the parched  Nevada
desert  is  unique.

     It  was hewn originally from the bone dry environment  by
storms,  and for years  flowed  only intermittently.   But  with
the  establishment and  growth  of Las Vegas, it now flows
constantly, due primarily to  the wastewaters discharged  into
it.  Flowing easterly  from  the City of Las Vegas into  Lake
Mead on  the Colorado River, its waters at one time  carried
the  waste  discharges of  three towns and  nine industries.

     It  attracted some 171  species of  birds, 40 percent of
which  lived there permanently.  Fish also came  to swim in
the  wash and it became the  water supply for amphibians,
reptiles,  coyotes,  bobcats, kit foxes, raccoons, skunks,  and
other  mammals .

      But as the population of the Las  Vegas basin boomed,  as
industry grew,  and  as  wastewater treatment works aged, the
wash began  to  be overburdened with  pollution.   Its  already
salty  waters became laden with nitrogen, phosphorus,  and
dissolved   solids.   Its pollution reached to Lake Mead and  the
Colorado River  downstream.   Algae began to bloom in that  part
of  the lake below the  wash,- lowering  dissolved  oxygen levels,
throwing off odors, contaminating  the  water, and threatening
the  wildlife.

      In 1967,  citizens in  the basin  and Federal, State and
local  agencies  began to worry collectively about pollution  in
the  wash.    There was much  planning  and discussion,  but little
else was done.   It  was not until  1971, when  the EPA threatened
enforcement action, that the  three  municipalities  and nine
industries  settled  on a  strategy.   A conference was convened.
Legally-binding timetables for  halting the  pollution were
developed  and  later incorporated  in  the  NPDES  permits demanded
by  P.L. 92-500.

      Today  six of  the  nine industries  discharging  into the
wash have  halted  all discharges  entirely.   The  remaining  three
are on  schedules  to reduce or  eliminate  their  discharges.
That part  of  the  industrial wastewater flows  that  entered
groundwater  and then seeped  into  the  wash  has  also  been
 stopped.   In  addition, plans  for  tertiary  wastewater  treatment
 for the municipalities on  the  wash  are already underway.

      It will  take   several  years  to  complete  the program.   But
 when  it is finished the  wash  will  be  a clean manmade  stream.

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                             -56-

Two  Rese rvoir s

      Stockton Lake  is  a 25,000-acre  reservoir 50 miles
northwest of Springfield,  Mo., and 135  miles southeast
of Kansas City.   It  was built by the  Array  Corps of Engineers
for  flood control and  power generation.

      On  July 25,  1970,  only seven months  after it was built,
fish kills were  reported in the Sac  River  just below the
reservoir.  The  water  being released  from  the new manraade
lake was so low  in  dissolved oxygen  that  it couldn't sustain
the  river's pollution-sensitive fish  life.   Low DO was
reported again on August 1  and August  5.   Along one three-
mile segment of  the  stream  more than  20,000 fish lay dead.

      The low DO  condition  had developed  at  that time of the
year when the lake  became  thermally  stratified.  Thermal
stratification is a  natural process  which  occurs in many
lakes.   The organisms  living in the  depths  of Lake Stockton
depleted the oxygen  there,  and the stratification prevented
oxygen  replenishment  from  the oxygen-rich,  surface layers of
water.   The intakes  for the water releases  necessary to
generate power lay  at  the  levels of  the  oxygen-depleted
wa ter .

      The Corps successfully halted fish  kills temporarily by
installing siphons,  which discharged  high-oxygen-content
water from the surface  layer of the  reservoir into the river
at the  same time  that  any  low DO water was  released.
Concerned parties then  went to work  on a  long term solution.
The  Federal Bureau  of  Sport Fisheries and  Wildlife, the
Missouri Water Pollution Control Board,  the Department of
Conservation and  the  Federal Water Quality  Administration --
an EPA predecessor  agency -- were all consulted.  And on
October  6,  1970,  the  Federal Water Quality  Administration
decided  to take  permanent  steps to prevent  future fish
kills.

      At  a meeting the  following August,  several alternatives
were discussed.  And  on October 13,  1971,  it was agreed
that  a skimming  weir would  be the most economical and effective
solution for Lake Stockton's DO problem.   A weir is a manraade
obstruction put  in  a  stream to create an  artificial cascade.
As the water tumbles over the cascade, oxygen from the air is
drawn in and mixed with it, increasing the  concentration of
dissolved oxygen  in  the water downstream.

      Completed in 1973,  the weir in Lake  Stockton now provides
adequate water quality  when water is released for power

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                            -57-

generation during  periods of thermal  stratification, and the
warm water fishery downstream is thriving.   Since installation
of the weir,  the  oxygen content of water  released during
power generation  has  been maintained  and  no  further fish
kills have been  reported.  The problem  is  considered solved.


     Only a  similar concert of Federal,  State,  and local
action saved  Colorado's Dillon Reservoir  from pollution.

     When it  was  built to supply Denver  with high quality
water for domestic use, few thought  that  the reservoir,
high on  the  Continental Divide, would ever be threatened by
pollution.   It  lay at 9,000 feet in  a rural  watershed that had
seen little  human traffic since the  gold  mining era.  The U.S.
Forest Service  owned  80 percent of  the  drainage area, and the
private  lands consisted mostly of old,  abandoned mining claims.

     But  three  things happened to change  the situation.  The
reservoir  itself  became a major recreational area.  The use
rate, measured  in visitor days, soared  from 43,000 in 1966  to
1,000,000 by 1976.  Three major ski  resorts were built  in the
area.  And  Interstate 70 was laid across  the Continental
Divide,  making  the reservoir even more  accessible.

     Along  with the resorts came  people and more construction.
In  the early 1960's,  fewer  than 2,000 people inhabited  the
basin; in  1972  there were 55,000 housing  units already  built,
under  construction, or planned for  the  watershed.  The  pace  of
events outran the available  treatment facilities, and water
quality  in  the  reservoir was suddenly threatened by man-made
pollut io n.

     Colorado officials were worried enough in  1972 to  call  a
joint  State-EPA conference  to  study the problem  and recommend
strategies  to deal with  it.

      It  was soon  apparent  that  the  threat was real  and  a
basin-wide  plan calling  for  advanced wastewater  treatment,
including phosphorus removal,  was  drawn up  and  adopted.   Two
EPA grants  were forthcoming.   Four  of the existing  10 waste-
water  treatment facilities  in  the  Dillon  complex  now provide
advanced treatment, and  four  others have been phased out  in
the upgrading process.

      A potentially serious  eutrophication and public health
problem  was headed off.   By  1975  EPA's National  Eutrophicat ion
Survey found that  the  reservoir  had the highest  quality water
of  13  lakes studied  in  Colorado.

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                             -58-

     To  keep it that way  plans are now  underway to deal with
the sludge  problems  that  are the product  of  the new advanced
treatment  processes.   Control  measures  for  nonpoint run-off
are now  also under study.   EPA grants have  either been applied
for or awarded for both  projects.

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                            -59-

1NNOVATIVE  TECHNOLOGY -- FINDING  SOMETHING BETTER
      There  are few secret weapons  in the war on pollution.
Mostly  it just takes determination,  time, and money.   But
there have  been some new, innovative ideas — especially  for
treating  the  billions of gallons of  sewage per day that  is  the
spinoff of  a  burgeoning population.   A major effort  is  under-
way nationally to develop new  technology leading to  better
systems of  advanced wastewater  treatment.

      Advanced treatment is not  a good thing for everyone
everywhere  since it is generally very expensive to build  and
operate.  In  most areas, a well  run  secondary treatment
plant of  adequate capacity can  handle all current pollution
abatement needs.  In some areas, however, advanced or  tertiary
treatment is  necessary to remove nutrients, heavy metals  or
any of  a  variety of other pollutants that just can't otherwise
be handled  adequately.

      The  cases that follow show some of the innovative  techniques
developed to  obtain tertiary treatment when necessary.

Muskegon  County's Better Idea

      The  citizens and community leaders of Muskegon  County  in
Michigan, went to advanced wastewater treatment to solve
their water pollution problems.

      Near the end of the 1960's, each of the many independent
communities in the county were  trying to deal separately  with
their own municipal and industrial wastewaters in small,
overburdened  treatment facilities.   Several of the main
industries  and principal communities were still discharging
inadequately  treated wastewater directly into the county's
lake s.

     The  three main recreational lakes were being polluted.
The resulting problems included severe algal blooms, encroaching
weeds and periods of foul odor.  Swimming and boating were
becoming  unpleasant and unsafe.  Older industries were  closing
or leaving  rather than rebuilding  and new industries and
businesses  were not coming to  replace them.

     Muskegon County's solution was  first to persuade its many
independent communities to agree on  a unified approach  to the
problem —  then to develop a common  wastewater treatment
system.   Working with authorities  at the State and Federal
levels, they  designed and built a  large scale spray  irrigation
system  that would reliably and safely handle up to A3 million
gallons of  wastewater per day.

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                              -60-

     This land  treatment system  has removed  about 98  percent
of the  BOD, suspended solids,  and phosphorus and 70 percent
of the  nitrogen  from the 27  million gallons  of v;astewater
treated  daily in  the county.   It is protecting and  enhancing
the county's lakes  and streams as well  as  benefiting  Lake
Michigan.  In 1975,  the system also used  its treated  wastewater
to irrigate over  a  quarter  million bushels of corn  grown
on what  had been  sandy, unproductive  soil.  The project
has served as a  keystone in  the  county's  effort to  revitalize
its ec o nom y,

     Although the  primary purpose of  the  Muskegon system
is wastewater treatment, corn  watered  with the effluent
yielded  an average  of 60 bushels per  acre.  That nearly
equals  the average  65 bus he 1-per-acre  of  corn yielded by
Muskegon County's  privately owned farms — and the  land
treatment site  has  some of  the poorest  soil  in the  county.
Sales  from the  grain reduced  the cost  of  treating the waste-
wa ter  by $700,000.

     Land application of wastewater has been practiced in  the
United  States and  in Europe  for  decades.   But the Muskegon
project  is the  first major  effort of  its  kind in this country
using  Federal money.  Of the  some $44  million in construction
costs,  EPA funded  approximately  45 percent.

     The cost of  treating the  wastewater  in 1975 was  only
24 cents per  1000  gallons.   This included  repayment on the
bond indebtedness  and all operating costs, and is low compared
with many other  more c o nv en.t io nal wastewater treatment
systems.

     It  is EPA's  hope  that  the Muskegon success may serve
as an  example for  other communities.   A wel1-designed and
well-managed  land  application system  for  municipal  wastewater
treatment, where it can be  maintained  without contaminating
the land with heavy metals  and other  toxic substances, should
be as  safe as conventional  treatment  systems.  And  it has  an
advantage over  conventional systems:   it  reinforces the
resource recovery  ethic.  It could revitalize and augment
parkland and  recreation areas, renew  groundwater, and help
supply nutrients for  the growth of forests, grasslands, and
even crops.

Lake Shagawa

     The citizens  of  Ely, Minnesota,  were faced with a problem
similar to  that of  Muskegon County.   Ely  sits on  the  shores

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                            -61-

of Shagawa  Lake,  which is the gateway to the Boundary  Waters
Canoe Area,  a  million-acre wilderness on the border  with
Canada  that  has  been set aside  as  a canoeing preserve.

     However,  Ely's growing  recreational traffic  has also
generated higher  pollution loads.   The first sewage  treatment
plant was a  primary facility  installed in 1912  to  treat
wastewater  before discharging it  into Lake Shagawa.   But by
1932, pollution  in the lake  was  so serious that  a  pipeline was
installed to bring drinking  water  down from another  lake a few
miles upstream.   In 1954, a  trickling filter plant was  built
to treat  the rising pollution load.  It was modified in
1963.

     But  there was still a problem.  The nutrient  load  that
was reaching Lake Shagawa began  to create ugly  and  foul-smelling
algae blooms.   The swimming  beaches were closed  and  the
overflow  from the increasingly  polluted waters  drained
into parts  of  the wilderness area  and into Canada.   Ely's
pollution was  in danger  of killing the recreation boom  that
is its  major economic  resource.

     Working with State  and  Federal officials,  the  city in
1971 received  an EPA research grant to design,  develop,
and run an  advanced wastewater  treatment plant  that  would
remove  most of the nutrient  from its wastewater discharge.

     The  1.5 million gallon  per day plant was built  and
started operating in April  1973.   The new facility  has been  98
percent effective in removing nutrients, and the phosphorus
levels  have been held  consistently to less  that 0.05 milligrams
per liter,  a level too low to support algae growth.

     The  public is noticing  the improvement.  The Shagawa Lake
swimming  beach was open  for  a full season in  1975 for  the
first  time  in many years.

     Ely's  experimental  treatment  plant  is  more expensive  than
the  town  can afford to operate  without  further  financial help.
But  it  points to another technically  innovative system  capable
of solving  a difficult pollution problem —  if  it can  be
rendered  less costly.

Jasper

     The  little town of  Jasper, in the  Ozarks,  lies in  a
setting as  beautiful as  Ely's.  Through  it flows the Buffalo
National  River, a  stream whose  pristine  waters  and  tree-lined
banks  provide a wilderness  setting and  support  an eco-system
unique  in the nid-South.

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                            -62-

     Several  dwellings within  the  town limits were  using
outdoor privies  or septic  tanks  that operated ineffectively
in the porous  limestone rock formations of northwest  Arkansas.
The wastes  were  seeping into open  ditches and from  them into
the Little  Buffalo River,  which  empties into the  Buffalo
National  River.

     Like  other  communities  in the Ozarks, Jasper  recognized
the increasing health hazard created by inadequate  septic
tanks.  Something had to be  done and the  town rose  to the
occasion.

     Not  only did Jasper build a treatment plant  — with
the help  of the  EPA -- but  it  was  transformed from an un-
sewered community, with septic tank seepage  and  raw sewage
runoff, into  a community with  an advanced system  capable of
serving projected population growth for years to  come.

     An advanced treatment facility for a small  town is
out of  the  ordinary.  Lower  levels of treatment  under"normal
conditions  would be quite  adequate.  But  the people of Jasper,
the State of  Arkansas, and the EPA, had reasons  for tertiary
treatment in  the little Ozark  town.  The  high quality of water
in the  Buffalo National and  Little Buffalo Rivers had to be
maintained.  Lower levels  of treatment wouldn't  do the job.

     Jasper's plant went into  full operation in  1974.  The  two
rivers  running through it  are  now assured of continued high
wa ter  quality.

St. Petersburg

     In  1972, the State of Florida required  advanced waste-
water  treatment with  essentially complete nutrient removal  for
the critically polluted areas  around Tampa Bay.

     St.  Petersburg responded  with a  solution  that at  the  same
time was  an important  first  step towards  conserving scarce
drinking  water.

      Before the  1940's the city drew  its  potable water
from wells in southern Pinellas County, but  with the rapid
population growth and  the  increasing  drain on  fresh water
supplies, the ground  water aquifer was  soon  overpumped.
Salt-water intrusion  followed, and the  aquifer  had to  be
abandoned as a  source  of  fresh water.   Since then  the  city  has
drawn  its water  from  northern Pinellas  County  by pipeline,  and
faces  future needs  it  could not supply.

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                            -63-

     The  city  combined the solution to its wastewater disposal
problem with  a step towards  relieving its water  shortage:   it
decided to  use modified secondary treatment  together with
spray irrigation.  The treated  effluent will  be  sprayed on
golf courses,  parks, and  school  yards in  the  city,  saving
scarce fresh  water for more  important uses.

     The  effluent will be  treated to safe levels before it  is
sprayed on  sites accessible  to  the public.   And  the actual
irrigation  will occur during hours when there is no public
access.   A  stand-by deep  well storage system  will store the
treated effluent during periods  when irrigation  is  unnecessary.

     The  St.  Petersburg effort  is one of  the  first  real
attempts  in the South  to  undertake a major  recycling program
for  treated effluent, complete  with effluent  distribution,
spray irrigation, and underground storage.

Largo

     The  town of Largo, in Florida, was under the same pressure
as  St. Petersburg to upgrade its treatment.   Like St.  Petersburg,
Largo chose spray irrigation, but it went one innovative  step
f ur the r.

     While  wrestling with the problem of  what to do with
the  10 tons per day of dry sludge generated  by the new
treatment plant, the city's  consulting  engineer discovered
that dried  sludge was  being  imported  to  the  nearby Port  of
Tampa from  Houston  and Chicago and used  as  a soil-conditioning
base for  fertilizer.   It  was estimated  that  approximately
100,000  tons of dried  sludge are imported into Florida each
year.

     Therefore,  the city's consulting engineer devised an
innovative  and  cost-effective system  to  dewater  the wet  sludge
mechanically and dry it  in a rotary  kiln.  The end product
is  a sludge material  in  a dust-free  granular form  salable as
a  soil  conditioner  because of its high  organic and nutrient
content.

     The  advantages of Largo's sludge  handling process are
many.   It recycles  and  reuses the  sludge  itself.   It  elimi-
nates  a  less  desirable means of  sludge  disposal.   And  sale  of
the end  product  will  reduce  the  net  cost  of  the  sludge handling
to  a figure considerably  below that  of  the other possible
appr cache s.

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                             -64-

Military Innovations

      Many military bases  once contributed significantly
to  pollution levels.   That  is now changing.   With  the  focus
now on  clean-up, several  bases have adopted  spray  irrigation
of  their treated effluents.

      Tyndall Air Force  Base,  in Florida, was  notified  by EPA
in  1971  that its sewage  treatment facilities  were  outmoded and
completely inadequate  to  meet State and Federal  requirements.

      The EPA and the State  of Florida agreed  that  advanced
wastewater treatment would  be required at the  base's  main
plant before  discharge  to  the adjacent beach  area on  the Gulf
of  Mexico.  Those waters  and  the beach had been  marked for
recreation and were to  be suitable for  fish  and wildlife
propagation.  Effluent  limitations were set  for  BOD and
suspended solids.  And  wastewater from a second  sewage treat-
ment  plant was no longer  permitted to empty  into Pearl Bayou,
a tributary of St. Andrews  Bay and a haven for shellfish.

      After a series of  negotiations and consultations, the
Air  Force designed and  built  a spray irrigation  system.
Completed in 1975, the  system has completely  eliminated all
discharges from the base  into the Gulf of Mexico and  St.
And rews  Bay.

      Eglin Air Force Base is  on Florida's Choctawhatehee Bay
near  Fort Walton Beach, a prime recreational  and fishing
area.

      In  1970 Eglin's wastewater disposal system  could  not
provide  the degree of  treatment required by  Florida's  Department
of  Environmental Regulation.   The EPA, the State,  and  the Air
Force consulted and decided  that spray irrigation  in  the air
base's  undeveloped sandy  woodlands was the best  solution.
The  system was completed  in  early 1975.   Since then the Air
Force has also helped Okaloosa County authorities  design a
spray irrigation system for  itself that also  is  to use Federal
lands.

     .The Eglin system has eliminated wastewater  discharges
into  Choctawhatehee Bay and  Santa Rosa Sound,  allowing those
waters  to be used for recreation.  They will  also  eventually
be  suitable for shellfish.   The system eliminated  three
outfalls and enhanced the  quality of the gulf beaches  in the
Fort Walton area.

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                            -65-

     Georgia's  Dobbins Air Force  Base  and its industrial
Air Force  Plant //6 were discharging  sewage and industrial
wastewater  into Rottenwood and Nickajack Creeks, tributaries
of the  Chattahoochee River.  Rottenwood Creek enters  the
Chattahoochee  just above Atlanta's  drinking water  intake.

     In  1966,  an interstate  enforcement conference  was  held to
advise  all  dischargers to  the  Chattahoochee River  that,  by
1971, secondary treatment  or its  equivalent would  be  necessary
for all  wastewater discharges.

     For Dobbins and its industrial  complex,  the requirements
were more 'strict than  that.  The  proposed treatment process
was to  be a three-stage system,  which had been approved  by EPA
and the  State  in 1970.

     The system for the industrial  plant was  completed  and
put in  operation in 1972.  The existing wastewater  treatment
plant was upgraded, and the  facilities for  a  new third  stage
of treatment were finished in  May 1976.

     This advanced waste  treatment  system now produces
effluent of a  quality  approaching that of drinking  water.
Reuse  of the water for  industrial purposes  is currently being
studied.  And  the discharge  site for the  effluent  from  Dobbins
has been moved to a point  on the Chattahoochee River well
below  Atlanta's water  supply intake.

Hobbs  — Selling a City's  Wastewater

      Hobbs, New Mexico, is one of the  few towns  in America  that
markets wastewater --  and  at a price equal  to what it gets  for
drinking water.

      It took a court  fight and a lot of  doing,  but Hobbs
eventually changed a  serious pollution  problem  into an environ-
mental  and economic asset.  The court  fight was  due to contami-
nation of  the  Ogallala groundwater formation, from which  the
city  draws its water  supply.

      In  the end,  the  water supply was  protected,  wastewater
treatment  facilities  were improved, and  a market  -- temporary
at least -- for  treated  wastewater was  found  in  a   nearby  oil
field.

      Hobbs' environmental  success story,  like many others,  is
the  product of  the  cooperative efforts  of Federal   and State
agencies,  the  city, and  others -- lawsuits  notwithstanding.

-------
                            -66-

      In  1970,  the New Mexico Environmental  Improvement Agency,
while  conducting a routine  sampling, found  that  high nitrate
concentrations were present  in water supply  wells near the
Hobbs  wastewater treatment  plant.

      Additional sampling  and flow measurements  showed that  a
dome  of  wastewater approximately two miles  across and 40 feet
high  had  built up in  the  alluvium formation  south and
east  of  the  city.  Some  shallow wells in  a  low-income area
adjacent  to  the wastewater  treatment facility  were found
to be  contaminated.

      The  courts ordered  Hobbs to provide  a  potable water
system for all homeowners  in the affected area,  to pump
the contaminated water  out  of the dome, and  to  stop the
discharge of the polluted  water into the  Ogallala formation.

      Publicity generated  by  the litigation  attracted the
attention of the oil  industry, which approached  the city
council  and  offered to  buy  the wastewater.   The  oil companies
wanted to inject the  water  into a deep  geologic  formation  as
part  of  a secondary oil  recovery operation.

      It  is estimated  that  the dome of contaminated water,
together  with sand-filtered  sewage, can be  pumped out and  used
by the industry for a period of about eight  years, at a net
profit to the city.   Hobbs  has worked out a  fee  schedule equal
to the rates charged  for  its potable water.   Water lines have
also  been laid in the area  to serve all persons  whose water
supply wells were contaminated.

      Now  the City has reapplied for EPA and  State construction
grants to reach the treatment level necessary  during times
when  the  oil field cannot  use the wastewater,  and later when
the oil  recovery is completed.

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                            -67-

NONPOINT  SOURCES


     Many  activities important  to  the life and economy  of  the
Nation  over  the  years -- construction, farming, mining,  and
forestry  --  have had another, environmentally negative,  side:
they.have  often  set in motion processes of erosion  and  runoff
harmful to the  environment.

     The  wastes  from these sources' have added substantially  to
the  pollution of the Nation's waters.  And they constitute the
nonpoint  source  problem that  as  yet knows no fully  adequate
solution.   They  present themselves now as a major  environmental
challenge  of the future.   But  in some places the  problem has
been attacked already —with  some success.

The  Monongahela — Pollution  from the Mines

     The  clean-up of the upper  two-thirds of the  Monongahela
River  is  an example.  The  rugged, scenic Monongahela begins
at  the  confluence of the West  Fork and Tygart Rivers in West
Virginia  and flows for  128 miles northward into  Pennsylvania,
joining the Allegheny at Pittsburgh  to form the  Ohio River.

      Its  coal-rich basin is  one of the most intensively
mined  regions in the world.

      During the  19th century,  the Monongahela  supported a
profitable fishing industry.   Aquatic  studies  in  1886 iden-
tified  40 fish  species, including the  pollution-sensitive
walleye and muskellunge.   But  by the  early 20th  century,
acid mine drainage  from active and abandoned  coal mines had
ravaged the small  tributary  streams  and  polluted  the upper
reaches of the  Monongahela from Fairmont,  West  Virginia,  to
Charleroi, PennsyIvanis.   Heavy industrial development  from
Charleroi to Pittsburgh had  killed off virtually  all fishlife
in  the  river.

      By 1950, the  Monongahela had become  an  aquatic waste-
land.   Acid mine drainage  -- runoff  from  active  and abandoned
mines  --  on  the  upper  river  brought  low  pH levels, severe
turbidity, bottom  deposits of chemical precipitates, and  high
concentrations  of  iron, manganese, and sulfate.   Boats, dams,
and instream facilities were plagued by  corrosion.

      Steel mills and  coke  plants  on  the  lower  river near
 Pittsburgh  dumped  untreated  phenols, oils,  greases, cyanide,
 organic coal tars,  ammonia,  and  suspended  solids into  the
wa ter .

-------
                            -68-

     In  1957,  the Ohio River Valley  Sanitation Commission  and
the University of Louisville conducted  a fish resource  study.
At a typical  monitoring station  on  the  Monongahela,  50  miles
downstream  from the West Virginia border, only two small
bluegill  sunfish were found.  The pH levels at the station
were unacceptable — the water was  high in acids —  and the
river was  pale chartreuse in color.

     The  major turning point in  the  campaign to save  the
Monongahela came on December 17  and  18, 1963, when conferees
met in Pittsburgh to discuss the  pollution of the river
and its  tributaries.  It was agreed  that the major problem
was acid  drainage from active and abandoned mines.

     Indeed,  mine drainage is the principal cause of  acidic
conditions  nationwide.  Acidity  is  measured using the pH
scale: 7  indicates neutral — harmless  — water.  Numbers  less
than 7 indicate acidic water, with  smaller numbers indicating
inceasingly acidic conditions: water with a pH of 6  is  slightly
acidic,  water with a pH of 4 is  very acidic.  A pH greater
than 7 indicates alkaline conditions, which are the  opposite
of acidic.   Although aquatic organisms  are more tolerant  of
alkalinity  than of acidity, highly  alkaline waters (with  pH
greater  than 10) are just as undesirable — and as caustic —
as acidic  waters.  As Figure 12  reveals, highly acidic  condi-
tions are  associated primarily with  the Appalachian  mining
regions.   Acidic conditions are  also found in the Southeast
generally  and in New England.  Highly alkaline conditions  are
almost non-existent.

     Once  it was agreed that the  mines  were responsible for
the acidity problems along the Monongahelia, all of  the
mines were  inventoried.  Then, in  1965, the active coal
mines were  required to treat their  discharges to make them
alkaline  rather than acidic and  thus compensate for  the
prevalent  acidity.  Discharges were  also to contain  no  more
than 7 milligrams per liter of iron.  Pennsylvania and  West
Virginia  stepped up enforcement  procedures and State funds
were earmarked for research and  development.

     Conditions improved.  Water  quality monitoring  records
from the  late 1960's and early  1970's showed higher  pH  levels,
and thus  less acidity, in the river's upper reaches.  Pollution-
sensitive  fish returned — among  them largemouth bass,  catfish,
and emerald shiners.

     The  lower reaches of the river, while vastly improved,
still have  far to go. Discharges  from the heavy industry
and the  active and abandoned mines  between  Charleroi and
Pittsburgh  continue to result in  violations of water quality
standards.   But even that stretch  is improving:  carp and
bullheads  have returned.  The EPA  and the States have issued
permits  to  the majority of point-source dischargers,  and  most
of the polluters will meet  their  1977 deadlines.

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Figure 12
                               Environmental Protection Agency
                                       STORET SYSTEM
                     pH in Water, 1973-1975, 15th & 85th Percentiles
                                                _
                                         ••9-0303==
                                        » * » 3 «
                                        • 30MM
                                    • •
                                    *«•»»»-]	
                                     *3«»»«»»»»»>i:50031«-
                                    .9BB
                                            •S3333O35'
 pH Level

* — no data
o — neutral (6.5-9.0)
81 — somewhat alkaline
It — somewhat acidic  (5
• — highly alkaline  (9
ft— highly acidic  (5.5
                       (9.0-9.5)
                       .5-6.5)
                       .5 or greater)
                        Or less)
Cells included are those for which data has been
supplied to EPA.  Cells are approximately 25 by
35 miles.
                                 Source:  Monitoring and Data  Support Division,  OWPS, EPA

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                            -69-

      There are exceptions.   The  steel industry  appealed the
deadline  and  the effluent limitations in its  permits,  and a
round  of  negotiations followed.   The EPA in September  1976,
reached  an agreement with U.S.  Steel, the largest  industrial
discharger on the lower Monongahela, calling  for  final dis-
charge  limitations on 72 of  87  outfalls by July 1,  1977.   The
remaining outfalls will follow,  under a phased  compliance
schedule, by  November 30, 1981.   While there  is still  a legal
question  whether the EPA can set a compliance date  after  July
1,  1977  -- the deadline set  in  P.L.  92-500 -- the  agreement is
considered a  major accomplishment.

      Since 1970, the EPA has awarded 16 Pennsylvania communi-
ties  $22  million to construct  secondary wastewater  treatment
facilities.   The EPA awarded another $26 million  to  the
Allegheny County Sanitary Authority  for the big secondary
treatment plant  servicing Pittsburgh.  On line  since 1973,  it
serves  1.25 million people from  McKeesport to Pittsburgh  and
treats  200 million gallons of municipal and industrial dis-
charges daily.  Additional EPA  planning grants  authorized in
Section 208 of P.L. 92-500 have  been issued to  study industrial
discharges, ground water contamination, and sewer problems.

     Dents Run watershed, on the Monongahela near Morgantown,
West Virginia, shows how pollution can be controlled at both
active  and abandoned mines.   As  a joint demonstration
project by the EPA, the West  Virginia Department of  Natural
Resources,  and the Consolidation Coal Company,  the Dents  Run
project has worked well.  It  has reclaimed over 400  acres
of  strip-mined land, at a cost  of $2 million.   Smoldering gob
piles have been  reshaped, covered with fertile  soil, and
replanted.  The  pH in the 14.6  square-mile watershed has
risen from an average of 3 (highly acidic)  to 6  (slightly
acidic).   And local residents have reported minnows  in the
upper portion of the watershed.   Hydrated lime  treatment
plants  have eliminated much  of  the acid mine drainage  and
the bright-orange color in the water.

     The  Monongahela's revival has been a team  effort.  The
West Virginia Department of  Natural  Resources,  the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental  Resources,  Pennsylvania's  mining
industry,  and the EPA worked  together with success --  particularly
on  the  river's upper reaches.

     Today there are bass tournaments on the West Virginia
portion of  the Monongahela.    Muskellunge frequent the  river's
lower reaches, and  hikers and boaters  are again a common  sight
on  its banks  on  warm summer  days.

-------
                              -70-

      Considered a "dead"  river for 70 years,  the Motion-
 gahela now  has new life.

 The Colorado  -- A Salt  Problem

      The  Colorado is the  classic case of  a  river that has
 been over-used.

      Salt enters the river  as  a product of  natural weathering
 and decomposition of rock formations and  soil  in the basin.
 The process  is accelerated  and the salts  are  concentrated  by
 irrigation, evaporation from  reservoirs,  and  the "exporting"  of
 the river's water to metropolitan areas.  The  salinity worsens
 as  the river  winds downstream  from its headwaters.

      Three  states that rely on the lower  Colorado -- California,
 New Mexico, and Arizona --  have especially  felt  the sting  of
 this brand  of  pollution.  Mexico has also been  affected.
 Salinity has  cost California  and Arizona  alone  an estimated
 $50 million a  year in lower crop yields and for  treatment  of
 public drinking supplies.

      The seven states in the  Colorado basin, the  EPA,  and  the
 Interior Department  agreed  on  a salinity  control  policy in
 December 1973:

      o  Salinity  levels in  the  lower  main stream  would be
         maintained at or below 1972  concentrations,  which  the
         States  and the  Federal  Government had earlier  agreed
         were accept able;

      o   Numerical  criteria  for  specified points  on the river
         were to  be set  by October  18,  1975;  and

      o  The  States involved  were  to  develop  salinity control
         plans .

      The  1974  Colorado  River Basin Salinity  Control  Act
provided  funding  and  technical  assistance  to help  curb salinity.
The  Act  also authorized  programs  to  implement the  policy and to
improve  the  quality  of  water reaching  Mexico.

      The  problem  is  complex.  Natural  processes,  irrigation,
and  other  water use  practices  all  come  into  play.   Solutions
are  also  complex,  involving  control of natural pollution
sources  as well as costly  changes  in water use practices.

      There has been progress -- much of  it in  water  conserva-
tion.  There have  also  been  successful irrigation demonstration

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                             -71-
 projects.   Solutions to several. runoff problems  have  been
 found.   Irrigation scheduling  has cut water use  and  raised
 crop yields.   In some places  trickling filter  irrigation has
 replaced  sprinklers.  These and  other techniques  are  now all
 at work  in  the  basin.
      So  far,  the 1972 salinity  levels have been  maintained in
the  lower  Colorado.  Programs  to improve the  quality  of water
going  xnto Mexico are on  schedule.   And the public  has accepted
as the  first  priority the  need  for  new irrigation  practices
conserve water and minimize  pollution.  That  growing  public
acceptance is perhaps the  most  important achievement  of the
Colorado salinity control  effort to  date.

_A Metropolitan Lake
                                                                to
 in 'Tavatnr
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                             -72-

 DRINKING WATER
      Congress  passed  the  Safe Drinking Water  Act  of  1974 (P.L,
 93-523) to assure  that  public water supply  systems  meet
 minimum national standards  for the protection of  public
 health.  The act authorized  the EPA to establish  a  joint
 Federal-State  system  to  implement the standards  and  to safe-
 guard  underground  sources  of  drinking water.   The  act  also
 provided for Federal  grants  to aid States in  surveillance and
 enfo rcement.

      It is too early  to  see  the impact of the  new  law, since
 the  national interim  primary  drinking water regulations
 recently issued by  the Agency do not become effective  until
 June  24, 1977.  But some  cities and towns have already faced
 drinking water problems  and  acted to correct  them.

      One group of  pollutants  commonly linked  with drinking
 water  is  phenols.  They  are  organics that come  from  certain
 types  of industrial activity  and give drinking water  an
 unpleasant odor and taste.   Since they are not widespread in
 the  environment, they are measured only in those  areas of the
 country where  they  are a  problem.  (Figure 13).   Where they
 do  show up they are troublesome.

 Cambridge  and  the Lead Problem

     There are other  serious  drinking water problems  as well.
 Lead is one of them.

     The EPA's standard for lead in drinking  water  is  50
 micrograras per liter.  Too much lead may severely damage the
 human  nervous system:  lead poisoning in its  advanced  stages
 has caused irreversible brain damage, especially in children.

     A 1974 sampling  of 10 homes in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
 found  lead levels in  the drinking water ranging from  51  to
 an alarming 276 micrograms per liter.  The Agency discovered
 the source of the lead through extensive sampling of  383
 households in Cambridge and neighboring Somerville and
 Boston --  it  was leaching into the drinking water from
 corroded plumbing.   Lead exceeded standards in 25 percent of
 the homes  tested in Boston, 30 percent in Somerville,  and 14
percent  in Cambridge.

     Boston and Somerville draw their water from the Boston
Metropolitan  District Commission (MDC).   Following the  EPA
study,  the  MDC  began adding a  zinc-phosphate compound  to
reduce  the  lead pipe corrosion.

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Figure 13
   Environmental Protection Agency
           STORET SYSTEM
                      Phenols in Water, 1973-1975, 85th Percentiles
Concentration
   (ug/1)

 — no data
 — less than 1
 — 1-2
 — 2-4
 — greater than 4
Cells included are those for which data has  been supplied
to EPA.  Cells are approximately 25 by 35  miles.

Source:  Monitoring and Data Support  Division,  OWPS,  EPA

-------
                            -73-

     Cambridge,  which  has its own reservoir,  added sodium
hydroxide  to  the  water to reduce its  pipe  corrosion.  The
concentration of  lead  in drinking water  fell  substantially.
A sampling  in November 1975, found  no  detectable lead in
eight of  the  10  homes  studied earlier, and only 20 raicrograms
per liter  --  less than half the standard -- in the other two.

Huron and  the Chloroform Problem

     The  EPA's 1975 National Organic  Reconnaissance Survey
found that  the drinking water in Huron,  in South Dakota,
contained  the highest  concentration of bromodichlororaethane,  a
suspected  carcinogen,  and the second  highest  concentration  of
chloroform of all the  80 cities  sampled.  Both compounds have
caused  tumors in rats and mice  and  may pose a cancer  risk to
humans.

     Public concern in  the  State led  to  an EPA grant  to  the
South Dakota  School of Mines to  study the problem.  The  study
indicated that these  organic compounds were being formed at
the point of  chlorination  in the water supply's pretreatment
plant,  and that  the amount  formed  was highly pH dependent.

     When the point of  pre-chlorination was moved and the  pH
was adjusted, the amount of  chloroform in  the  treated water
dropped by 75 percent.

Two Villages  in  Alaska

      Seventy  percent  of  Alaska's  natives  live  in  small
villages where safe .drinking water is often  a  luxury.

      In summer,  the drinking water is simply  rainwater,  or
water  drawn  from often  stagnant or contaminated  streams  and
ponds.   In winter, unproductive wells send villagers  to  the
 ice  fields literally  to  cut out their drinking  water  and melt
 it  in  contaminated fuel  drums.   Either  way,  in  either season,
 the  drinking water is a health  hazard.

      Harsh weather conditions,  annual flooding,  the rugged
 terrain, and  poor  soil  conditions  render  simple  waste disposal
 methods nearly impossible  in the Arctic  North.   A strong smell
 of  decomposing wastes along the shore is  common in  the  summer-
 t irae .

      In  1976,  the  average  life expectancy of  a rural Alaskan
 was half  that  of other  Americans.  Thus,  the  need to improve
 rural  Alaska's  environmental health  conditions,  including
 the quality  of  its drinking water, is urgent.

      Since the  cost  of  doing anything in Alaska is  higher
 than in most other places, the Federal  Government began
 sponsoring the  Alaska village demonstration  projects called
 for in Public  Law  92-500.   Two projects,  in  the villages of
 Emmonak  and  Wainwright, are especially  notable.

-------
                             -74-

      Local natives,  with the help of  the  U.S. Public  Health
Service and the  State  of Alaska, put  a  specially-designed
multipurpose facility  on line in Emmonak  in early  1975.   It
effectively provided  safe drinking  water,  sanitary bathing
conditions, and  adequate waste treatment,  as well  as  laundro-
mat  services and health education and training programs.   The
inhabitants of the village  were scheduled  to assume ownership
of  the  facility  in late 1976.  A similar  facility  in  Wainwright,
destroyed  by fire, is  being rebuilt and will be ready in  late
1 9 7 7 •

      Drinking water  in  Emmonak,  which is  130 miles south of
Nome, now  meets  Public  Health Service standards.    School
attendance is also up  -- an indication  of  decline  in  childrens'
disease.   The Emmonak  example has worked  so well  that the  idea
is now  spreading to  other Alaskan villages.  The  Canadian
Government has also  become  interested.

      Whether the program succeeds over  the  long  run depends
on how  successful Alaskan villages,  still  hard  pressed
economically,  are in winning  some degree  of financial indepen-
dence.  That problem is  still far from  solved.

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                              -75-

 AIR POLLUTION — SEEN AND UNSEEN


      Air  pollution evokes the  image  of  something that  can
 be clearly  seen -- a dingy haze hanging over a city, bringing
 with it  foul  odors and smarting eyes.   That, in the  public
 mind, is  air  pollution at its worst.   Yet what can't be  seen
 is often  more dangerous than what  can  be seen.

      One  pollutant -- carbon monoxide  (CO)  -- can neither
 be seen  nor smelled.   Yet in high  concentrations it  is far
 more lethal than other pollutants  that  are  visible and foul-
 smelling, but  otherwise harmless.

 The Mandate

      The  mandate for  attacking the nation's air pollution,
 visible and invisible,  is embodied in  the Clean Air Act of
 1970.   That precedent-setting legislation empowered the EPA to
 establish ambient  air  quality standards  to  protect  the public
 health  and welfare --  then see that they  a re ' enforced.

      The Agency  works  in  close consort with the States, which
 draft  and enforce  implementation plans  subject  to  EPA review
 If  necessary,   the  Agency  itself prepares  and  enforces its own
 plan.   The EPA also sets  emission  standards for new pollution
 sources  and for  all sources  of especially hazardous  pollutants.
 And  it  sets and  enforces  limits for emissions  of carbon monoxide,
 hydrocarbons,  and  oxides  of  nitrogen from the  Nation's  auto-
 mobiles,  trucks, and motorcycles.

     To  carry  out  the law's  strict  requirements, the  EPA
 has  established  two kinds  of  standards for  the  most  comeion
 air  pollutants.  One set  --  the  primary standards --  has
 been drawn to  protect human  health.  The other  -- the
 secondary standards -- is  more  restrictive  and  has been
 established  to clean the  air  of  visible pollutants  and  to
 prevent  corrosion, crop damage,  and other impacts stemming
 from polluted  air.

 The National Accomplishment

     What  battles have been won  against  air  pollution have
been fought  largely by the States and  cities.  And there  have
been major victories.   In city after  city there is a  strong
downward  trend in the  volume of emissions escaping into the
air, the  ambient  concentrations are diminished, and the air
has become clearer.

-------
                  201
                         c
     Air pollution contr
underway only for the last
 ime the effort has concentFal
                                           Cxn^^r "-—--    .
                                           l^^\^f^^)o^
                                           « a ^ A f\ « *.» •! J A  n « «* 1 A  1* *• «
'»**,
  most widespread, best understood, and most
                                  'nationwide  scale  has
                                  and  a  half  years.   In
                                    on  curbing emissions
                                                                  that
                                                                  of  the
                                                       troublesome pollutants,
0
                Particulates . perhaps  the most widespread  of  all,  have
           been. sharply curtailed.   (Figure  14).   The  technology  for
           •curbing particulate emissions was  already available  before  the
           .national • ef fort began.  The  States and  cities had  been  at work
           o,n the 'ptoblem f or ,2JL_y_ej*rs •  But  the  Federal Clean  Air  Act
                them new weapons  to"  use  in their  fight.
       There is still much work to do.  Figure  14, a map  showing
  the current status for particulates nationwide, shows which of
  the 247 Air Quality Control Regions (AQCR's)  are not yet
meeting the
  "-", what
standards .
the general
                                   The map also  shows, with
                                   trends are  in  each  state,
                                                         or
                    map paints a general picture of particulate  air
           quality, but it has limitations.  Some AQCR's, especially  in
           the West, are very large.  For example, most of  Nevada  is  one
           AQCR.  So is Nebraska.  Wyoming has one AQCR that embraces
           much of that State.
                                                                      or
       Such large areas can be classified as non-attaining
  because of a single monitor in one heavily polluted area,
  "hot spot," even though the air quality in the rest of the
  region is excellent.  Conversely, areas not shaded in do not
  necessarily have excellent air quality everywhere.  It simply
  means that no monitor now in operation in the area is regis-
  tering a standards violation.

       Figure 14 shows that particulate levels throughout the
  U.S. are either already good or improving.

       o  Particulate problems east of .the Mississippi are
          generally associated with industry.  The levels are
          improving in all eastern States except Florida and New
          Hampshire, where levels are low, but gradually rising,
          and Maine and Mississippi, where there is no significant
          change.

       o  Particulate air quality in the northern Great Plains
          appears to be deteriorating somewhat.  But the air
          quality there is still very good, except in scattered
          hot spot s.

-------
Figure 14
                TOTAL SUSPENDED  ^ARTICULATE

                         AIR QUALITY STATUS
      KEY:
              	REGIONS NOT MEETING PRIMARY ANNUAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

       (J) STATE	AMBIENT LEVELS AT MORE MONITORS IN STATE IMPROVING THAN DETERIORATING 1970-1975

       0 STATE	AMBIENT LEVELS AT MORE MONITORS IN STATE DETERIORATING THAN IMPROVING 1970-1975

SOURCE: OAQPS, EPA DATA
                          NOTE:  Some of  the shaded regions, especially in the Southwest, have
                          only one site violating standards;  the air elsewhere is  "pristine."
                          The designations indicated are not current for NM,TX,AR and LA.

-------
                            -77-

     o  In  the West  and  Southwest  the  problems are generally
        associated with  hot spots  or  fugitive dust.  Levels
        are  improving  except in Idaho,  Nevada, and California.

     o  In most  metropolitan areas, high  particulate levels
        are  due  primarily to readily  controlled major point
        sources.   In these areas,  where the particulate
        problem  was  generally the  worst five years ago, the
        nationwide  trend is decidely  downward. (Figure
        15).

     Sulfur  dioxide  (S02) levels are  another major air
quality concern.   There  is still some  dispute over the best
way to reduce  S02  emissions.  Some dischargers have  turned  to
low sulfur  fuels,  to lower their S02  levels.  Where  scrubbers
have been  required,  however, widespread industry opposition
has brought  delay.   Irregular trends  in S02 levels across  the
Country are  the  result.   (Figure 16).

     Nitrogen  dioxide  (N02) levels are currently a serious
problem in  only  two  or three metropolitan areas, and motor
vehicles contribute  the  bulk of that  pollutant.  There are
technical  tradeoffs  between controlling N02 and controlling  CO
and hydrocarbons from  motor vehicles.   Since  the last  two  were
given priority,  N02  emission were  at  first allowed to  rise
somewhat.   That  helps  explain why  N02 levels, as shown in
Figure 17,  rose  somewhat in certain metropolitan areas between.
1970 and 1974.   There  is, however, a  general  downward  trend,
which will  quicken as  NOx emissions standards for  new  motor
vehicles are tightened.

     Photochemical oxidants are the most  prominent pollutants
that result  from motor vehicle  emissions.  They are  formed  in
the atmosphere from  the  reaction of hydrocarbons and oxides  of
nitrogen,  both of  which come primarily from auto exhausts.
When oxidant levels  are examined in the shorter term,  as  in
Figure 18,  no  clear  nationwide  trends are apparent.  In  the
longer term there  have been decided downward  trends.   (See
Figure 22).

     When  the  substantially stricter  auto emissions  standards
of  1975 and  1976 begin to take  hold in the next two  or three
years, oxidant levels  are expected to decline in major
cities throughout  the  country.  Widespread violations  of
oxidant  standards  in rural areas,  however, may continue  to  be
a  pr ob lent.

     Lead  is another air pollutant that has passed under
tighter  control  over the last  three years.  Lead emissions

-------
Figure  15
                PART1CULATE TRENDS FOR SELECTED CITIES
             1971-1975
         LOS ANGELES (AQCR)
                        1971-1975
                        DENVER
                                            28.5
                                                           IB
                                                           1971-1975
                                                        NEW YORK (AQCR)
                                                        1971-1975
                                                     WASHINGTON. Ox.
      I      1971-1975
  1971-1975   CHARLOTTE, N.C.
ALBUQUERQUE
       KEY:PERCENT OF DAYS WORSE THAN SECONDARY PARTICULATE
            STANDARDS FOR SELECTED YEARS
          EPA Region X data
 Source:  State data — provided by Monitoring  and Data
         Analysis Division, OAQPS, EPA

-------
Figure 16
            SULFUR DIOXIDE TRENDS FOR SELECTED CITIES
                                                             80
                                                 STD
                                                                       STD
                                                                      STD
            47
        27
                                                  21
        1971 1974
        ST LOUIS
1971  1975
HOUSTON
1971  1975
MEMPHIS
                                                      14
                                                                17
                                                                    22
1971  1975
ATLANTA
 1971 1975
CINCINNATI
  KEY: ANNUAL MEAN SO2-BUBBLER DATA

  NOTE:   The corresponding air quality
  standard  (80) is indicated by the
  horizontal line above each graph.
                   Source:   State data  — provided by Monitoring and Data
                            Analysis Division, OAQPS, EPA

-------
Figure  17
                             NITROGEN DIOXIDE TRENDS FOR
                                       SELECTED CITIES
             172
               138
                 144:
ir
J
<;.

i
                                  471
                                   108 n
                                                                 The  corresponding  primary
                                                                 standard is 100.
                          _ 1970-1972-1974	
                         PORTLAND. OREGON
                  1970-1972-1974
                  CHICAGO, ILL.
           1971-1973-1976
         BURBANK. CALIF
                  1971-1973-1975
             LOS ANGELES. DOWNTOWN
                                        1971-1973-1976
                                       AZUSA. CALIF
                                     1970-1972-1974
                                     DENVER, COLO.
                                                                           93
                                                                            .108,
                                                                              99
                                                                         1970-1972-1974
                                                                        NEWARK. N.J.
                                                                                 1970-1972-1974
                                                                                BAYONNE. N.J.
                                        1970-1972-1974
                                        CAMDEN. N.J..
      KEY: ANNUAL MEAN NO2~MtCROGRAMS PER M3
                                           Source:
                                     State data  — provided  by Monitoring and Data
                                     Analysis Division, OAQPS, EP?.

-------
Figure 18
                          OXIDANT TRENDS FOR SELECTED CITIES
                                        09
                                           15
                                              22
                                                     07
                                                        00
                                       1973-1974-1975
                                         MEMPHIS
                                 18
                                n
                          1973-1974-1975
                            DETROIT
                                                                         39
                                                                      27
                                                                   IB
             1973-1974-1975
             LOS ANGELES
             DOWNTOWN
1973-1974 1975
  TUSCON
1973-1974-1975
  DENVER
1973-1974-1975
 HOUSTON
                          1973-1974-1975
                            BUFFALO
                                                                                    45
                                                      27
                                                                                       34
                          197319741975
                         NEW YORK CITY
1973 1974-1975
CHARLOTTE
                                                                                    60
                                                                                       44
                                                                                    AH
                                                                                       5.1
                                                                                !973 '974 1975
                                                                                 CAMDEN
                                                                                1973 1974 197!)
                                                                                 BAYONNf    '
             KEY: PERCENT OF DAYS AT OR ABOVE THE OXIDANT OZONE STANDARD
                  i.08 ppm 1-hr) THIRD QUARTER
                                            Source:   State data ~ provided by Monitoring and Data
                                                       Analysis Division, OAQPS, EPA

-------
Figure 19
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       0.8
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                TRENDS IN AMBIENT LEAD LEVELS

                          PREMIUM GAS
                          REGULAR GAS
                                              AMBIENT LEAD
               I
I
                    _L
I
I
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1
I
I
              1965 1966  1967  1968 1969  1970  1971  1972 1973  1974


          KEY-AMBIENT LEAD LEVELS AT 92 URBAN SITES
                                                               3.0
                                            2.0
                                            1.5
                                                               1.0
                                                               0.5
                                                                O

                                                                CO



                                                                oc


                                                                UJ
                                                O
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                                                u.
                                                O
                                                I-

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                                                                   UJ
          Source:  Office of  Research and Development, EPA

-------
                            -78-

also escape  Into the air primarily  from automobile tail
pipes; it  is used as an anti-knock  additive in most high
octane gasolines.  With the  required  use of low—lead and
unleaded  fuels,  the lead levels  in  the  air have started to
recede (Figure 19).  Ambient levels of  lead are now as low  as
they were  in 1965,  and are continuing to decline, despite  the
larger number of cars on the road.

SO2 and Particulates -- Twin Problems

     Two  of  the  major pollutants  that hang in the air  over
the Nation's cities are sulfur  dioxide, which is colorless,
and suspended particulates,  which  are highly visible.  Both
are unpleasant to breathe and harmful in high concentrations.

     Suspended particulate matter  is  airborne dust and grime
in all its forms.  It lies on the  air as a dark haze that
dirties all  exposed surfaces.   Houses in cities where  parti-
culates are  a problem must be painted more often than  elsewhere.
Moreover,  particulates can become  dangerous to health  when
they enter the lungs.

     S02,  when it mixes with water  vapor and oxygen, is
converted  to sulfurous and sulfuric acids, both of which  are
corrosive  and capable of pitting  metallic surfaces.  S02  and
its related  compounds are especially  damaging to human tissue.
The lungs  are particularly vulnerable,  even more so when  the
pollutant  and its compounds  have  become .attached to particulates

     The  hazards of S02 and  particulates are especially
pronounced because  they tend to  be  formed at the same  time  —
with the  combustion of most  coal  and  some fuel oils.   However,
efforts to control  levels of S02  and  particulates have produced
some of the  finest  achievements  in  pollution control of the
last five  years.

The Big Three

     Among all classes of stationary  sources, three stand  out
as pre-eminent contributors  of  particulate and sulfur  dioxide
emi s sions :

     o  Coal-fired  power plants.

     o  Coal-burning industrial  and commercial boilers —
        i.e., heating plants for  specific factories or
        bull ding s.

     o  Integrated  iron and  steel  mills and coke plants,  which
        transform coal into  industrial  coke for use in steel
        mills.

-------
                             -79-

      In 1970, these three  classes  of  sources emitted 35
 percent of all particulate  emissions  nationwide and 62
 percent of all S02. emissions .

      Figure 20 shows how potential  and actual emissions from
 these  sources changed from  1970  to  1974.   It also shows how
 far  they still must go to  comply fully with the emission
 limits of  the State implementation  plans.

      In each graph, the total height  of the bar reflects.
 what  total emissions would  be if the  industry had no pollution
 controls.   The shaded portion of the  bar  indicates actual
 emissions.  The unshaded portion shows the amount of-emissions
 prevented  by applied pollution control- technology.  The "1975
 levels" show where the industry  should have been.1 not where it
 actually was.

     The Chart reveals that  particulate emissions from
 power  plants and  steel mills were  already  fairly well co'n-
 trolled in 1970.   Some further reductions  -have been achieved
 by power plants,  but very little by steel  mills.  Considerably
 more will  be required if air quality  goals are to be met.
 Without a  strong  pollution  control  program, the new power
 plants and steel  mills built between  1970  and 1974 would have
 raised the spectre of still higher  emissions.  But current
 pollution  control . requirements have caused emissions actually
 to decrease, despite a larger, number  of sources.

     Particulate  emissions  from  industrial boilers,  which
 were high  in 1970,  were cut substantially  by 1974.   Further
 reductions are still required.

     There was little, control of S02  emissions in 1970 for
 any of  the three  classes of sources.   But  by 1974 the emis-
 sions  had  been curbed substantially.   Reductions in  power
 plant  and  industrial boiler emissions  brought these  sources
 within  reach of the  full compliance goals.   Further  reductions
 will now require  scrubbers and will be harder'to accomplish.

     Reductions in  S02 emissions from  steel  mills by 1974,
 although significant,  still left these sources far  from their
 full compliance levels.                             • .

Places  Where the  Air Is  Clearer

     Most  meteorologists and experts  in air  pollution control
maintain that  overall  trends in   air pollution levels can best
be measured  over  a  span  of  five  years  or longer.   Much  of  the

-------
Figure 20
                EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS ACHIEVED
                     BY SELECTED INDUSTRIES
                               197O-1974
             PARTICULATES AND SULFUR DIOXIDE

                        COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS
w
E *0
10* TONS/VE
S
$
O
a "
2
Vf
10
PA
-

—

—
MS





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RTICULATES
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i
              1970    1974
                                K7BFULL
                                COMPLIANCE
                                LEVEL
                                                SULFuA OXIDES
                                            1970    1974    1979
                                                 POTENTIAL
               COAL FIRED INDUSTRIAL/COMMERCIAL BOILERS
                  PARTICULATES
                                      § 4.0
                                        >.o
                                      a
                                      i
                                1973 FULL
                                COMPLIANCE
                                LEVEL
                                                SULFUR OXIDES
                     1J74     H75
                   POTPMTIAL
       1970    1974    1173
            POTENTIAL
                                                              •1973 FULL
                                                              COMPLIANCE
                                                              LEVEL
                         1975 fULL
                         COMPLIANCE
                         LEVEL
            INTEGRATED IRON AND STEEL MILLS AND COKE PLANTS
         o

         •o
         I"
         a
         i
                   PAflTICULATES
•I
» 100
§
5
i

  M
                                .1973 FU
                              .-^•"ICOMPII
                              3	I LEVEL
                                                SULFUtt OKIOES
      1
NOTE:  Bars
labelled  "1975"
show target levels
for  that  year,
not  the level
actually  attained.
Data on actual
emissions for
1975 were not yet
available when
this report was
being prepared.
                                                              1973 FULL
                                                              COMPLIANCE
                                                              LEVEL
                                            1970     1971     I»>S
                                                 POTENTIAL
                    POTENTIAL

             D  CONTROLLED EMISSIONS        H ACTUAL EMISSIONS

                          SOURCE: DSSE. EPA DATA

-------
                             -80-

data we  cite in this  section does not meet  that criterion.
But in  the  data that  is  available, there  are encouraging
signs  that  the clean-up  efforts are working.

     The  New England  States are among those that have won  a
striking  victory over  air  pollution.  The  primary standard for
S02 is  no longer violated  in Rhode Island,  Massachusetts,
Vermont,  New Hampshire or  Maine.

     Plants in those  States are permitted  to burn only  low-
sulfur  fuels.  However,  if the regulations  are relaxed  to
allow  burning of higher  sulfur fuels  (and  the EPA. believes  that
they should be in  some cases), S02 levels  may increase  —
unless  stack gas cleaning  devices or  fuel-cleaning technologies
are used.

     Particulate emissions have also  been  curbed substantially
in these  States.   Ten  incinerators in Massachuse11 s that
once emitted 17,451 tons of particulate matter a year now  emit
only 106  tons — a  reduction of over  99 percent.  That  has
more than halved total particulate emissions in the areas
of the  State where  the incinerators are located.  Six paper
mills  in  New Hampshire and Maine once emitted 40,153 tons  of
particulate per year.   Those levels have  also been cut  by  99
percent  —  a 70 percent  reduction in  particulate emissions  in
the areas where the mills  are located.

     In  the greater Portland, Oregon  area,  particulate  standards
were violated in 1970  by emissions from a  variety of sources.
Wood processing plants alone accounted  for  40 percent of  the
particulates in the air.  Industrial  fuel  combustion, grain
loading  facilities  along the Columbia and  Willamette Rivers,
and a  large aluminum  processing plant also  contributed  sub-
stantially.  Control  of  those sources helped Portland meet  the
primary  standard for  particulates in  1973,  and the secondary
s tandard  in 1975.

     An  air quality maintenance plan  is now being drafted  that
will assure that particulates never return  to their former,
unacceptably high  levels in the city.

     In  Springfield.  Missouri, the local  pollution control  agency
in 1970  opened a vigorous  attack on the  sources of particulate
emissions,  most of  which were industrial.   Ambient standards
violations  were traced to  wood preserving  activities, gray
iron casting, chemical lime manufacturing,  and electric  arc
furnaces  and boilers  using wood chips and  saw dust for  fuel.

     All  sources are  now in compliance.   As in Portland,
no primary  standard violations have occured since 1973  and  no
secondary standards violations since  1975.

-------
                            -81-

     In some  areas  -- designated  by  the  EPA and the States  as
Air Quality Control Regions -- primary  standards are  not, as
yet, fully met.   But  air quality  is  nonetheless substantially
better.

     One  such  region is the New York metropolitan area.
Figure 21 shows  how sections of the  city exposed to primary
standards violations have been reduced  markedly from  1970 to
1974.  The current  situation is still not totally satisfactory,
since primary  standards are still  being  violated.  But  further
control actions  are underway by State and local agencies, with
the support of  the  EPA, and the already  small part of  the city
still subject  to standards violations will continue to  shrink.

     The  situation  is similar  in  Detroit, Michigan, and  in
surrounding Wayne County:  as  late  as 1971, air pollution was
a serious problem.   At some locations the air was irritating
to breathe. Since 1971, particulate  emissions have been
reduced from  139,000 tons per  year  to 82,000.  S02 emissions
have dropped  from 490,000 tons per  year  to 250,000.   Eighty-
five percent  of  the major sources  are in full compliance with
emissions limitations.  Smoke  from  burning rubbish and  from
apartment and  home  furnaces have  also been curbed substantially,
and the air in  Wayne County is consequently cleaner.

     The  enforcement effort, however, continues.  In  1975,
some 42 Detroit  area firms made additional changes in their
operations, mostly  adding new  pollution control equipraent ,  and
that has  reduced emission levels  still further.

     Gary, Indiana, was notorious  for its heavy industrial
pollution.  For  years its skies were clouded and red  with
smoke and soot  — particulates -- largely from the mills and
plants of the  United States Steel  Corporation.

     Over the  last  few years that has started to change.
In  1965,  particulate levels in Gary  were almost 2  1/2 times
the primary standard. By  1970, they  had  been reduced  to  1  1/2
times the standard.  In mid-1976,  although the primary  standard
was still routinely being violated,  the  extent of the area
exposed to unacceptably high pollution levels has shrunk.
Industry, however,  still has far  to  go to keep pollution at
safe levels in the  city.

     In Chicago, in 1970, two  of  every five monitoring
stations  showed  violations of  the  annual standard for S02.
In  1975,  there were no violations at all.  In the same
period, particulate levels fell significantly.  In  1970  every
monitor showed a violation of  the  particulate standard;  in
1975, only half  the stations recorded violations.  Chicago
once was  considered a "dirty-shirt  town" because of  the
soot-laden air.   It is still far  from a clean-air city,  but
with the  success of past  and present pollution control
efforts,  Chicago is losing the  stigma of its old reputation.

-------
Figure 21
                Population Exposure to Particulates
                     New York  Metropolitan Area
                             1971-1974
        9.9 MILLION PEOPLE EXPOSED

                1971
2.9 MILLION PEOPLE EXPOSED

          1974
                   — AREAS WORSE THAN ANNUAL STANDARD (75jjg/m3)

                     SOURCE: OAQPS. EPA DATA

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                             -82-

      In  C incinnat1 .  Ohio ,  in 1970, 85 percent  of the monitor-
ing  stations reported  violations of  the  annual  standard for
particulates.   In  1975,  fewer than 15 percent  did.

      Birmingham. Alabama,  in 1972, registered  annual average
particulate levels  2  1/3  times the primary  health standards.
By  1975  the highest  level  had been reduced  by  23 percent—to
1.8  times the  primary  standard.  Further  reductions are
expected in the next  two  years.  As  of inid-1976, annual
particulate emissions  had  been lowered 83 percent, from 1972
levels — from 155,000 tons per year to  26,350  tons.  A drop
of  10,000 tons more  a  year is planned by  1977.   The days are
now  gone when Birmingham  wa's perpetually  enveloped in a smokey
haze .

      In  Las Vegas. Nevada, particulate pollution came from an
entirely different  source  than in the big cities of the South
and  the  North.  Emissions  from two power  plants were fully
matched  by the combined  particulate  emissions  of five major
mining operations, which  produce mineral  lime,  gypsum, and
tit anium.

      In  the last few years, one of the power plants and the
five  mining firms  have reduced their particulate emissions by
more  than 95 percent,  from 5,450 pounds  per hour to between
160  and  230 pounds.

      In  'Chattanooga, Tennessee, and  its  surrounding valley,
particulates have  also been a severe problem.   Tight control
of  several classes of  sources, however, has lowered emissions
from  14,848 tons a year  in 1970 to 4,800  tons  in 1976.  And
air  quality levels have  improved.  In 1975, only two of twelve
monitors operated  by Hamilton County recorded  annual ambient
air  quality levels above  the standard.

      In  Philadelphia ,  municipal refuse incinerators once
contributed nearly a 'tenth of all particulate  emissions.  Two
of  the six incinerators  have been equipped  with electrostatic
precipitators  and  the  rest have been converted  to transfer
stations from  which refuse is hauled to  landfills.  Ninety-nine
percent  of the emissions  from the incinerators  has been
eliminated .

      In  Pennsylvania and  the other Mid-Atlantic States,
power plants remain a  prime contributor  to  particulate and S02
levels.   In the period  1970 to 1975,  the  States of Virginia,
West  Virginia , Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania have
lowered  power  plant particulate emissions by 462,559 tons per
year  --  a 58.6 percent  reduction from those sources over the
last  five years.   The  reduction has contributed significantly
to  lowered levels of ambient particulate.   Average levels in
these States dropped from  4 percent above the primary standard
in  1970  to 16  percent  below the standard  in 1974.

-------
                             -83-

Pollutants  from the Exhaust  Pipe

     Motor  vehicles emit  several major classes  of  pollutants,
including  hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and  oxides of nitro-
gen.  The  hydrocarbons and  oxides of nitrogen join in the air
to form  photochemical  oxidants -- whic(h  form  the  infamous smog
of Southern California.   Motor vehicles  are  also  the primary
source of  carbon monoxide  emissions.

     Photochemical smog first  became a severe problem in Los
Angeles  County because of  the  early dependence  on the auto-
mobile and  the especially  adverse meteorological  conditions  in
the basin.   Now photochemical  oxidants have  become perhaps
the most  widespread and troublesome of all  air  pollutants
nat ionwide.

     California, appropriately,  was the  first State to begin
controlling emissions  from motor vehicles  in  earnest.  The
State's  emission standards for new motor vehicles date to
1966, two years before the Federal program  began.  The first
benefits  of control actions were felt  there  as-well (Figure
22).  And the State continues  to set emission standards more
stringent than elsewhere  in the U.S.

     While  the changes are significant,  they  are no cause for
complacency.  Oxidant  levels several times  the  standard still
occur regularly in suburban areas to the east of Los  Angeles.
And virtually every, person in  the metropolitan  area is still
exposed  to  air in violation of standards.   Although   short
term patterns, such as shown in Figure  18  for the Los Angeles
downtown site, may conflict with the general  downward trend,
violations are not as  frequent or as severe  as  they were  five
years ago.

     Emission controls on vehicles have  also lowered  carbon
monoxide levels in California.  In  the  last  five years, the
magnitude of  the highest  one hour carbon-monoxide concentra-
tion was decreased by  21  percent in metropolitan Los  Angeles,
by  13 percent in the  San  Francisco Bay  Area,  and by 55 percent
in  San  Diego  County.

     Although emission controls on cars  help, it  is now
clear  that alone they  will not be enough to achieve oxidant
air  quality standards  in  the most severly polluted  areas.   If
air  quality standards  are to be met  universally, something
will have  to  be done  —  especially in  urban areas —  to
diminish the  heavy American reliance on the personal  automobile
as  the  primary mode  of transportation.

-------
Figure 22
                 Population Exposure to Oxidants
                  Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
                            1965-1974
                                                           1965*1966
   LOS ANGELES
          MAP AREA
                                                           1969-1970
Shading indicates fraction of
days each year on which stan-
dards violations occurred:
          more than 50%
          20-50%
          fewer than 20%
1973-1974
    SOURCE: OAQPS, EPA DATA

-------
                             -84-

The  Street Campaign Against  Auto Pollutants

      Changing so basic  a  pattern of transportation  takes
time.  Meanwhile, vehicle  related pollution must be  dealt
with  in  the interest of public  health.  The EPA,  in concert
with  State and local governments,  has looked  for'answers in
four  directions:  vapor recovery at the gas pump, inspection
and  maintenance programs  for vehicles on the  road,  reduced
vehicle  use,  and, to a  lesser extent, more efficient  traffic
pa t terns.

      Vapor Recovery

      The  wavy fumes floating from  a gas tank  when a car  is
being  filled  are hydrocarbons -- gasoline vapors  -- escaping
into  the  air.  Vapor recovery aims to recapture those  hydro-
carbons  at various fuel transfer points where  they  are likely
to be  emitted -- at ship  and barge onloading  and  offloading
docks, at  truck terminals, at storage tanks,  and  at service
station  gas pumps.  Controlling such emissions is a difficult
and  expensive process.
                                              »
      E.h-e;r'e—a-r-e—t-w-o-^s t e p s  to  vaporrec every:   control  of
bulk__t_ran8_fer losses), and control  at the gas  pump.   The  EPA
promulgated Stage I and Stage II regulations, which specify
the  nature of those controls,  in late 1973.   The District  of
Columbia  made control of  bulk transfer losses mandatory  in
1974,  and  nine states set a  uniform deadline  of March  1,  1976.
Six  of those  States, and  the  District, are also scheduled  to
introduce  gas pump controls  by  May 1,  1977.

      Controls on escaping vapors can,  in some cases, deliver
emission  reductions great enough to bring an  urban  area's
air  into  compliance with  ambient standards.-   Vapor  recovery
can be implemented by local  ordinances,  as they are in San
Diego, San Francisco, and the District.   The  ordinance then
becomes  part  of  the State Implementation Plan.

     Colorado's  approach was  to  form a vapor recovery  task
force.  On it sit representatives  of the EPA regional  office,
the State  Air Pollution Control  and Oil  Inspection  Divisions,
local  fire departments, and  the  gasoline marketing  industry.
The task force smoothed the  way  for installation of recovery
systems now operating at all  seven bulk gasoline terminals and
at some  1100  gas  stations in  Denver.   These efforts are
expected to recapture 3000 !tons  of vapor in 1976 — almost a
million gallons  of  gasoline.

     The deadline for gas station  controls  in the  city is
May 1, 1977.   The task force  is  now ironing out the cost
and safety  wrinkles of  a system  that  will eliminate the
estimated  2,500  tons of vapor lost yearly at the pump.  •

-------
                            -85-

     California  is committed to  controlling service station
vapors  in  all  of  its major metropolitan  areas.  The San Francisco
Bay Area,  not  without some difficulty,  began a two step
program  in 1973.   It completed the  first  stage, bulk transfer
control, in  1974.   The second stage,  pump recovery, began on
January  1,  1976,  after several delays.   Vapor recovery systems
at  the  Bay Area's  2,500 service  stations  will capture some
3.5 million  gallons of gasoline  a year.
                 i
     A  recent  EPA-commissioned study  suggests that the
onus of  installing recovery systems might be burdensome
for small  bulk plants.  The $5000 cost  per station for San
Francisco  gas  pump systems — which will  cost the consumer
about 1.2  cents  a  gallon more for gas —  was objected to by
many operators.   Some have sought court  orders suspending the
regulation indefinitely.

     While recovery costs money, it also  clearly saves gasoline.
An  EPA  study in  Texas estimates  that  emission reductions
at  gasoline  storage tank loading sites  in 1976 was 2,500 tons
in  the  Houston-Galveston area and 919 tons in San Antonio.
That will  mean savings of 1.7 million gallons of gasoline a
year.   That  same  control, plus pump control, in other areas of
Texas could  save  another 13,000  tons  a year -- an estimated
8.2 million  gallons.

     Controlling Auto Emissions

     The strict  emissions standards that  Congress originally
required new-car manufacturers to meet by 1975 were essen-
tially  technology-forcing.   The  standards have been adjusted
on  a continuing  basis since 1968.  Even with  the cleaner new
cars, meeting  the  goals of  the Clean  Air  Act in heavily
polluted areas will require controlling emissions of vehicles
already  on the  road.  If the original new-car standards for
1975 had been  met,  hydrocarbons  would have been cut only in
half by  1977 because of the continuing use of older cars.
Moreover,  while  automobile  control systems are capable of the
required reductions, experience  shows that even controlled
vehicles are not meeting standards throughout their useful
lives.   In part  this is because  they are  not properly maintained.

     Cars  are  required to meet standards  for 50,0.00 miles, but
as  Figure  23 shows, emissions have been increasing as the car
grows older.   Even after one year of operation, the majority
of cars  do not meet their emissions standards.

     Inspection  and maintenance  (I/M) programs are one way to
bridge  this  performance gap.   The States  and the EPA continue
to press Detroit to produce better con,trol systems for the
future.   But I/M is still considered a critical part of the
overall  strategy.  .

-------
 Figure 23
    AVERAGE EMISSION LEVELS FOR AUTOMOBILES
                    AFTER 1 YEAR OF USE
Ill
1 a
g
^ *
I 4

e ?
(9
0
-
-
-
"

_


8.74








HC



3.07 (I 3.02















3.59







3 58




1 1.32
1 ~ - STANDARD

       PRECONTROL    1971
                         1972
                            1973
                                           1974
                                                1975
100



 80



 60



 40



 20



 0
           86.5
I
Ul

i
w
             39.6
                    36.9
                                                  22.92
                                                            CO
                                                        STANDARD
       PRECONTROL   1971
                         1972
                                  1973
                                        1974
                                           1975
   10

a.

t  8
                   5.06
(0

<
ec
          3.54
                           4.55
                                  3.47
                                               Z46
                                                     STANDARD
PRECONTROL   1971
                           1972
                                1973
                                   1974
                                                  1975
     NOTE:  (1) Although vehicles tested were considered to be

              "one year old," the average mileage of the vehicles
              tested varied from 8,800 to 15,600.


           (2) The data for 1974 and 1975 are preliminary.

-------
                             -86-

      Such programs  are in operation now  in  various States  and
cities.   Chicago » Cincinnati,  New Jersey. Arizona, Nevada, and
Oregon  are all implementing one of a variety  of  systems.
Riverside. California, has a pilot program  that  is expected
eventually to encompass the Los Angeles  area.   The Riverside
program  is unique in  providing extensive  diagnostic data  about
the  engine — down  to  the condition of a  particular spark
plug.   This not only  could help meet air  quality requirements,
it could help prevent  major individual breakdowns and improve
gas  mileage.

      Curbing Vehicle  Use

      The third thrust  in the offensive against vehicle-related
pollution would reduce the number of vehicle  miles traveled..
At least 63 urban areas will require more  than just cleaner
cars  to  attain standards by 1985.  Ways  will  have to be found
to assure that even  the cleaner cars are  driven  less.  A
spectrum of incentives and disincentives  to  reduce vehicle use
are  possible.

      Discouraging driving with more attractive alternatives  is
one  approach.  New  Jersey has  been a leader  in that effort.
Regulations issued  in  1974 called on large  employers in
certain  parts of the  State to  design programs  to inspire
employees to use mass  transit  and carpooling  instead of
individual cars.  So  far, 149  companies  have  filed such plans,
which include a mix  of car-pooling, company  transportation,
and  mass transit promotion strategies.   Six  New  Jersey com-
panies  and one New  Jersey State official  have  been awarded
certificates of appreciation by the EPA's regional office  for
their outstanding efforts in the program.

      The six companies are Bell Telephone Laboratories,
Hoffman-LaRoche , Inc.; Sandoz, Inc.; Insurance Company of
America's Corporate  Information Services  Division; Prudential
Insurance Company of  America;  and the Singer-Kearfott Division
of Aerospace and Marine Systems.

      Spreadingout  the Traffic

      Emissions can  also be reduced by more  efficient vehicle
rout ing .

      In  Lincoln. Nebraska, air quality monitoring in 1974 showed
eight violations of  the one-hour carbon monoxide standard  (40
milligrams per cubic meter)  and 328 violations of the eight
hour  standard (25 milligrams per cubic meter).  The monitoring
station  is located  near the  central business  district --  on
the  city's principal  traffic artery.

-------
                             -87-

     The  Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department,  was
notified  of  the violations by the regional EPA office.   When
it learned  they were  traffic related,  the department  went to
the city  council and  the  city traffic  planners and  devised a
plan to  re-route traffic  and synchronize signals to  reduce
traffic  congestion at  stop lights.

     Carbon  monoxide  data analyses are not complete  for  1975.
But the  data now available suggest success:   they show a
descending  curve of carbon monoxide emissions at the  monitor-
ing station.

-------
                             -88-

SOLID  WASTE -- STEMMING  THE TIDE
      "Solid waste"  includes most of the  discards of our
high  consumption  society:   garbage, empty  bottles and plastic
wrappings,  animal  carcasses,  worn out  tires,  junked refrigera-
tors  and  cars, and  old  newspapers and  magazines  — an endless
list  of  items no  longer needed or wanted.   The  outpouring of
waste  has quickened  since  World War II with the  proliferation
of  plastics and disposable packaging of  all kinds.

      The  traditional  method for disposing  of  solid waste was
to  "dump" it -- either  in  an  "organized" site on unused land,
or  else  at  random  on  a  vacant lots, in stream beds, or along
the roadsides.  The  case  histories that  follow  will show what
has been  done by  the  States — with EPA  support  — to change
this  throw-away tradition.

The Campaign against  Open  Dumps

      A site on St.  Thomas  in  the Virgin  Islands  is an extreme
example  of  the environmental  drawbacks of  the traditional
open  dump.   It also  shows  how enlightened  solid  waste manage-
ment  practices can  make a  difference.

      Managers of  the  main  dump'on St.  Thomas  burned the solid
waste  regularly,  creating  significant  air  pollution and odor
problems.  Bulldozers would level the  dump  and  push the
remaining refuse  into the  adjoining waters  of the Atlantic
Ocean,  thereby extinguishing  any lingering  flames and extending
the dump  area seaward.   When  coastal winds  and  current
shifted,  waste would  be scattered along  the southwestern
shore  of  the island.

      When it rained,  the  rain water percolating  into the
ground  would carry  contaminants from the exposed refuse down
with  it.  The resulting leachate threatened to  undermine the
quality of  the local  drinking water.

      Moreover, the  dump site, in operation  for  15 years,
covered  15  acres next to  the  Virgin Islands'  principal airport.
The smoke restricted  pilot visibility, making an already
tricky  airport a much more hazardous place  to land.

      In  1973, the  EPA threatened to use  the 1899 Refuse Act to
close  the dump.  So Virgin Island officials re-routed the flow
of wastes to a landfill on the southeastern side of St.
Thomas.   While the  new  operation does  not conform completely
to recommended practices,  it  is still  a great improvement over
the old open dump.

-------
                            -89-

     The  EPA  has continued to  press for even better  solid
waste disposal  practices in  the  Virgin Islands.   The  Agency
has funded  programs to help  develop a solid waste management
plan, to  institute training  programs for operators of  solid
waste facilities,  and to establish and staff a  solid  waste
planning  office.

     While  threatened EPA enforcement action played  a  decisive
role in  the  Virgin Islands,  improvements in waste management
elsewhere have  rarely stemmed  from direct Federal intervention.
In most  places, State, not Federal, officials  have forced the
decisive  improvements of the  last  five years.   The EPA's role
has been  limited -- by Federal  law -- to granting small
amounts  of  "seed money" and  significant amounts of technical
and planning  assistance.  However, with EPA encouragement and
support,  State  programs since  1970 have become  stronger and
substantially more effective.

     Wisconsin  is an example  of  how an action-oriented State
agency armed  with the necessary  authority can  make things
happen.   The  State, like many  others, has concentrated on
promoting properly engineered  sanitary landfills.

     As  the  name implies, landfills are well-controlled
land disposal sites for solid  wastes.  In a sanitary landfill,
wastes are  first spread and  compacted in layers a  few feet
thick.   They  are then covered  daily with a layer  of  earth
and again compacted.  In such  sites, potential  odors,  fires,
and wind  blown  wastes are controlled.  The site is also
prevented from  becoming a breeding ground for  flies,  rats, and
other potential disease carriers.

     Once landfill operations  are terminated,  the  site is
suitable  for  recreational uses.   Many of them  have been made
into golf courses or parks.

     Local  authorities in Wisconsin, working with the State's
Department  of Natural Resources, accomplished  these  things:

     o   Closed  a dump in the City of Wash bur n  that had
         allowed surface runoff to empty into an adjacent
         ravine.  The site was  re-engineered, sloped, covered
         with topsoil, and seeded to stop the runoff  problem.
         A new site was opened  in a more suitable  location and
         is being run now as  a  sanitary landfill.

     o   Re-engineered an abandoned dump in the City  of Merrill
         to  stop further serious  leaching into  the groundwater.
         They also  improved  operations at the current site to
         eliminate  runoff problems.

-------
                             -90-

      o  Converted  a  large open, burning  dump in Lincoln  County
         into a  sanitary landfill and  were then able  to close
         many small  dumps*

      o  Selected a  geologically suitable site for a  new
         landfill in  LaCrosse County.   The topography and  soil
         type at  the  site now prevent  runoff or leachate  from
         polluting  streams or groundwater.

      o  Developed  a  landfill design adequate to prevent
         runoff  and  leachate in Juneau  County. where  no
         naturally  suitable sites were  available.  The design
         includes a  clay liner beneath  the site and a leachate
         collection  system.  Several landfills in the county
         without  such design features  and with documented
         leachate and runoff problems  are being closed.

      The cumulative  impact of these efforts, and many more
like  them, has been  to  cut to a minimum  the polluting effect
of  solid waste disposal in the State.

      Other States  have  also done exceedingly well, particu-
larly  in the Midwest.   Among them:

      o  Iowa in  1970 had 800 open dumps.   In July, 1976,
         it had  only  240.   In 1970, there were only 10 sanitary
         landfills, serving 10 percent  of  the State's popula-
         tion.  There are now 109 serving  93 percent of the
         population.

      o  In Missouri .  from 1970 to 1976,  the population
         served by approved landfills jumped from 10 percent
         to 82 percent.

      o  In Kansas  the  increase was from  20  percent to 91
         percent.

      In  all four of  these midwestern States the changes  have
come  with  tougher State-wide solid waste  legislation and
better staffed State  agencies.  When the  Federal Solid Waste
Disposal Act was adopted  in 1965,  a total  of two persons
staffed  these four State  agencies; there  are now 40.   In   the
intervening years the  number of open dumps  in the four States
has diminished from  an  estimated 2400  to  744,  and vigorous
efforts  to improve land  disposal practices  are continuing.

Sludge --  A New Worry

      Household and commercial  wastes --  trash and garbage --

-------
                             -91-

 are only part of  the  solid  waste problem.   Another,  of
 mounting concern, is  sludge,  the residue generated  by air and
 wastewater treatment  operations.  The pollutants  that were
 prevented from entering  the air or water become  the  sludge.
 Since indiscriminate  dumping  of sludge into  the water or air
 is no longer allowed,  ridding ourselves of  it  has become a
 major land disposal problem.

      The most troublesome  sludge -- because  it  is so  abundant
 -- comes from municipal  sewage  treatment plants.  It  will
 become an even more acute  problem as more and  more wastewater
 treatment plants go on line under the new,  stricter water
 quality  laws.  Municipal sludge is a particularly vexing
 problem  because it frequently carries highly toxic metals and
 organics, which, when disposed  of on land,  can be taken  up by
 crops or leach into groundwater and contaminate drinking
 supplies .

      The EPA has established  a  multi-disciplinary task force
 to  help  States, localities, and industry find  the best ways  to
 dispose  of their hazardous  wastes.   In the meantime,  localities
 have  been approaching sludge  disposal in various ways  and with
 various  degrees of success.

      Lake County L 1^1 lino is . for instance,  designed a  special
 landfill for  sludge disposal.   The  271 acre site consists of
 an  access road,  a  sludge storage building,  and a leachate
 collection system.  Ten monitoring  wells  have also been
 constructed,  at a  cost of $12,000,  to help  verify that
 leachate does not  pollute the local  groundwater.  If  such
 pollution is  detected, the  county  will take steps to  correct
 it.   The cost of  the  facility,  including  the land, trucks,  and
 machinery,  carae  to $860,000.  By comparison, one rejected
 alternative  was  a  $5  million  incinerator.   When the  site  is
 totally  filled,  as projected, in 25  years,  it will be  turned
 into  a park.

 Another  Way  to  Do  It

      Land  disposal  must for a while  remain  the  principal
method for  dealing  with most solid waste.   However,  two  other
 solid waste management techniques are  beginning to emerge:

      o   recycling,  also known as resource  recovery,  which
         reuses  rather  than  discards  the material  in  unneeded
         items, and

      o   waste reduction,  which  entails redesign of consumer
         products or packaging  so that  less  waste  is  generated
         in  the  first  place.

-------
                             -92-

      Resource  recovery is especially  promising and it benefits
 in two ways:   first,  it fosters conservation, rather than
 disposal, of potentially valuable  resources;  second, it
 reduces the volume  of waste to be  disposed  of in landfills,
 and thereby cuts  land disposal costs.

      Certain grades of paper, some metals,  and energy have  all
 been recovered  successfully from municipal  wastes.

      Energy is  recovered by burning the  "organic" portion of
 solid waste, such as  paper that can't  otherwise be recycled,
 plastics, and  food  scraps.  Energy recovery alone can substan-
 tially reduce  waste volume:  as little  as  5-15 percent of
 the initial waste remains afterwards.   Moreover the revenue
 from energy recovery  can more than pay  for  itself.

      Energy from  Wood Wastes

      While widespread recovery of paper, metals,  and energy
 holds promise,  it is  still in the demonstration stage.
 Alternatives less comprehensive,  however, are already in
 operation.  Among them is energy  recovery from wood wastes.

      A system  developed  by the American  Walnut Com.pany is a
 notable example.  The company's Kansas City.  Kansas, plant
 saws  and  processes  walnut wood for gun  stocks and other wood
 products.   It generates,  as unwanted byproducts,  large
 quantities of  sawdust,  wood chips, and  other  wood waste.

      The  company originally burned such  wastes in a teepee
 burner,  which created a  dense  plume of black  smoke.  When
 cited for violating  local air  pollution  ordinances, the
 company modified the  burner design.  Not only did that fail to
 reduce pollution sufficiently, it increased the  plant's
 consumption of natural  gas.   The  company then attempted,
 unsuccessfully, to  find  a buyer for its  wood  waste.  Finally
 it  decided to construct  a starved-air type  boiler that  gener-
 ates  steam by burning the waste.   That worked.   Part  of the
 steam,  formerly generated by  a gas-fueled boiler,  is used to
 cure  wood.  The remainder is  sold locally to  other  users of
 s te am.

      The  net result:   a  twin  advantage -- less  air  pollution
 and  less  consumption  of natural gas.

      Recycled Paper

      The  Federal Government itself  is one of  the  leading
practitioners  of the  art  of recycling  -- and  selling  --
high  grade waste paper.

-------
                            -93-

     In Denver  alone, 30 Federal  agencies, under  the  direction
of the Federal  Regional Council,  have reclaimed 361  tons of
waste paper  in  less than a year  and  sold it to  a  Wisconsin
firm for  $38  a  ton.  EPA guidelines  now call for  the  program
to be extended  to Federal agencies  nationwide.  It  is estimated
that 223,000  tons of high grade  paper fiber a year  will be
recovered,  recycled, and sold.   The  operation will  save the
government  $7.4 million a year  in waste disposal  costs and
allow 3,791,000 trees to remain  unlogged.

     Energy  savings are a further benefit.  Paper can be
made from recovered fibers with  60 percent less energy than
from virgin  materials.

     Salvaging  Abandoned Cars

     Market  demand  and market  price alone  are often reasons
enough  to recover  energy or  waste materials.  But sometimes  they
aren't.   Salvaging  abandoned  automobiles,  for instance, is not
always  profitable.

      In  Montana, the distance  of the State  from scrap markets
is  so great that auto  salvage  isn't profitable  for a private
salvage  company.   State  lawmakers have  therefore  adopted
legislation to  help underwrite the cost  of  removing auto
hulks.   The program is  financed by nominal  fees:   $2 on
transfer of vehicle title  and  fifty cents  at  the  time of
annual  re-registration.

      These funds have  been  used to establish  and  maintain
county  graveyards  for  junked cars.  When 200  hulks have
accumulated in one of  these  yards, the  State  advertises for
bids  to  haul them  away  for  scrap metal.

      An  unanticipated  benefit of this  program is  the energy
it  saves.  Producing  a  ton  of steel from auto scrap  takes
8500  kilowatt-hours less energy than producing  the same
amount  of steel  from iron  ore.  In some  areas of  the country
that  much energy could supply the electrical  needs of  an
average household  for  an entire year.   The program thus has
not only eliminated a  blight on  the  Montana countryside,  but
 it  is saving energy.

      The Bottle  Bills

      Waste reduction means  not  just  recovering  useful  materials
 from the waste stream,  but  preventing  them from  entering  that
 stream in the  first place.

-------
                             -94-

      For  instance, instead  of  "recycling" bottles --  collecting
them  after  they are discarded, then melting them down  and
using  the  glass to make new bottles -- they can be designed
to be  returned and reused.   This  saves the cost and energy of
having  to  reraanufacture the  bottles between each use.   Since
bottles and other packaging  items  make up a large share  of
America's  waste stream, the  savings can be significant.

      In Oregon, a bottle bill  was  passed by the State  legis-
lature  in  1971 and took effect in  October 1972.  It banned the
sale  of beer  and soft drinks in pull-tab cans.  It imposed a
minimum two cent deposit on  beer  and  soft drink bottles  of a
standard design reusable by  more  than one bottler, and a five
cent  deposit  on non-standard bottles  reusable by only  one
c ompany.

      Oregon legislators viewed the  bottle bill chiefly as a
litter-control measure, although  the  people who lobbied  for
it were also  aware of its potential  as an energy saver.  The
idea was that Oregonians would return bottles to grocery
stores  to  recover their deposits rather than throw them  out
their car windows.  Pull-tab cans  simply would not be  available
to throw away.

     Oregon's bottle  bill has been  popular and effective.

     o  Roadside litter has been drastically reduced.
        Studies and surveys  show that beverage related litter
        has declined  by 83 percent.

     o  Consumers  are returning a  surprisingly high percentage
        of  the  beverage bottles to  retailers to redeem their
        deposit money.   On the average,  four out of  every
        five  bottles  leaving stores are  coming back.

     o  Consumer  prices for beer and  soft  drinks have re-
        mained  competitive with those  of  neighboring  Washington
        State,  which  does  not have  a  bottle  law.

     o  Consumers  overwhelmingly approve  of  the  bottle bill.
        In polls  taken  throughout  the  state  since  it  was
        passed,  90  percent said they  favored  it.   A  similar
        percentage  said  that returning  bottles to  the  store
        was not  an  inconvenience,  which  claim  is borne out  by
        the fact  that  they are buying  more  beer  and  soft
        drinks  than ever.

-------
                            -95-

     o  The  switch to returnable  containers in  Oregon saves
        energy  sufficient  to  heat the homes of  slightly over
        2 percent of Oregon's  population -- or  some  40,000
        people.

     The  idea shows some prospect of spreading.   Vermont
soon followed Oregon with  similar legislation.   Bottle bills
were on the  ballot in four  other  states in  1976 — Maine,
Michigan, Massachusetts and  Colorado.  They passed in Maine
and Michigan.

-------
                             -96-

RISKS,  SPILLS AND DISASTERS


      In the early morning  hours of a day  late  in October 1973,
fifteen cars of an  eastbound freight train  careened off the
track and  plunged into  a gully near the village  of Rush,
Kent ucky.   Hearing  the  crash from his wooden  frame house across  the
road  from  the wreckage,  Bobby Joe Middleton saw  fire spreading
under the  cars and  hurried his wife and three  children through
the  rain and darkness  to a neighbor's home  a  few hundred yards
away.   As  he watched,  10 minutes later, a tank car exploded,
sending flames 50 feet  high, destroying his car  and truck
and  the surrounding  trees, blistering the paint  on his house,
and  melting the window  panes.

      Two of the derailed cars were filled with acrylonitrile,
a highly flammable  liquid  used in making  plastics, which can
give  off cyanide gas when  exposed to air.   Forty-three thousand
gallons of the highly  poisonous fluid gushed  into Williams
Creek,  killing fish  and  setting it afire.   Several car loads
of coke burned fiercely  on both sides of  the  track.  A car
filled  with metallic sodium, also highly  reactive, lay ruptured
on its  side.

      State policemen and members of the Boyd  County Rescue
Squad  arrived and spread out across a broad area surrounding
the  wreck, warning  residents not to drink the  water and to
keep  livestock away  from the stream.  The EPA  regional office
in Atlanta sent an  on-scene coordinator and undertook to
evacuate the valley.   An area three miles in  diameter was
cord oned off.

      Earthen dams were  built across the creek, peat moss was
applied as a filtering  agent, and stream  water was sprayed
upward  for aeration.  The  chemical remaining  in  the cars was
allowed to burn off, to prevent cyanide contamination and
further explosions.

      Since Williams  Creek  runs into a tributary  of the Ohio
River,  scientists feared contamination of that major waterway.
The  EPA initiated several  weeks of intensive monitoring, while
railway cleanup crews cleared the debris, to  ensure that
drinking wells and the  Ohio itself had not been  poisoned.  When
concentration of acrylonitrile dropped rapidly in the vicinity,
it was  decided that  the area was once again safe for the local
residents.  A cooperative  effort by State and  local authorities,
railroad crews, and  the EPA had headed off what  might have
been  a  major environmental disaster.

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                             -97-

Dealing  with  Crises

     One  EPA  function  is  to  act in environmental  emergencies
such as  that.   It is in  the  business of scaling  down environ-
mental  risks,  whatever  their  form.  That means  keeping a
watchful  eye  on whatever  degrades the quality  of  life — and
doing  so  in such a way  that  the local community  and its economy
are disturbed  as little  as  possible.

     Where risks must  be  evaluated, the Agency  draws on its
centralized store of experience and technical  resources to
recommend the  safest operating  procedures.   When an accident
such as  the one in Kentucky  does occur, EPA's  role is to help
the States and localities cope  with the consequences.

     The  Agency runs a  vigorous spill prevention and control
program.   Since its oil  pollution prevention regulation was
issued  in late 1973, more than  7,100 Spill  Prevention Control
and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans have been  reviewed.

     In  the Southeast  alone several thousand on-site inspec-
tions  were made at oil  storage  facilities.   The  U.S. Coast
Guard  and State agencies  joined in  the  inspection and review
effort,  and by 1975 only  692  oil s-torage  facilities in the
Southeast — about 10  percent of the total  —  were not in  full
c ompli anc e.

     The measures have paid off.  U.S.  Coast Guard records
show a  gradual, steady decline  in spills  from  those facilities.
In  1973,  2,660,000 gallons  escaped; in  1974, 1,524,936
gallons  were spilled;  by  1975,  the  figure  was  down to 1,149,113
gallons,  half what it  had been  three years  before.

     An  EPA Midwest regional  office has received seven spill
reports  in petroleum operations since January  1975.  Each
spill  was contained by folowing the procedures specified in
the local SPCC plan, with no resulting  damage.

     Public Law 92-500 put  the  onus of  preventing and cleaning
up  pollution accidents largely  on industry  itself.  The oil
industry, responded in many areas across  the country by
forming  spill response cooperatives to  help bear that burden
at  least cost.

     The Southeast Wyoming  Spill Cooperative,  for example,
was  formed in 1972 by  twenty-one companies  from all phases  of
the  oil  business -- exploration, drilling,  refining, and
pipeline transmission.  The Co-op has  stockpiled materials  for
cleanup and containment at strategic locations within its  area

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                             -98-

of coverage,  from which  they  can be quickly dispatched  to a
spill  site.

     The  company responsible  for a spill is the  first  line
of defense  against it, not  only by law but by proximity,  i Once
a spill  occurs,  every minute  counts.   Even with  jet  aircraft,
response  time from the the  EPA  regional office in  Denver  to a
remote Wyoming site would  be  counted  in hours.

     A 16,000 gallon spill  into the Powder River near  Kaycee,
Wyoming»  and  a second spill,  which dumped over a quarter-million
gallons  of  crude oil into  Casper Creek, did only negligible
environmental damage, thanks  to the Co—op, which moved  swiftly
to clear  the  oil from the  waterway.  Without such  immediate
on-the-spot  action the spill  could have been a disaster.

A Santa  Barbara  in Kansas

     On  one  hot  July night  in 1975, a corroded oil  line in
central  Kansas ruptured, sending 588,000 gallons of  crude
oil flowing  downhill toward  the Saline River , three  miles
away .

     The  immense magnitude  of the spill, the largest in
Kansas history,  matched  that  of the 1969 catastrophe in the Santa
Barbara  Channel  in California.   The black torrent  was  discovered
by an  unfortunate cat, which  returned in the early  morning
hours  to  farmer  Fred Obermue1ler's house, wailing  and  with its
fur slicked  down.

     By  this  time the oil  had advanced to within a  mile of
the river.   Amoco, owner of  the pipeline, was notified  and an
all-out  race  to  prevent  the  oil from reaching the  waterway
followed.   Huge  pits dug across the oil's path quickly  filled
to depths  of  12  feet.  The  Kansas Department of  Health  and the
regional  EPA  office both sent investigators and  supervisory
personnel  to  the spill site.   The oil was pumped into  transport
trucks and  stored nearby,  while the remaining oil  in the  dry
wash was  burned  or soaked  up  with prairie hay.   Contaminated
ground was  plowed under  or  scraped off and buried.

     The  only damage from  the incident:  the loss  of four
small  apple  trees by farmer  Obermueller and temporary  contam-
ination  of  the dry wash  and  some wheat fields that  had  already
been harvested.   Amoco's on-site cleanup chief predicted  the
fields would  yield a poor  crop  during the next season,  but a
better than  average one  the  year after when the  oil  in  the
earth will  have  decomposed  and  begun to act as a fertilzer.

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                            -99-

A Chemical  Spill  in Kentucky

     Ready  access to the right information is critical in  any
environmental  spill.  It helped avert  a  catastophe near Lowe,
Kentucky, on  May  20, 1976.

     The  EPA  was  informed that a  train carrying industrial
chemicals had  derailed outside of  town.   Cars were damaged  and
ruptured:   40,000 gallons of methylene chloride and carbon
tetrachloride  had poured into an  adjacent stream, killing  all
fish and  damaging its remaining biota.  Other tank cars
containing  ethylene oxide, trichi oroethylene, ethylene glycol
and hydrofluoric  acid lay tangled  and  leaking.

     The  EPA  immediately notified  the  Kentucky State authorities
and responsible  railroad officials.   Drawing upon the Techni-
cal Assistance Data System, a data  bank  set up to help in  such
emergencies,  the  Agency was able  quickly to determine and  to
alert  all concerned of the hazards  of  each of the toxic
substances  that  had been spilled  and  how to handle them.
Two-hundred fifty people were evacuated  from the sparsely
populated area,  which was completely  cordoned off.

     For  the  next several days, EPA's  on-scene coordinator
continued to  work closely with State,  local, and railway
officials to  neutralize the spill  and  limit further damage.
Several  techniques, including aeration and filtration, were
used to  prevent  wider contamination of the nearby water.
Because  of  the EPA's experience in  spill control and access to
critical  information and thanks especially to the diligence of
State  and local  personnel, the efforts were successful.

Rescue At Clarksburg Pond              i

     When the EPA's regional emergency response branch received
a call in the summer of 1974 from  the  New Jersey Pesticides
Projec11 reporting hundreds of dead  bluegill, sunfish, and  bass
floating  in Clarksburg Pond, it sent  an  investigating team.

     The  investigators found a toxic  herbicide called DNBP
 (dinitrobutyIphenol) concentrated  in  the water.  It had  been
used in  an  adjoining parki-ng lot  as a  weed killer and had  been
washed into the  pond by a heavy rain.

     The  Clarksburg pond holds about  3 million gallons of
water  and  covers only slightly more than an acre of land.
But the  area's wildlife depends on the pond for its water.
The toxic substance also threatened to contaminate the ground-
water, and  since the pond empties  into a tributary of the

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                             -100-

Delaware  River, the Delaware was threatened  as  well.  The spill
into  Clarksburg pond posed  dangers that couldn't  be ignored.

      A  unique device that  had not even left  the  factory yet
was hurriedly shipped  from  Wisconsin on a wide,  flatbed
trailer  and  reached the  pond after two days  of  non-stop
driving.   Developed under  a research contract  from EPA, the
huge  unit,  employing carbon column filters,  began pumping the
water  out  of  the pond  at  200 gallons per minute.   Five filters,
the first  two sand and anthracite to trap suspended solids and
algae,  the  other three each containing three tons of  activated
carbon,  absorbed the bulk  of the DNBP that  had  washed into the
pond.   After  90 cubic  yards of gravel were  removed from the
lot,  the  area was flushed  and the runoff put through  the
filtering  unit as well.

      Frequent samples  of  tap water taken from  local homes
since  then have shown  the  groundwater to be  unaffected.  Today
the pond  is  again filled  with fish life.  Birds,  amphibians
and insects  are present  in  abundance.
      A  pesticide called  toxaphene also  sent  the  treatment
trailer lumbering southward  from Washington,  D.C.,  the following
spring.  A bag of the  highly toxic poison  had  been  dumped in  a
pond  near Plains, Virginia,  and threatened  to  contaminate the
Manassas water supply, which serves 40,000  people.   After more
than  a  month of cleanup  operations, including  filtration of
the entire pond, most  of  the toxaphene  was  removed  and the
community was saved  from  harm.

      The Clarksburg  incident was the maiden voyage  for the
carbon-column filter —  and  its first victory.   It  has since
seen  service not only  at  Manassas, but  in  a PCB  spill in
Seattle as wel1.

Toxics  in the Duwamish

      A  250 gallon dose of  PCB accidently spilled into the
Duwamish Waterway near a  Seattle industrial-commerical complex
in mid-September 1974.   A Westinghouse  electrical transformer
containing the substance  and owned by the  Department of
Defense was dropped  in the water while  being  loaded aboard  a
barge.

      Within two days an  EPA  field team  had  collected bottom
samples and traced  the spread of the toxic  material.  Most  of
•the PCB had stayed  near  the  dock where  it  had  spilled, but
there was a second  pocket farther out in  the  waterway.

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                            -101-

     The  EPA  had  three choices.   It  cotild send down  hard-hat
divers  to  pump  the contaminated water and mud into  a Navy
barge;  it  could remove it through a  22-inch pipeline dredge
onto Kellogg  Island offshore;  or  it  could use small  hand  held
dredges  to  pump the water and  spill  material into pre-settling
tanks and  then  use the physical-chemical treatment  trailer
from New  Jersey.

     It  chose the third alternative, and by late October  had
recovered  80  to 90 gallons of  the contaminant.  The  Army
Corps of  Engineers was then  ordered  into the emergency  by
the Department  of Defense.   In  March, as the engineers  dredged,
the EPA  continued to monitor  the  PCB in the waterway.

     The  substance, for the  most  part, had penetrated  only a
foot deep  into  the bottom mud.   But  at the spill site  itself
there were still  dangerous levels up to four feet deep.
Dredgers  finally  had to dig  all  the  way to bedrock  --  10  to 12
f .e e t deep  —  in their efforts  to  recover as much PCB as
possible.

     Another  140  to 150 gallons  of PCB's were removed  by  March
13.  All  together, 220 to 240  gallons of the original  250
gallons  spilled had been  removed.  Most of the danger  was
past.

The PCB.Search

     PCB's were only recently  recognized to be persistent and
widespread threats to the environment.  They can cause  birth
defects,  even when present in  low levels.  They can  accumulate
in  the  food web,  and they are  harmful to fish and shellfish, which
absorb  high quantities of the  substance from polluted  waters.

     First manufactured in 1929,  PCB's have been used  in
paints,  castings, hydraulic  fluids,  and in refrigeration  and
electrical systems.  In 1970,  Monsanto, the only U.S.  producer,
voluntarily restricted its sale  of PCB's to those using  it in
transformers  and  other "closed  systems."  The company  cut its
annual  production from 70 million to 40 million pounds.

     The  Los  Angeles County  Sanitation District in  1970-73
began  to  investigate several  hundred industrial discharges in
a search  for  the  sources  of  PCB's in that area.  By  1975,
district  investigators found  there were only four significant
sources  remaining — all  rebuilders  of transformers.  The
district  worked with the  companies to stop the PCB's from
entering  the  sewers.  Separate  work  areas were set  up for
equipment  containing the  chemicals,  and even workmen's  clothes
were kept  separated for eventual  disposal in a special  landfill
for hazardous wastes.

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                            -102-

     Speedy  detection of the PCB  sources was only possible
because Los  Angeles County requires  industries to have "separ-
ation boxes,"  which allow samples of  industrial effluents  to
be taken  before they enter the  sewer  and mix with the  effluents
from other  dischargers.

     PCB  levels in the district's combined effluents had
already been reduced dramatically --  from 76 parts per billion
(ppb) in  1970, to 16 ppb in  1972  (reflecting Monsanto's
voluntary control effort) to below 0.02 ppb by 1975.   And  now,
since the district's work with  the rebuilders of transformers,
PCB  levels  have dropped below the limits of detectibility.

Irreparable  Harm

     At  times, the environmental  damage from a toxic substance
as persistent  as PCB can be  irreparable.
      In  March 1973, some  1500 gallons of a PCB and  a  second,
very  similar compound,  were  spilled when the driver  of  a
truck,  noticing a leak  from  the  liquid cargo, dumped  the
entire  load on the roadway in a  rural area near Kingston,
Tennessee .   The chemical  was  absorbed into the soil  over  a
wide  ar ea.

      The substances were  Aroclor 1254 and polychlorinated
benzenes, both highly persistent and very toxic.   Three days
after the dumping, the  EPA began the first round  of  a sampling
program that lasted several  months.  Initial data  pointed  up
the  presence of the substances in both the groundwater  and
the  soil.

      Massive cleanup operations  initiated by EPA  were carried
out  by  the companies bearing  legal responsibility.   Contaminated
soil  was packed and sealed  in metal drutn-s and shipped from the
spill site.  Almost 12,000  drums were filled from trenches and
excavations in three areas.   When safe levels of  the  chemical
had  been  reached  in both the water and the  soil,  the landscape
was  restored by sealing and  backfilling.

      The cost of  the cleanup was a million dollars,  plus
many thousands of  dollars later  paid in suits brought by  local
residents.  Two years  after  the  initial spill,  the EPA studied
the  fate of the spilled materials.  The findings  showed the
chemicals to be highly  tenacious.  The PCB and  polychlorinated
benzenes had not  undergone  any significant amount of  biode-
gradation, and while  the  levels  still present  at  the  site are
not  considered hazardous, they will remain there  for many
years to come.

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                            -103-
FishinR Expeditions
     It  is  one  thing to track  down  a known quarry,  but
quite another  to  go hunting without knowing what  you're
looking  for.   EPA does such "reconnaisance monitoring"
periodically,  to  detect unwanted  elements in  the  water  or
air.  It  does  not always return  empty handed.

     While  analyzing water  samples  as part of  its national
drinking  water  study in 1975,  the EPA found concentrations of
the  suspected  carcinogen BCEE  (bis-chloroethylether)  in
Philadelphia's  water supply.   Its source was  traced to  the
Rohm and  Haas  Company's Bridesburg  Plant, which  temporarily
halted  its  manufacture and  immediately started  to install
treatment equipment.  Within  the  year the levels  had  dropped
low  enough  to  meet EPA guidelines.


     In  April  1976, a citizen's  group discovered  a toxic and
carcinogenic  component of rocket  fuel in Bait imore's  air.  The
EPA  traced  the  source to the  FMC  Fairfield Works.  The  Agency
then cooperated with the Maryland Bureau of Air  Quality to
bring about the voluntary shutdown of the process that  was
letting  the toxic into the  air.


     In  the same year, the  Dupont plant in Belle, West  Virginia,
was  discovered discharging  DMN,  a toxic and carcinogenic
chemical, into both the air and  the water.  It  was a  byproduct  of
the  manufacture of certain  organic chemicals.   Dupont eliminated
the  water discharge, and is now working with  the  West Virginia
Air  Pollution Control Commission to install control equipment
to  eliminate  the air emissions.

Detective Story

     Locating the  source of a pollutant  is not always so  easy.
When the EPA received a letter from a Harrodsburg. Kentucky,
citizen complaining of  a recurring odor  from  the town's major
spring  and creek,  it consulted with  the  Kentucky Department  of
Natural Resources, which requested the Agency to investigate
f ur ther.

      State investigators  had  already  conducted dye tracer
studies and found  a connection between  the  Harrodsburg  spring
and  a  sinkhole into which  the Corning Glass  Works discharged
its  was tewa ter.

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                            -104-

     The  State  had also concluded  that the odor was caused
by decomposition of Sphaerot11 us,  microrganisms that  feed
on nutrients  in the water.   For  some as yet undetermined
reason,  the  Sphaerotilus were  dying, leaving behind a malodorous
slime.

     But  why  were they dying?  And was the connection with
the Corning  sinkhole responsible?   Compounds of strontium
and the  rare  earth element cerium  were found in water samples
from the  spring, in sediment collected from Town Creek,  and  in
wastewater  discharged by Corning.   Since these elements  are
not native  to Kentucky soil, and  were  present in Coming's
discharge,  the  State and the EPA  considered the source  found
and the  mystery solved.

     Corning  agreed to install additional treatment equipment
and alter manufacturing techniques to  improve the  quality  of
its discharge.   It has worked.   Citizens report no  further
odor from the spring, and the  slime growth that plagued  the
creek  has disappeared.

Repairing the Damage

     No  amount  of planning and prevention can reduce  environ-
mental  risks  to zero, or prevent  the  inevitable moments  when
the EPA  is faced with a "fait  accompli."  The steps  that
follow a disaster or potential disaster  then become  critical:
ending  the destruction, saving what remains to be  saved, and
making  sure it  won't happen  again.

     Utah's Ogden Bay lies along  the  eastern edge  of  the Great
Salt Lake on a major flyway  for  migratory waterfowl.   It is a
beautiful, fragile, and incredibly varied eco-system  with
extensive nesting and feeding  areas.

     But for several years,  until the  summer of  1974,  a
veritable death trap -- a  five and  one half acre waste  lagoon
--  lay a scant  half-mile  away  from  the refuge.   The  lagoon
contained oil  residues  and acid  sludge from an oil recovery
operation conducted for a  railroad  in  the late Sixties.

     Even after the operation  was abandoned, the waste  con-
tinued to be dumped into  the natural  drainages and was  con-
tained by poorly  constructed dikes.   A combination of precipi-
tation,  runoff, and high  ground  water  left  a lagoon system
containing three  layers of waste material:  an oil/water
emulsion on  top,  a  strongly  acidic, oil-contaminated  water
layer, and, on  the  bottom,  acid sludge and  contaminated filter
c ake .

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                            -105-

      The  lagoon became an  irridescent, polluted pond.   Its
glistening  surface attracted  and  trapped hundreds of waterfowl,
including Canadian Geese and  several  varieties of ducks.
On  one  occasion the bodies of  eight  sheep were also  found
floating  in the stagnant liquid.

      The  major threat to wildlife, however, was not  entrapment
in  the  lagoon itself; it was  the  imminent danger of  a  massive
failure of  the dikes.  More  than  a million gallons of  oil
emulsion  and  contaminated  water would then flow into the
refuge  itself.

      State  and Federal officials  were alarmed.  In Oc'tober
1973,  EPA Administrator Russell E. Train declared the  lagoon
to  be  an  imminent  and substantial  threat to the environment,
and  requested that the United  States  attorney for the  district
of  Utah seek  relief in the courts.   Attempts to encourage  the
owners  of the property and the owners and operators  of  the
re-refinery to cleanup the lagoon  dragged on for several
months,  with  no action.

      In  1974, a Federal team  began to work hand-in-hand with
Utah  State  and county agencies to  initiate a cleanup plan.
It  soon became evident that  immediate emergency action  was
required.   The lagoon was  dangerously full -- scant  inches
remained  between the oil surface  and  the top of the  dike.   The
annual  peak of precipitation was  imminent, and this, combined
with  spring snow runoff, could lead  to overtopping and  catastrophic
failure  of  the dike.

      As a  first stop-gap measure, emergency contractors placed
sandbags  in the eroded and weakened  portions of the  dike and
constructed an oil-skimming pond  to  contain the emulsion in  the
event of  a  break.   A road  had  to  be  built up and a work area
constructed.   Irrigation pumps skimmed waste oil from  behind
the weakened  dike  into another, higher section of the  lagoon.
Screens at  the pump inlets were required to prevent bird
carcasses  from clogging the pipes.

      It was decided to "land farm" the top two layers  of
polluted  liquid.   The liquid would be spread out in  a  thin
layer on  specially prepared Air Force land nearby and  covered
with a  relatively  impermeable  clay.   The process of emptying
the pond  and  stabilizing the area then began.   The bottom
layer of  sludge was treated in place.   A clay  liner was built
around  it  and cross dikes were built  to  stabilize it.  Then
tons of alkaline  soil were mixed with  it and an 18-inch cap  of
clay was  compacted over the area  to seal it against erosion.

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                             -106-

      The  capped  and  lend farmed  oil  has now decomposed to  form
a kind  of artificial  fertilizer  today, local  plant growth  is
re-established on  the  lagoon cap,  and on the  land  farm there
has also  been an extensive regrowth  of native vegetation.
Graceful  Canadian  Geese still  share  the skies with the soaring
flocks  of seagulls,  and herons and  tiny wading  birds continue
to frequent the  bay.

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                            -107-

INDUSTRY  —  MAJOR  ACTORS IN THE ANT IPOLLUTION  DRAMA
     Industry,  because it has played  such  a  major  role
in polluting  the  environment, has also  had to  play a major
role in  cleaning  it  up.

     Many  companies  have lagged.  Some  have  had  to be forced
to take  the  necessary -- and expensive  —  steps  to undo the
environmental  damage done.  Some have been more  successful
than others.   A handful  have pioneered  new pollution control
techniques and  in doing  so have accomplished  far more than was
expected of  them.

     The record is full  of such efforts by industry. Four
examples of  where the struggle has been difficult  or expensive,
but also fruitful, are those of the pulp and  paper,  copper,
power, and food processing industries.

Paper Mills

     Pulp  and  paper  mills historically  have  been among the
worst water  polluters.  But new treatment  facilities are
changing that.

     The paper  industry  in New York State  is  a good  example.
The 65 paper mills,  which produce 6,500 tons  of  pulp daily,
form the single largest  group of industrial  polluters in the
State.   In the  early sixties, the industry was dumping a
half-million pounds  of organic waste  (BOD) into  State waterways
every day, and  it was consuming much  of the  lifegiving oxygen
on which the fishlife depends.

     The industry in New York was at  first slow  to act.  But
after State  and Federal  permits based on the  new effluent
guidelines were issued,  39 new treatment plants  were
built, 16  mills were hooked up to municipal  systems, and
steps were initiated for the other mills as  well.   This
resulted in  a  record of  accelerated pollution  abatement in the
1970's unmatched  by  that of any other industry in  the State.

     Since the  mid-60's,  the BOD level  in New  York rivers
has fallen from 500,000  to 165,000 pounds per  day  under the
State's  Pure Waters  program.  Plant expansions,  closures,
and new  plant  openings have left a net  loss  of six plants.
Total production,  however, remains about the  same, despite a
66 percent reduction in  discharged waste.

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                             -108-

      The technological breakthrough  by  the  Gulf States
 Paper Corporation  in the South may be  a portent of things  to
 come in the paper  industry nationally.   Its Tuscaloosa plant
 on Alabama's  Black Warrior River  is  the oldest mill in the
 State, built  when  discharges into the  river were virtually
 unregulated.   The  intervening decades  saw  the river further
 channeled for  navigation and dammed  for power production.
 Water flow sometimes dropped to 12 hours a  week in the
 critical summer months.   At times dissolved oxygen levels
 reached zero.

      The company decided that a highly  efficient effluent
 control system was required.  It would  take eight years of
 research to develop,  but the outcome would  be a tertiary
 wastewater treatment  system no longer dependent on the
 river.

      Today that system is a reality.  A four-stage activated
 sludge process first  removes 85-90 percent  of the plant's
 BOD.   Ultimately,  the  process removes over  90 percent of the
 color and  most of  the  remaining BOD.  The  result exceeds the
 requirements of the  toughest EPA effluent guidelines -- and
 they  didn't have to  be met until 1983.

      In 1934,  Gulf  States Paper Corporation produced 45,000
 tons  of paper per  year and discharged over  25,000 pounds of
 BOD  per day.   Today  production is four  times  greater --
 180,000 tons per year  -- yet the discharge  has been reduced
 94 percent  to 1,500  pounds of BOD per day.   The rate of
 discharge  per ton  of  paper produced  is  now  less than 2
 percent of  what it was in 1934.

      Gulf  States Corporation won a special  award in 1976 from
 the Alabama Environmental Quality Association for its color
 removal  system.  And  it  received the American Paper Institute's
 1975  environmental improvement  award.   The  National Wildlife
 Federation  also honored  the company  with a  special  conservation
 award  -- only  the  third  ever  presented  by the  Wildlife Federation
 to a  manufacturing company.

Copper  Smelters

      Copper  smelters also  generate a disproportionate  share
of pollution  in some States.   Seven  smelters  in  Arizona,  which
represent about one half  of  the  nation's copper  processing
capacity and  contribute  substantially to that  State's  economy,
also  emit most of  the  State's  sulfur  dioxide.

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                            -109-

     Many  of  the  smelters were  built  decades ago when  pollution
controls were not  considered  essential.  Inspiration  Copper
Company's  old furnace in Miami. Arizona, for instance,  was
built  in  1915.

     The  State  of  Arizona now has  regulations  to control S02
emissions  and is  currently proposing  to tighten  them.
But the  Inspiration Copper Company did not wait  for  the
State  to  tighten  its regulations.   The company began
looking  for  alternative controls  as early as 1970.   By  March
1971,  it  had  decided to replace its old fuel-fired  reverbera tory
furnace  with  an electric furnace  that would allow  100  percent
of process gases  to be put through a  double-contact  sulfuric
acid plant.   This  is the best system  available for  capturing
sulfur pollutants  that would  otherwise be released  into the
air.

     The  system went on line  in 1974  at a cost of  $54  million.
It has cut emissions -- both  S02  and  particulates  --  more than
90 percent and  has virtually  eliminated visible  air  pollution
from the  company's smelter operations.

Power  Plants

     Power plants, through sheer  numbers, have the  potential
for enormous  environmental impact.  They can emit  large
quantities of S02 and particulate matter, severely  reduce
visibility,  and generally degrade air quality.   But  some
companies  have dealt with the problem effectively.

     The  Dairyland Power Co-op  in Alma, Wisconsin,  lowered
its S02  emissions by 80 percent after  the Wisconsin  Depart-
ment of  Natural Resources required it  to switch  to  low sulfur
fuels  in  1974.   The Co-op also  installed an electrostatic
precipitator  that brought matching reductions  in total
suspended  particulates.  Ambient  standards are now being
me t.
      Fuel switching of  that  sort, however,  is  not  always
practicable.  Other approaches permit use  of  less  expensive
forms of  energy.  The Kansas City Power  and Light  Company
and  the  Kansas Gas and  Electric Company  built  an 820 megawatt
steam electric generating  plant at LaCygne, Kansas, that uses
such  a process.

      The  plant is located  near a large coal deposit, which
straddles the Kansas-Missouri stateline.   The  coal is of
low  quality, containing  up to 6.5 percent  sulfur and 24
percent  ash (which, after  combustion, becomes  particulate).
If burned without controls,  it would generate  and  emit 97,000
pounds per hour of S02.

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                             -1 10-

      The company decided  to  install limestone  slurry  scrubbers,
designed to remove  80  percent  of the sulfur  oxide's  from the
flue  gases.  This plant was  the first of its size  to  use flue
gas  desulfurization  and is  the largest such  system  in operation
in  the  world today.  The  cost  of its air pollution  control
equipment came to $45.4 million.


      The Nashville  Thermal  Transfer Company  takes  the search
for  fuel economy a  step further.  The facility burns  municipal
solid wastes as its  primary  fuel to produce  steam  and chilled
water for a limited  number  of  buildings in downtown Nashville.
The  facility,  therefore,  doubles as a power  plant  and a
facility for resource  recovery.

      Following its  start-up  in 1974, a number  of severe
mechanical, operational,  and financial problems surfaced.   An
unfortunate cost-cutting  decision allowed the  plant to  begin
operating with equipment  that  could emit 2,036 tons of  air
polluting particulates a  year.

      One electrostatic pr ecipi ta to r: has now been installed,
which should allow the plant to operate with one boiler
and  comply with air  pollution  emissions by reducing particulate
emissions 92 percent.  In  1977, a second electrostatic  precipitator
will  be  installed, and both  waste-burning boilers will  be
allowed  to operate.


     Diablo Canyon on  California's  Pacific coast illustrates
the  familiar problem of new  technology bringing with  it new
difficulties.

     During a  1974 test,  Pacific Gas and Electric's 2300
megawatt nuclear  facility was  found to be discharging  large
amounts  of copper from its cooling  water system.  The metal
was killing marine life in the  Diablo cove.  Red and  black
abalone  harvested by commercial fi'shermen and  local skindivers
were particularly hard hit.

     Environmental detective work traced the poisoning  of  the
abalone  to corroding copper  pipes.   Whenever the power  plant
was shut  off and  the pipes emptied  of  water, salt air  infiltrated
into the  system and  corroded the pipes.

     The  California Department  of  Fish and Game, represented
by the State attorney  general,  initiated legal  action against
PGfiiE in  mid-1975  requiring the  company to halt  further
pollution 'in the  cove  and to repair the  damage  to the marine

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                            -1 11-

environment.   By  November the Company  had  replaced the  copper
tubes with  non-corrosive titanium  at  a cost of $5 million.

     A settlement is now being negotiated  in which PG&E will
finance construction of an abalone  hatchery to be operated  by
the Department  of Fish and Came.   Abalone  from the hatchery
will be used  to  stock areas where  kelp beds and sea otter  are
being reestablished.

Food Processing

     One  element  is common to almost  all food processing:
organic waste.   Finding environmentally sound methods  to
dispose of  it  requires approaches  tailored to the unique
circumstances  of  each industry.

     Sugar  Mills

     The  environmental impact of  uncontrolled sugar wastes
was most  graphic  in Hawaii.

     Sugar  cane  mills produced "trash" (waste foliage)  and
"bagasse"  (fiber  left after juice  extraction) equal in  weight
to 50 percent  of  the total harvest.   The cane harvesting  and
sugar extracting  process were also  stripping substantial
amounts of  top  soil away and  into  the  sea.  At the same  time,
the extraction  process was failing  to  recover much of  the
sugar from  the  sugar cane.

     Traditionally all of these wastes —  plant fiber,
stripped  top-soil, and organic wastes  — were discharged
directly  into  the Pacific Ocean with  the plant wastewaters.
Huge floating  mats of decomposing  fiber were formed, sometimes
washing up  on  nearby beaches.  Thick  sludge banks accumulated
on the ocean  floor.  Red plumes of  water fanned out in  a  thin
film over  the  sea.  Five sugar mills  on the northeast  coast
of the big  island of Hawaii dumped  4-5,000 tons a day  of  this
flotsam into  the  ocean.  Sixty to  70  miles of Hawaiian
coastline  were  littered with  bagasse.

     State  efforts to check it were unsuccessful, so the  EPA
started enforcement action against  the mills in late 1972.
This led  to a  consolidation of operations  into five mills,
eliminating three sources of  pollution.

     Permits  called for an end to  trash and bagasse discharges
entirely,  and  for reduced suspended solids in the mill  effluents,
By the beginning  of the 1976  season,  all of the mills  had
achieved  substantial compliance,  and  the water is now  clear  of
t he debris.

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                             -1 12-

      Stlll to come are  steps  to  reduce the amount  of  suspended
solids  in  cane washwater,  and  to find non-polluting  means  of
disposing  of the bagasse,  which  can be used as  fuel  to
generate  electricity.   Two  sugar mill companies already  use
it  for  that purpose.  They  sell  the excess power  they  generate
to  the  Hawaiian Electric  Company.   Adopted before  the  energy
crisis,  the process is  already producing a significant
percentage of Hawaii's  electric  power.

      Other companies  use  the  cane  wastewater to reclaim  land
for  cultivation.  The soil  and organic material from  the wastes
make  a  fertile mantle when  laid  over the porous volcanic rock
so  common  on the Islands.   Higher  recovery of sugar  from the
wastewater has also paid  off  in  more product per  ton  of  cane
harvested .

      The  pollutants,  as  frequently happens, have  turned  out
to  be  of  benefit when recovered  and put to use.

      Cattle Feedlots

      Cattle and other animals  raised for food generate wastes
potentially damaging  to  an  ecosystem.

      Such  a situation existed  on an island feedlot  in  Idaho's
Snake  River, close to the  town of  Payette.  The island was
subject  to annual flooding, which  flushed organic  matter,
bacteria,  and nutrients  into  the river.

      The  result was low  dissolved  oxygen and generally
eutrophic  conditions  in  both  the Brownlee Reservoir  and
the  river  downstream.   Fisheries and recreation were  impaired
and  heavy  algal growths  appeared seasonally throughout the
Hell's  Canyon area.  Odor  from the feedlot discharges  also
afflicted  area residents  downriver.

      A  consent decree with  the owner-operator in  1973
relocated  the facility  to  an  offstream site remote  from
waterway.   This action  focused the concern of the  entire
ind us tr y .

      The  Idaho Cattle Feeders  Association was active  in
developing national effluent  guidelines and in  assisting its
members  to comply with  them.  The Dairymans Association,  the
Soil  Conservation Service,  the Extension Service,  and  the
Food  Producers of Idaho  cooperated to greatly accelerate the
installation of control  systems.

      Permits were issued  to 73 feedlots with a  total  popu-
lation  of  400,000 animals.  A  large percentage  of  those
feedlots were discharging  process  or runoff effluent  to  the

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                            -1 13-

waters  of  the  State.   Complete compliance  has been achieved
by 69 of  the  feedlots, and the four  remaining,  with 14,000
head, are  on  acceptable clean-up  schedules.

     Potato Processing

     Cattle feedlots  were not the  only  source plying Idaho's
rivers  with organic wastes.   Potato  processing  operations
throughout  southern Idaho also burdened  the  State's waterways
in the  1960's  and  early 1970's.

     The  J.R.  Simplot plant at Caldwell, Idaho,  once a problem,
today stands  as  a  model of what a  company  can do.

     Wastewater  from  the Caldwell  plant  carried  high concen-
trations  of nutrients, suspended  solids, and  BOD.   It  was
given primary  treatment in holding ponds,  then  discharged to
the Boise  River.   This daily  outpouring  of  2,500 pounds of
ammonia,  593  pounds of phosphorus, 7,500 pounds  of suspended
solids, and 41,000 pounds of  BOD  fed  the algae  and the sludge
banks,  and  severely depleted  the  river's dissolved oxygen.
The nutrients  flowed  on to create  excessive  algal  concentra-
tions in  the  Snake River's reservoirs from  the  Brownlee
Reservoir  on  down.

     Seasonal  low  flows in the Boise  River  prevented the
company from  using conventional biological  treatment systems
-- they Just  were  not good enough.   The  Idaho Department of
Health  and  Welfare worked with Simplot  to  arrive at a  plan
to meet the stringent water quality  standards demanded in the
discharge  permit  issued by the State  in  1972.

     J.R.  Simplot  elected to  end  its  problems by ending
its discharge  altogether -- with  a system  combining primary
treatment  and  spray irrigation.   Prodded by  a 1974 deadline,
Simplot hurried  construction  of the  system,  and  on September
6, 1973,  advised  the  EPA that the  Caldwell plant no longer
discharged wastewater.

     A  study by  the U.S.  Soil Conservation Service and Agri-
cultural  Research  Service indicated  that virtually all
of the  40,000  pounds  of BOD,  the nutrients,  and  suspended
solids  have been  eliminated from both stream  and groundwater.
Dissolved  oxygen  levels have  improved, and the  sludge  banks
are disappearing.

     Moreover, nutrients in the wastewater are now sprayed
on the  land to produce high protein  forage, which  is combined  .
with other solid wastes from  the plant to feed 26,000  yearling
steers.   The waste heat in the effluent now sprayed on the
land allows a  10-11 month growing  season and  an  annual yield
nearly  twice that  of  normal crop lands in the area.

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                              -1 14-

       Cltrus Industry

       In  Florida, three  thousand miles from  the  Snake  River,
 another  industry is demonstrating that waste  products can be
 converted  from a liability  to  an asset.

       For many years, Florida's  citrus processors  dumped  their
 liquid wastes into the  nearest  waterway, overloading  the
 receiving  water with organic material.  The solid  wastes were
 piled up on the ground.  Like  so many pollution problems,
 it developed  because no one knew what else  to do  with the
 waste.  The results were depressed  oxygen levels,  discolored
 waters, fish  kills, and odors,  which grew worse as  the
 industry expanded.

      The first  attempts to seek  alternative methods of
 disposal came shortly after World War II.   The industry  began
 producing  cattle feed from waste peelings  and orange  pulp.
 By 1950, all  of  this solid waste was being converted  into
 cattle feed.

      In the early  1960's,  however,  a State of Florida study
 tound that  citrus  waste was one  of  the most significant
 sources of  pollution in Lake Apopka.   Prodded by threats of
 legal action, the  citrus industry started  a long-term effort
 to treat those  portions of  its waste  stream that were resulting
 in the greatest  contamination.
                                                               t
      In 1968 a Federal  grant funded  the  construction of an
 innovative activated  sludge plant at  the  Winter Garden Citrus
 Cooperative.  This  technology proved  successful and additional
 systems were built  at  other sites.   Some  of  these facilities
 are  presently disposing  of  their treated  effluent by spray
 irrigation.

      Experimental spraying  of citrus waste directly back on
 the  orange groves is  underway and r.esults indicate that
 it can  be  done without damage to the trees or  fruit.  NPDES
 permits issued to most citrus processors  in  1974  have  spurred
 industrial programs to recycle  cooling water and  to use
 additional spray fields.  The end result may be total  reuse
and  zero discharge.

      Today many of the formerly  polluted lakes  in Central
Florida have returned to  their  original purity.

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                             -1 15-

 SAVING THE  RARE AND THREATENED


      Certain  bird  and  animal species,  stands  of rare and
 valuable  trees,  national parks, and wetlands  in general fall
 easy prey to  pollution.   They are finite  --  and unique.  They
 are easily  wiped  out  and,  once gone, they  are gone forever.

      For many  years,  before the tide of pollution became
 so alarming,  little thought was devoted to protecting such
 forms of life  and  such  areas of national  value  and beauty.
 But in recent  years some have come so  near to destruction
 or extinction  that  the  danger to them  could  no  longer be
 ignored.  In many  cases  action came just  in  time.   Here are
 a  handful of examples.

 Four Vanishing  Birds

      The osprey, peregrine  falcon,  bald eagle and  brown
 pelican, four great and  picturesque birds, were—until  recently
 --all in serious danger  of  extinction.

      Pesticides had affected  the calcium metabolism in  all of
 these birds, rendering  their  eggshells  so thin  that they broke
 under the weight of nesting  birds,  making reproduction  virtually
 impossible.   Recent bans on  DDT,  dieldrin, and  restrictions on
 other chlorinated hydrocarbons,  will  diminish  that  threat.
 Pesticides,  however, were not  the  only  factor driving the
 birds toward extinction.  In  many  cases their natural habitat
 was also  being destroyed.

      The  osprey, an eagle-like  fish  hawk,  had nearly  been
 exterminated.   Now it is slowly  making  a  comeback.   Some  130
 young  osprey were' born in 1976  along  Eastern  Long  Island
 Sound,  the best brood in 20 years.

      There have been massive  cooperative  efforts on  behalf  of
 the  osprey by  Cornell University, the New  York Zoological
 Society,  the Carolyn Foundation, the  New  York State  Department
 of  Environmental Conservation, and :one  private corporation
 the  Northeast  Utilities Company.  These concerned organizations
 have  transplanted  uncontaminated eggs and  chicks from the
 Chesapeake Bay  area to previously unsuccessful nests on Long •
 Island  and the  Connecticut coast.  Transplants were made in
 1968,  1971,  and  1973 and each time the  eggs and chicks were
 readily accepted as their own by the adult  osprey in the new
 location.

      Cornell  ornithologists started breeding  the peregrine
falcon  in captivity  in  1970.   By 1973,  the  offspring of
captive falcons  were surviving.  And in 1975,  they were  being

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                               -116-

  released regularly  into  the wild.  This  was  a major milestone
  since the peregrine falcon had not been  seen in the skies
  over  the eastern  United  States in 20 years.   Now the goal is
  to  release enough young  birds so they  can  breed and re-establish
  themselves naturally  on  the eastern seaboard.


       The bald eagle was  also  on the brink  of  extinction.
  Today there are several  thousand new-born  eagles in the
  United  States.  Alaska,  Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and the
  Mississippi River area all  report rebounds in  their eaele
  populations.                                             6

       The bald eagle's return  is no accident.   In 1972   the
  Federal  government, with  the  help of Seven-Eleven  Inc., Hunt
  Wesson,  and Anheuser  Busch, set aside a  4000-acre  eagle
  preserve in the upper Midwest.   The  Wisconsin  Eagle Valley
  Environmentalists launched  a  campaign in 1976  to raise  $2.5
 million  to  help manage the  preserve.   The National  Wildlife
  Federation  set up a computer  data bank as a clearing house for
 eagle information.  Egg transplants  between Minnesota  and
 Maine are  now common.  And  forest activities,  such  as  timber
 cutting  and  snowmobiling, as  well as  overhead  plane routes'
 have  been  altered or restricted  with  the eagles  in  mind.


       Brown pelicans are also  returning to  the  coasts of
 Southern California and the Northwest  Baja  Peninsula in
 Mexico.  Only  four young fledglings  were hatched  in 1969.
 The  number  rose  to 1185 in  1974.   While their productivity is
 still  too low  to  maintain population  stability,  their numbers
 have grown  steadily  since 1971.   The  increased  breeding  is
 probably due  to  the  availability  of more  anchovies  and  the
 arrival  of new birds from the. more successful pelican colonies
 to  the south.   The  higher fledgling rates reflect improved
 egg-shell conditions.

      With continued  strict control over  toxic  pesticides,
 all  four of these  once endangered birds  should soon be  a
 common sight again.

 Mangroves -- Father  to an  Ecosystem

     ^Mangrove  trees  are  an essential component  of Puerto
 Rico s sensitive ecosystem.   As the mainstay  of the  transition
 zone between the land  and  sea, these trees, which grow in
 marshes,  serve as  protective barriers in  stormy weather.

     They are  also a source  of shelter and  nourishment  for an
enormous  variety of  marine  and terrestrial  life.  Their  roots
form a tangled web at  the  water's edge to trap  sediment,
leaves,  twigs, and other flotsam,  which compact  into a  firm

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                             -1 17-

 surface essential  to sponges, sea  anemones, oysters,  and
 limpets.  Such  commercial species  as  the majarra,  jack,
 snapper, and  ladyfish spend at  least  part of their  lives in
 the channels  that  lace the mangrove  forests.

      The detritus  formed from their  leaves, twigs,  and  bark
 is  the basis  for  a food web essential  to the marine  community.
 Microorganisms  feed  on the detritus.   Marine and  insect
 larvae feed on  the microorganisms.   And juvenile  fish  feed  on
 the larvae.

      Many rare  and endangered birds  have been attracted  to  the
 peace and tranquility of the mangrove  forests.  It  is not
 uncommon to spot  a snowy egret, a  peregrine falcon,  or  a
 little blue heron.

      But the mangroves are in serious  danger.   More  than 80
 percent of them have been destroyed.   Of Puerto Rico's  original
 64,000 acres,  less than 12,000  remain.   And, today the
 remaining forests  are still threatened  by public and private
 development projects.

      The need  to  intervene was obvious  when it became known
 that  PFZ Properties,  Inc.,  planned to  develop  the 266 acre
 Vacia Talega apartment-hotel  complex eight  miles east of  San
 Juan.   Of the  266  acres to  be used for  the  complex,  170  are
 mangrove wetlands.

      The EPA saw the  danger and in September 1974, issued a
 notice of violation,  ordering  PFZ to cease  discharging  rock,
 sand,  and dredged  soils into  the mangrove marshes without a
 permit.   PFZ countered  by challenging  the order in court.
 And,  in  January 1975,  the case was tried  in the U.S. District
 Court  in the District  of  Columbia,

      The United States,  in  its case against  PFZ,  argued  that:

      - The  mangrove  wetlands  are navigable  waters  since  they
        have  "historic  navigability" and  are  connected to a
        navigable lagoon;

      -  The  wetlands  are  therefore waters  of  the  United States  and;

      - The  Vacia Talega  project  would eliminate  a  mangrove
        forest  in these  waters  vital the  coastal  ecosystem.

      In  short,  EPA lawyers  argued  that  the  mangrove forests
fell  under  the  protective umbrella of the Federal  Water
Pollution  Control  Act.

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                             -1 18-

      The court  ruled  in favor of the EPA.   It  was  a landmark
 decision, the first  to  expand Federal regulatory  jurisdiction
 to  wetlands.  Using  its authority under Public  Law 92-500, the
 EPA has succeeded  in  protecting the mangrove  swamps,  at least
 for the time being.

      PFZ has recently applied for a Corps of  Engineers
 discharge permit,  and a comprehensive environmental impact
 statement is now being  prepared.

 Yellowstone

      American tourism boomed  in the 1960's.   And  the  National
 Parks were overwhelmed  by  sightseers.  Yellowstone, one of the
 Nation's most raagnificant  natural showcases and the first of
 its national parks, absorbed  a  50 percent increase  in visitors.
 Each year, more than  2  million  people flocked  to  enjoy the
 natural wonders of the  great  park.

      An area naturally  unsuited for extensive  human use became,
 in  the  summer season, a burgeoning  population  center.  Yellowstone
 began to share many of  the  problems familiar  to the Nation's
 sprawling suburbs.  The overload on existing wastewater
 treatment plants and  sewer  systems  was tremendous.   And the
 U.S.  Park Service  faced a  dilemma:   how to upgrade  tourist
 facilities and still  maintain the natural state of  the park's
 waters.  The future of  the  park's pristine streams  and lakes,
 as  well as that of the  Yellowstone  River, which originates in
 them,  was at stake.   Something  had  to be done.

      In the  late 1960's, a  consultant evaluated the existing
 sewer  systems and  prepared  a  blueprint for a waste  water
 treatment and disposal  system.   The Federal Water Pollution
 Control Administration  made other pollution control  studies
 and  found these  problems:

      -  Continued sewage  discharge into Yellowstone  Lake;

      -  raw sewage  overflows from existing facilities;  and

      -  existing  treatment  facilities  not meeting established
        Federal  requirements.

      Once  the Park Service  had  adopted  a plan to alleviate
 these problems,  Congress authorized  $5  million for  construction
of necessary  pollution  controls.   Small  sewage systems  were
 incorporated  into  the existing  regional  plants.  Today, the
 systems serving  the major population  centers are complete, or
nearly  so.   Virtually all direct  discharges to surface  lakes
and  streams  have been eliminated.   Land  application of  the
treated  efluent  has been accomplished  with spray irrigation
and  rapid  infiltration.

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                             -119-

     However,  there is still  work to be done.   Seasonal
variations  in  both weather  and  tourism complicate
operation  of  the treatment  plant.  So EPA  has  offered aid  in
the on—going  construction  of  two new plants  to cope with
seasonal  loads.   The National  Park Service  is  also currently
evaluating  the impact of non-point source  pollution from
campgrounds,  motels, restaurants, and visitor  areas.

     But  preservation of the  natural beauty  of Yellowstone
now seems  assured.

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                             -120-

      TWO CITIZEN TRIUMPHS

      Often an environmental  victory is a tribute  to  the
 actions, collectively  or  individually, of citizens.   Rarely
 are  such people able  to  employ the sanctions of legal  authority
 or power of any kind;  they  must instead rely on a  tireless
 resolve and a will to  see  an environmental wrong  righted.   If
 not  for them, the work might not have been done,  or  if  done,
 certainly not as quickly  as  it was.

      Two examples shine  through in the recent history  of
 river clean-up efforts.   One centers on a big western  river,
 the  Willamette, and is a  tribute to collective citizen  action.
 The  other concerns an  eastern river, the Buffalo,  polluted to
 the  extreme,  and which now,  on the way to rejuvenation,
 stands  as a testimonial  to  the persistence of one  man  and  a
 responsive State agency.

 The  Willamette

      The Willamette, a giant of a river, the Nation's  12th
 largest in water flow, is  a  stream of great beauty and
 many  uses.

      Within its watershed  stands much of Oregon's  timber  and
 farm  land.  Two-thirds of  the state's population  lives within
 its basin.  And the basin  contributes an equal proportion  of
 the  State's industrial output.  It is a major source  of
 domestic and  industrial water supply and the mainstay of
 irrigation, navigation, power production, fishing, fish
 propagation,  and recreation  in the Pacific Northwest.

      Today all known municipal and industrial wastewater
 sources on the Willamette  are meeting Federal and  State
 environmental requirements.   The river is alive with migratory
 salmon,  native trout,  and  other game fish.   It is  used
 for every form of  water recreation -- fishing, swimming,
 boating,  and  canoeing.

      It  was not always so.

      In  the early  1920's, the  Oregon State  Board of Health
 found the Portland  harbor  area of  the lower Willamette
 severely polluted.   All industries and municipalities on  the
 river were then dumping their  wastes into the water untreated.

      In  1927,  the  Portland City Club called the Willamette
 "ugly and filthy."   It got to  the  point that construction
workmen  refused  to  work along  its  banks.   A study conducted
 then  by  the Oregon  Agriculture College 	  now Oregon State
University 	 showed  that levels  of dissolved oxygen in  the

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                            -1 21-

river  were dropping below 0.5 parts  per million at Portland
where  the  Willamette joined  the Columbia.   Five parts per
million  is the minimum desirable  levels to support life on  the
river.

     As  late  as 1967 the Izaak Walton  League was describing
the  lower  Willamette as a "stinking  slimy  mess, a menace  to
public health, aesthetically  offensive and a biological
cesspool."

     Sulfite  waste liquors toxic  to  fish were entering the
water  from paper mills and were lowering oxygen levels danger-
ously  close  to those lethal  for migrating  salmon.  Rafts  of
sludge up  to  six feet across, buoyed  by gases of decomposition,
flecked  the  river upstream from Portland Harbor.  Downstream
from Willamette Falls, globs  of stringy bacterial slime
attached  to  floating wood fibers  were  befouling the river.

     Oregonians, however, were not willing to put up with such
c ond i tions.

     The  story of active citizen  concern for the welfare  of
the  Willamette begins nearly as far  back as the pollution
itself.  In the late 1920's,  the Portland City Club surveyed
local  people  and found 48 percent of  them  favored anti-pollution
legislation  for the river.

     But  it was a decade before this concern could overcome
desultory  and  largely ineffective efforts  and be translated
into action.   In 1938, after  the  State legislature failed to
act, the Oregon electorate passed, by  a 3  to 1  vote,  a re-
ferendum creating a State Sanitary Authority and a compre-
hensive water  quality control law.

     Within nine years the first muncipal  sewage treatment
plant was  on  stream on the Willamette.   In the  next decade
all  cities in  the valley built primary treatment plants.
And  by 1969 all of the plants had been upgraded and pollution
from domestic  sewage wastes had been reduced by 85 percent.
But  still  the  river was dirty.  The main polluters now re-
maining were  the pulp and paper mills.

     What  was  to happen in the five years  following 1967  is a
story of collective citizen action unmatched anywhere.

     Cleanup of rhe Willamette became  a major issue in the
1966 gubernatorial campaign.   Both candidates were pledged to
it.  And the man who won, Tom McCall,  later personally chaired
the 8-month long water quality standard-setting sessions  of
the Oregon Sanitary Authority.  In that brief period  the
Authority  set  standards not  only tor the Willamette,  but  also

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                              -122-

 for all  the  other interstate  and intrastate waters  of  Oregon,
 standards  that were to be  among  the first in  the  country to
 win Federal  approval under  the  new 1965 National  Water Quality
 Ac t .

      In  1967,  the Oregon Legislature,  riding  the  environmental
 wave sweeping  the electorate, completely rewrote  and  stream-
 lined the  State's water quality  laws.   In 1969, it   strengthened
 them further.   By the time  P.L.  92-500 was passed in  1972,
 Oregon was already closing  in on the  target set five years
 before for a  revitalized Willamette.

      Since 1973  the  State has issued  the permits  necessary  for
 all industrial  and municipal  facilities dumping into the
 river.

      There are  no more sludge rafts nor is there  bacterial
 slime on the Willamette.   Every  "unsafe for swimming"  sign  has
 disappeared.   Dissolved  oxygen levels  have risen  above  the  5
 parts per million minimum in Portland  Harbor.

      By  1974,  record  salmon runs were  coursing up the  river.
 Crayfish no longer crawled  out on  the  banks  to die.   Bass had
 reappeared in  large  numbers.  Catfish,  perch,  and  crappies
 were  abundant.   The  sturgeon was as abundant  as it had  been  at
 the  turn of the  century.

      On  the momentum  of  this citizen success,  there  is  a
 continuing drive  to make  the river  a model  for the Nation.
 Plans  for a greenway  along  the river's  bank  from Eugene to
 Portland  are well  underway.   Work  is started  to further
 improve  the water  quality along   certain  stretches  of the
 river.   The State  and  three regional councils  of government
 are  now  addressing the remaining problems  of  urban stormwater
 runoff and  pollution  from agriculture and  forestry operations.
 The EPA  has already made  a  grant of more  than  $3 million
 toward that work.

      Wastewater  treatment beyond the secondary level now pre-
 vailing  in  every city and industry on the  river may  eventually
 be necessary  in  the fast-growing Willamette valley.   But if
 the past  is any indication,  Oregonians will demand it.

The Buffalo

     When  the  nation was born, the Buffalo River was but a
narrow, shallow stream emptying  into the Niagara.  It  was a
stream small  enough that it  could be worked with,  shaped,
contoured and  controlled.

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                            -123-

      In  1818,  it  was dredged deeper  upstream and  its flow
redirected.   A century later it was  straightened,  widened
further,  and  dredged still further upstream.   And  with
the constant  widening and deepening,  it  ran  progressively
siower .

      It  was  shaped and reshaped and  changed  into  the 1960*8,
until, during  the summer months, when  evaporation  was high and
precipitation  was low, there was little  or no discharge
from  the  river at all.  Indeed, it sometimes  flowed  upstream
as water  backed  into it from Lake Erie.

      By  1968,  the river was an environmental  disaster.  A
study  found  no oxygen and little life  in  it  throughout most
of its length.  One of the biggest concentrations  of heavy
industry  in  America straddled its banks  in South  Buffalo.
The river  was  so  polluted by steel,  chemical,  petrochemical,
and coke  plants  that its ink-black,  oil-befouled  surface
broke  into  flames four separate times.   It was poisoned by
oil spills,  phenols, iron, and unoxidized steel wastes, and
by nutrients  from municipal wastes.

      In  1953,  the New York State Water Pollution  Control
Board  held  a  public hearing to classify all  New York State
streams.   They were to be put in categories  frotn  Class AA
(drinking  water  pure)  to Class D (fit  only for agricultural
and industrial use).

      Industrial  spokesmen argued at  the hearing that a
classification between C and D was fitting for the  Buffalo
River  and  that Class C was unattainable.  What they  preferred
was a  classification that would permit industry to  continue to
discharge  into the Buffalo's surface waters  with minimum
tr eatment .

      In  the  audience at that hearing sat a retired  Buffalo
jeweler  and  realtor named Stanley P. Spisiak.  He  was not
new to the conservation struggle.  For 20 years he  had been
waging a  one-man  campaign against defilement  o£ Lake Erie and
its tributaries.   At the end of the  public hearings  he demanded
a second  hearing  in 60 days  to permit  a careful weighing of
industry's evidence.  It was granted.

      Spisiak came to the second hearing armed  with  support
from hundreds  of  people and  organizations, data from the U.S.
Public Health  Service, and the backing of the  Canadian Govern-
ment.

     When  the  hearing  was over the Niagara and certain upper
reaches of its  tributary,  the Buffalo, had been assigned a
Class  A rating.   That  meant  that trom  then on  the water

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                             -124-

 qualtty of  the  Buffalo had not only to be  maintained  at its
 current level,  but  drastically improved.

      There  followed  in the train of that one-man  victory,  a
 two-decade  long  struggle against pollution  of  the river.
 In 1965, the  City  of  Buffalo issued bonds  to  finance  the
 multi-million dollar  Buffalo River Improvement  Project.
 The cost was  to  be  amortized by the five major  industries  on
 the river over  a 20-year span.  The project came  on  line  in
 1967.

      In 1965, each  industry along the river was told  by the
 Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, an EPA
 predecessor agency, to submit wastewater abatement plans with
 a  target date of  1970  for  achievement of planned  pollution
 c ontr ols .

      Primary responsibility for locating the  sources  of
 pollution on the river and  finding the best ways  to treat  it
 fell  to Eugene F. Seebald,  the Regional Director  of the New
 York  State Department  of Environmental Conservation for the
 Buffalo area and now Director of  the  State's Division of Pure
 Waters.  In 1966, he surveyed the river by helicopter and  boat
 and traced the discharges.

      Seebald organized  a joint task force of Federal, State,
 county, and city representatives  for  cooperative  surveillance
 of  the  river --  one of  the  first  of its kind in the country.'
 The task force met biweekly until it  had  adequate knowledge of
 the nature of the pollution,  its  sources, and its effect on
 the river.

     Then,  armed with  a carrot  and  a  stick -- tax incentives
 to  industries that agreed to  build  their  own treatment  plants
 and legal  authority to  compel  pollution abatement if necessary
 —  the  Buffalo Region  launched  an all-out campaign to clean  up
 the river.

     Conditions  slowly began  to change  -- which was remarkable
 considering  the  degree and  duration of  the  pollution.    In
 1968, no bottom  organisms could be  found  over  half the  length
 of  the  Buffalo.   By 1970 dissolved  oxygen was  beginning to
 return,  and  pollution-tolerant  organisms  were  reappearing.
 Two years  later,  dissolved  oxygen could be  measured in  the
river at every  depty,  and a fish  was caught  in the Buffalo
River for  the  first  time in 30 years -- a sheepshead.   That
catch made  the  front and editorial  pages  of  newspapers  through-
out Western  New  York and the  Niagara Peninsula.

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                            -125-

     The waters  of  the  Buffalo River  have  now changed from
black to brownish-green in color and  are  growing cleaner.  A
new waterfront  city has emerged at  the  mouth of the river, at
Buffalo Harbor.   A  new  marina sits  at  the  river's entrance,
and a hotel  is  proposed for the immediate  shoreline.  A new
water-front  complex, including a tree-lLned  walkway and a
fishing area, now exists.  Midway up  the  river, a park wild-
life sanctuary  has  materialized on  the  site  of a former city
d ump.

     After  ten  years of water pollution control work under the
State's Pure Waters Program the river  has  gone from a "bad"
rating below 50 in  1968 to its current  "medium" rating in  the
65 to 70 point  range (based on a 0  to  100  scale).

     Today  Stanley  Spisiak can say:   "There  are substantial
numbers of  fish in  the  Buffalo River  now for the first time
in 75 years, even as far as the Harlem  Road  Bridge.  Why,
you can see  men from Republic Steel  and National Aniline  on
their lunch  hour fishing for carp near  the South Park Bridge."

     The river  is still polluted.   Municipal sewage is still
a major problem.  And the river's problems with residual  toxic
substances,  although under intensified  attack, have not yet
been eliminated.  But the Buffalo is  no longer the  oil-covered,
methane-belching, stagnant, and flammable  cesspool  it was  less
than seven  years ago.

     And Stanley Spisiak is a recognized environmental hero.
Newspapers  have paid him editorial  tribute and the  EPA has
honored him with a special award.   His  is a  classic case  of a
single citizen's triumph.

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                             -126-

CONCLUSION

      Progress in  the  environment has resulted  from  collective
effort.   In every case  it  has  been possible only  because a
group of citizens or  agencies  or industries has acted  --
often all of them in  concert.   For the most part  dischargers
of  pollutants have voluntarily complied with  the  requirements
set  by the EPA and the  States.  And the record  of compliance
i s  impr es sive.

      To  meet the goals  of  the  air and water legislation,
dischargers have had  to  reduce their emissions  and  effluents
to meet  EPA regulations  and  State Implementation  Plans.

      Figure 24 reflects  increasing compliance  by  major air
pollution sources throughout  the country.  In  June  1974,
there was 63 percent  compliance by the 16,558  sources  then
identified as capable of emitting over 100 tons per  year.
In June  1976, the number of  sources so identified had
increased to 21,948 and  their  compliance was  at 82  percent.

      Municipal and industrial  sources of water pollution
have  been issued permits limiting their discharges.  Most
permits  detail specific  steps  -- milestones to be met  --
towards  full compliance  by  July 1977.  Figure  25  shows the
level  of compliance of major municipal and industrial  point
sources  with milestone  commitments for different
areas  of the country.

      As  of June ,1976, about  86 percent of the  4,566  major
industrial permittees in the Nation were meeting  the mile-
stones  in their compliance  schedules. It is anticipated
that  more than 50 percent of the municipal permittees,
however, will fail to achieve  secondary treatment in 1977
as the law .requires.   That  is  primarily because of  a shortage
of construction grant funds.

      Some enforcement has been necessary.  Figure 26 shows
that  the number of EPA enforcement actions has climbed
gradually over the last  six  years.  Federal enforcement
activities,  however,  represent only a portion  of  the total
enforcement  effort,  since the  task is shared with State
and  local governments.   In most  instances, the primary
environmental regulation is  at the State or local level,
with  EPA personnel and resources playing only a backup
role.

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Figure 24
                INDUSTRY COMPLIANCE WITH AIR
                      EMISSION STANDARDS
                            FY74TOFY76
     ,76%
        83%
    FY 74-FY 76     FV 74-FY 76
                            EPA REGIONS
                          FY 74-FY 76
                                      FY 74-FY 76
                                                 FY 74-FY 76
                                                               82%
                                                            FY 74-FY 78
         KEY:   Percentage of major point sources in compliance
               with emissions limitations.   Major sources are
               those with potential emissions of 100 tons per :
               year or more.

         SOURCE:   EPA Regional Reports of June 1974 and June 1976

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Figure 25
                                MAJOR MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL
                                WATER POINT SOURCE COMPLIANCE
                 91  90
                MUNI. IND.
MUNI. IND.
                                      MUNI. IND.
                       MUNI. IND.
MUNI. IND.
           MUNI. IND.
                  KEY: JUNE 1976 COMPLIANCE LEVELS WITH SCHEDULES
                  SOURCE: FPRS JUNE 30 REPORI
                                      MUNI = MUNICIPAL

                                      IND = INDUSTRIAL
                 Note;  More than 50% of municipal point sources are
                       expected to fail to attain secondary treatment
                       in 1977 as required by law.

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Figure 26
                  EPA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
                 WATER
                 STATIONARY AIR
                 MOBILE AIR
                 PESTICIDES
6,000
5,000
                                                                     4,000
                                                                    • 3,000
                                                                    •2,000
                                                                    .  1,000
              FY71     FY72     FY73     FY74    FY75     FY76
                SOURCE OE, EPA-FOR CLARIFICATION ON ACTIONS SEE
                EPA ENFORCEMENT-"A PROGRESS REPORT"

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                                -127-

   The Future

        The  cases in this  report have dealt,  for the most  part,
   only with  the  Nation's  first generation of pollution  problems.
   Tomorrow's  environmental  efforts will  concentrate   on a
   different  set  of problems  with their  own unique and peculiar
   characteristics -- problems an order  of magnitude more  difficult
   to  grapple  with than  those of the past.  For some of  them
   adequate  techniques to  solve them have  not yet been developed.
   Solutions will require  imagination, commitment and  continued
   effort -- from the Congress, from Federal, State and  local
   governments,  from industry, and from  the public.

        The  EPA's experiences over the last half decade  demon-
   strate that,  in water pollution control, point sources
   are only  part  of the  problem.  Nonpoint sources are an
   even more formidable  factor, and there  will be a signal
   shift of  effort in that direction in  the future.

        The  Agency must  also  close in on  the  equally difficult
   problem of  controlling  the myriad minor sources of air  pollu-
   tion.  It must as well move vigorously  to  find new technologies
   and innovative ways to deal with solid  wastes.  It must  act
   decisively  against the  sometimes deadly perils of hazardous
   pollutants  and toxics in  the environment,  and against noise
   and radiation  pollution.   It may even be necessary to take
   steps to  abate pollution of the upper atmosphere.

        And ultimately it must look beyond  pollution abatement
   to  the  more sophisticated  arena of pollution prevention  --
   the identification and control  of potential  pollutants before
   they  actually  damage  the environment.

        These  are some of the  challenges that still awaits
   us .
°US. GOVERNMENT POINTING OFFICE: 1976 722-254/164  1-3

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