Think the U.S. EPA is keeping tabs on water pollution around the country? Think again. The agency’s computer system for tracking and controlling water pollution is outmoded, riddled with bad data, and lacks information on thousands of sources of serious pollution, according to a report released last week by the EPA’s inspector general. Efforts to fix the computer system have been slow, underfunded, and mismanaged, throwing into question the efficacy of the agency’s entire system for administering permits for water discharges, the main tool by which it enforces the Clean Water Act. Shortcomings in the system could be allowing mining and oil companies and developers to release large quantities of pollution into waterways unchecked. “The deliberate neglect of this project is a perfect example of the Bush administration’s effort to dismantle the Clean Water Act with as little public awareness as possible,” said Daniel Rosenberg, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The EPA denies that computer troubles are undermining enforcement of the Clean Water Act, but admits that the system needs a major overhaul and that funding for the project is inadequate.
