Like clean water? Then you’ll love Rep. Bart Stupak.
Swimming in sewage just isn’t this fun.
For the last year, Stupak has been fighting a U.S. EPA proposal that would allow inadequately treated sewage to be “blended” with fully treated waste during rain and snow events. The messy mix would then be released into the nation’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters. If blending is permitted, Stupak warns, people will get sick, beaches will close, and tourism and fishing will suffer. Not only that, taxpayers will bear the cost of cleanup down the road.
“It doesn’t make sense,” the Michigan Democrat says. He compares it to a questionable cup of water: “Three-fourths of it will be clean, but one-fourth of it is going to be dirty. But the whole glass isn’t dirty; therefore, it’s all right to consume.”
Blending is currently allowed as an exception during extreme events like hurricanes, but is not practiced regularly across the country. The method bypasses the second and most important step in the water-treatment process — the step that kills bacteria, viruses... Read more
