On Tuesday, lawyers for the state of Vermont urged a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation that says the state of Vermont and the federal government aren't doing enough to protect Lake Champlain from phosphorous pollution. The suite, which was filed in 2008, names the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a defendant and says the phosphorous pollution limits set in 2002 for Vermont were not stringent enough and did not take into account any effects of global climate change. The suit seeks to force EPA to reconsider the limits they approved 8 years ago.

The Clean Water Network is excited to announce its next regional caucus, "Oil, Mining and Gas (OMG) Water Pollution in the Lower Mississippi River Basin."  The caucus, scheduled for September 15-16, 2010, will take place in Little Rock, Arkansas.  This interactive event will explore water pollution issues relating to a wide range of mining and drilling practices including hydraulic fracturing. The caucus will also feature a timely session on the Gulf spill disaster, to update participants on specific issues related to clean up and recovery.

Next week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will consider a series of regional watershed restoration bills. These bills will create or bolster EPA and other agencies' offices to implement restoration projects and guide smart land use decisions.

The Great Waters Coalition is calling upon the conservation community to weigh in with Senate EPW Committee Members and urge them to pass the following bills as part of a Great Waters Omnibus.

Manufacturing Facilities Release Pharmaceuticals to the Environment
Editors: This scientific paper is published in Environmental Science and Technology. The paper, an accompanying USGS data report, and related information are available online.

Pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities can be a significant source of pharmaceuticals to surface waters, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted in cooperation with the State of New York.

EPA Press Release

May 27, 2010

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is initiating a rulemaking to better protect the environment and public health from the harmful effects of sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) and basement backups. In many cities, SSOs and basement backups occur because of blockages, broken pipes and excessive water flowing into the pipes. SSOs present environmental and health problems because they discharge untreated wastewater that contains bacteria, viruses, suspended solids, toxics, trash and other pollutants into waterways. These overflows may also contribute to beach closures, shellfish bed closures, contamination of drinking water supplies and other environmental and health concerns.

• The Audubon Society of Rhode Island is offering a weeklong schedule of free guided walks at wildlife refuges acorss the state and nearby Massachusetts. More Information.

National Geographic's recently released April 2010 issue "Water: Our Thirsty World" is a single-topic issue that focuses on the challenges facing our most vital resource: water. The articles focus on water related issues from pollution to scarcity to water infrastructure management while covering everything in between.  In addition to well researched and written stories on water, the issue also features impressive water pictures, maps of the world's water resources and informative graphics on water.

The EPA has asked citizens from around the nation to tell them how they can better deal with the most significant problems facing our waters today.  As the agency responsible for implementing and enforcing the Clean Water Act, it is critical that EPA heard from citizens on the importance of protecting our waters.

The EPA asked people to go their web forum website and comment on three discussion topics - the watershed approach, managing pollution from nutrients, and stormwater pollution.

The EPA recently proposed numeric nutrient water quality standards for the State of Florida's lakes and flowing waters, including canals. It has also proposed regulations to establish a framework for Florida to work within to develop "restoration standards" for impaired waters.

On March 17th the US Environmental Protection Agency sought public input on how the agency could better protect and improve the health of our waters. In order to do this, they hosted a Web discussion forum on how we can better manage some of the most significant water pollution problems facing our nation. For the official EPA release, see below.

On February 24th, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) introduced the Columbia River Restoration Act (H.R. 4652) that will fund the clean-up and restoration of the Columbia River, the largest river in the Pacific Northwest. The Columbia River is plagued by habitat loss and degraded with dangerous PCBs and chemical pollutants that are detrimental to fish and wildlife, including many species of salmon and steelhead that are listed as threatened or endangered species.