A report calls the Clean Water Act an "unfulfilled promise" in the 40th year of the federal law that requires a permit to discharge pollutants into navigable water.
View of the Delaware River along Riverside Drive in Easton.More toxins are dumped into the Delaware River annually than all but four other U.S. waterways, according to a report publicized Wednesday by an environmental group that wants tighter controls on water pollution.
The report, "Wasting Our Waterways," compiled by Environment America, calls the Clean Water Act an "unfulfilled promise" in the 40th year of the federal law that requires a permit to discharge pollutants into navigable water.
It cites data submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and says 8.5 million pounds of toxins were discharged into New Jersey waterways in 2010, the 12th most of any state. It says 10.1 million pounds of toxins were dumped into Pennsylvania waterways, ranking that state seventh.
Those figures include 6.7 million pounds of toxins dumped into the Delaware River, which trailed only four other U.S. waterways.
"The problem is that government agencies allow these discharges to continue by issuing permits to pollute, a perverse interpretation of the Clean Water Act," Tracy Carluccio, deputy director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said in a statement. "This has to stop if we want to provide a healthy, economically sound Delaware River for everyone."
The data were reported to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory by industries that are permitted to discharge the toxins.
John Martin, a spokesman for EPA Region 2, which includes New Jersey, said the agency is pleased organizations are using the data “to make industries more transparent and to give citizens groups … more information.
"We do a lot of enforcement in regard to … tougher permitting," Martin said. "We're always looking to make sure that the waters of the U.S. remain clean and protect human health."
Bob Considine, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, said the department is skeptical of the numbers because the report doesn't say when and how the pollutants were counted.
He said the department "works every day to ensure that companies are in compliance within the rules of their discharge permits and it takes appropriate enforcement actions when they are not."
But the Riverkeeper Network and New Jersey Environment, which publicized the study Wednesday, want tougher standards. They're calling for industries to reduce their discharges, for the Clean Water Act to apply to all waterways and the EPA and DEP to set pollution limits that would get stricter over time with stiff penalties.
In statements, New Jersey's Democratic U.S. legislators backed the report.
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez said it "shows we need to do a better job using the Clean Water Act," U.S. Rep. Rush Holt said the report "should serve as a call to action," and U.S. Rep. Frank Lautenberg said, "Communities need to know what’s polluting their environment in order to fight for stronger water quality."
DuPont Chambers Works in Salem County, N.J., was responsible for more than 80 percent of the toxins discharged into the Delaware River in 2010, 5.4 million pounds, according to the report. Considine said DuPont has always met the requirements of its discharge permit.
The report says 226 million pounds of toxins were discharged into more than 1,400 U.S. waterways in 2010.
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POLLUTION RANKINGS
The U.S. waterways with the most toxins discharged into them in 2010, according to reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by industries permitted to discharge the toxins:
1. Ohio River 32.1
2. Mississippi River 12.7
3. New River 12.5
4. Savannah River 9.6
5. Delaware River 6.7
The states with the most toxins discharged into waterways:
1. Indiana 27.3
2. Virginia 18.3
3. Nebraska 14.7
4. Texas 14.5
…
7. Pennsylvania 10.1
…
12. New Jersey 8.5
By millions of pounds
Source: Environment America