9/26/96 Hudson Is New York's Most-Polluted River CLEARWATER CALLS FOR END TO CHEMICAL "HUMAN EXPERIMENT" The newest federal Toxic Release Inventory figures show that the Hudson River is still being polluted -- legally -- with millions of pounds of toxic chemicals. Over the reporting period 1990-1994, the Hudson received over 6,000,000 pounds of toxic chemicals, or 1.5 million per year. This indicates that ongoing levels of toxic pollution have remained virtually constant since 1987, after adjustment for changes in reporting requirements. These figures stand in stark contrast to the wording of the Clean Water Act of 1972, which called for elimination of pollution by 1985, and of most other American anti-pollution laws, such as the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and New York's own State Pollution Discharge Elimination law (SPDES), which stand foursquare behind prohibition of pollution, elimination of waste and contamination. Clearwater's major problems with federal NPDES, the law that establishes and requires permits for toxic discharges, have all along been that it legalizes pollution and ignores tens of thousands of potentially hazardous chemicals. When tradeable permits were added to an already weak law, the effect was to freeze toxic pollution at existing levels forever. We have seen over and over how a plant may shut down some polluting process, only to convert it to tradeable pollution allowances which are then sold to other polluters. This has turned a law intended to eliminate toxic emissions into a law that will perpetuate them. The New York Legislature passed its own SPEDES law to strengthen environmental protection in New York State, stating that: "...the discharge of any pollutant not identified and authorized by such permit...shall constitute a violation of the terms of the permit." But New York DEC refuses to exercise its prosecutorial discretion in the use of SPDES, instead preferring the much more lax federal version, which allows for tens of thousands of unknown, unreported chemicals to be discharged along with any of the 300-plus reported chemicals. In a recent landmark federal court decision, Atlantic States Legal Foundation v. Eastman Kodak, citizens were denied the right to sue, under federal citizen suit provisions of the Clean Water Act, for enforcement of more stringent state laws. Enforcement therefore falls to the state. But New York has no citizen suit law. SPDES is unenforceable, meaningless. And the pollution of our greatest natural assets will continue unabated. Clearwater calls upon Governor Pataki at this time to remember his promise to deliver the text of a citizen suits bill to the New York Legislature -- a promise unfulfilled. Clearwater calls upon the Legislature of this state to pass a citizen suit bill, and Clearwater is on record today as stating that passage of a New York citizen suits bill will be its single highest legislative priority for the coming year. A citizen suits bill will give the people of New York the power to seek injunctive relief -- not monetary harassment, but a simple order to cease -- for the torrent of toxic material flowing into the Hudson and other state rivers. Clearwater also calls upon the federal Congress to amend the Clean Water Act to allow for citizen suit enforcement of state standards that may be more stringent than federal standards. What NPDES and SPDES both ignore is the scientific uncertainty associated with the tens of thousands of chemicals in everyday use by industry. Currently, the few chemicals that have been tested are treated singly, with no attempt to examine possible synergistic effects in exposure to multiple chemicals -- which of course is the real world situation faced by humans and wildlife worldwide. Clearwater calls for issuance of additional implementing regulations in agency policy and practices so that chemical sampling and data are analyzed for synergistic effects -- the effects of multiple chemical exposure -- and for ecosystem-wide sampling. We understand that what we propose is a very complex task, but that is more reason why a planning and implementation process must be begun now. We call for a shift in the regulatory burden of proof from the masses of people with cancer and other diseases to the chemical companies that profit by others' misfortune. We call for an end to the worldwide chemical experiment on human subjects. For more information contact: EnvAction@Clearwater.Org ******************************************************************************** ******************************************************************************** DID YOU KNOW IT'S LEGAL TO POLLUTE? What law allows this? The 1986 Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act requires manufacturing industries to report on their use, storage and discharge to the environment of any of the 340 toxic chemicals currently covered by law. This information is then made publicly available through the US Environmental Protection Agency by means of a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Limitations of the Law 1. Only manufacturing industries of a certain size are required to report. One Congressional Study estimated that 95% of toxic releases into the environment are not covered by the Right-to-Know law. 2. Only 340 out of over 73,000 commercial chemicals are required to be reported. 3. None of the toxic chemicals expelled from publicly financed sewage treatment plants are required to be reported. Over 50.8 million pounds of toxic material were flushed into New York sewage treatment systems from 1990-1994. The EPA estimates that 25% of all discharge nationwide flow through sewage treatment plants untreated. 4. No one is studying how these released chemicals react with one another in the environment as well as in humans. 5. Each of us now has 500 or more manmade chemicals in our bodies. The chemical companies have the right to pollute your body, but you have to prove it's doing harm before EPA can regulate the chemicals. Welcome to the great global human experiment. According to the Toxic Release Inventory for 1990-1994 ------------------------------------------------------ New York ranked 18th among the states in toxic water pollution with more than 8.1 million pounds being dumped into the state's waters. The Hudson River Watershed ranked 29th out all US waters for receiving the greatest amount of toxic pollution with 2,136,597 pounds. The Hudson River Watershed ranked 22nd for the most polluted waters when direct discharges and estimated sewer discharges of toxic chemicals were factored in with 6,343,557 pounds. The Hudson River Watershed ranked 2nd in New York State for receiving the most toxic pollution; First in estimated discharges including toxics from wastewater treatment plants. A total of 403,053 pounds of carcinogens, persistent toxic metals, and reproductive toxins were discharged into the Hudson River Watershed for those five years. Hudson River Watershed's Toxic Ten (1990-1994) --------------------------------------------- Facility City Pounds of Toxic Chemicals Released #1 Finch Pruyn & Co., Inc. Glens Falls 1,104,505 #2 General Electric Co. Waterford 557,353 #3 Schenectady Intl., Inc. Rotterdam Junction 273,205 #4 General Electric Co. Schenectady 128,394 #5 International Paper Co. Corinth 31,323 #6 Encore Paper Co. South Glens Falls 20,650 #7 General Electric Co. Selkirk 7,418 #8 Revere Copper Prods., Inc. Rome 5,040 #9 Scott Worldwide* Fort Edward 2,800 #10 Allied-Signal, Inc. Troy 2,257 * This polluter did not report any discharges to water in 1994. Do You Want to be Part of this Human Experiment? ------------------------------------------------ What You Can Do! Write to US EPA Administrator Carol Browner urging her to expand the Community Right-to Know law. Mail letters to: US EPA (mail code 1101) 401 M Street, SW Washington, DC 20460. Write to members of Congress urging them to expand the Community Right-to-Know law and the reporting of more industries and chemicals. Send letters to: The Honorable (fill in) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 and The Honorable (fill in) United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 The Department of Environment Conservation has broad authority and responsibility under the Environment Conservation Law to protect human health and the environment. So, write to Commissioner Michael Zagata asking him to adopt strong, comprehensive toxics use reduction regulations that protect human health and the environment. Mail letters to: NYS DEC 50 Wolf Road Albany, NY 12233 Find out about the Community Right-to-Know law in your area

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