| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"NotBush2004" |
| Date: |
28 Aug 2004 10:26:34 AM |
| Object: |
The Bush administration's environmental policies are a disgrace. |
AUGUST 26, 2004
EPA Warns of Dangers of Sewage Overflows While Bush Administration Abandons
Plan to Prevent Them
WASHINGTON - August 26 - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today
announced that more must be done to prevent sewage overflows that threaten
health and water quality. Yet the Bush administration has proposed to cut
funding for programs to help local communities update their sewage systems.
The administration also halted proposed requirements for improving sewage
system maintenance and warning communities when the overflows occur.
"The EPA says sewage overflows are a serious health threat but the Bush
administration is shelving solutions that would prevent overflows," said Ed
Hopkins, director of Sierra Club's Environmental Quality Program. "Sewage
overflows pose serious health risks to communities. But instead of working
with localities to prevent sewage overflows and to warn the public when they
occur, the Bush administration is turning a blind eye to the problem,
cutting necessary funding for updating and maintaining sewage systems."
The Bush administration put the brakes on a plan that would warn communities
about overflows. In January 2001, the EPA proposed new requirements for
fixing outdated sewer systems. The proposed rule would have protected the
public from raw sewage by requiring improvements in the capacity,
maintenance and operation of municipal sewage treatment systems. In
addition, it would have required public reporting and notification of sewer
overflows. The total cost would have amounted to less than two
dollars-$1.92- per household per year. But the Bush administration,
concerned about the costs of the proposal, blocked the proposal and refused
to take any action, leaving people's health at risk and protections against
sewage overflows on permanent hold.
Further, the Bush administration has proposed massive cuts in funding to
help municipal sewage treatment systems do a better job. In Fiscal Year
2005, for example, the administration proposed cutting $500 million for
sewage treatment, a reduction of almost one-third - costs that financially
strapped states and municipalities cannot afford.
Sewage overflows are bad for people's health, the economy, and the
environment. The EPA's new report estimates that up to 75,000 discharges of
raw sewage occur each year from sanitary sewer systems, releasing between 3
billion and 10 billion gallons of untreated wastewater. That sewage ends up
in our drinking water sources, streams and homes. The threat to people's
health is serious and widespread. Raw sewage typically contains bacteria,
viruses and other pathogens that can cause a variety of illnesses, from mild
gastroenteritis (stomach cramps and diarrhea) to life-threatening illnesses
such as cholera, dysentery and infectious hepatitis.
Sewage overflows inflict significant health and cleanup costs. Experts
indicate that billions of dollars in health care are spent each year on the
estimated 7.1 million mild-to-moderate cases and the 560,000
moderate-to-severe cases of infectious waterborne disease in the United
States. The EPA has estimated that 400,000 basement backups occur each year
at a cost of approximately $600 million. Closing sewage-contaminated beaches
costs our economy $1-$2 billion each year, according to the EPA. Fish kills
and shellfish bed closures impose further costs.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2004/0826-10.htm
--
A pattern of deception
A hard truth appears to have escaped the notice of the public and received
scant attention from the media: Bush is the first president in American
history to use deceptive propaganda as his main means of communications in
selling his policies. His pattern of deception continues unabated and in
direct conflict with the notion of the public's informed consent that is
central to American democracy.
Walter Williams is professor emeritus at the University of Washington's
Evans School of Public Affairs.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/6378746.htm
.
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| User: "Werner Hetzner" |
|
| Title: Re: The Bush administration's environmental policies are a disgrace. |
29 Aug 2004 02:15:15 PM |
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NotBush2004 wrote:
AUGUST 26, 2004
EPA Warns of Dangers of Sewage Overflows While Bush Administration Abandons
Plan to Prevent Them
WASHINGTON - August 26 - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today
announced that more must be done to prevent sewage overflows that threaten
health and water quality. Yet the Bush administration has proposed to cut
funding for programs to help local communities update their sewage systems.
The administration also halted proposed requirements for improving sewage
system maintenance and warning communities when the overflows occur.
"The EPA says sewage overflows are a serious health threat but the Bush
administration is shelving solutions that would prevent overflows," said Ed
Hopkins, director of Sierra Club's Environmental Quality Program. "Sewage
overflows pose serious health risks to communities. But instead of working
with localities to prevent sewage overflows and to warn the public when they
occur, the Bush administration is turning a blind eye to the problem,
cutting necessary funding for updating and maintaining sewage systems."
Surely localities can tell when they have sewage overflows and do
something to prevent them. Surely they don't need Bush to tell them what
to do with their *****.
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