Clean Water Petition
The Clean Water Campaign is a statewide effort to educate people about Delaware’s water quality and to secure support for dedicated funding. Clean water is critical to our economy, environment, wildlife, food source, and public health. So please consider signing the following petition to the General Assembly, which says:
Clean Water provides safe and dependable drinking water, locally sourced food, and recreational opportunities critical to Delaware’s tourism and economy. Much of the state’s waterways are polluted due to failing infrastructure, runoff, and contamination from chemicals. Funding for Clean Water should go to:
• Remove toxics & chemicals from our streams and rivers
• Repair and update wastewater & drinking water treatment plants
• Reduce community flooding & increase storm resilience
• Support sustainable conservation/agricultural practices
• Protect and restore critical natural resources like wetlands & forests
How about we petition state government to enforce existing air and water permitting for big corporations and fine the corporations accordingly instead of trying to fix everything on the backs of the middle class.
When RAM left office in 2009, there were 5,000 outstanding permit violations for the Indian River Power Plant. Each violation could have brought in up to $30,000, but instead, the state settled 5,000 pollution violations for $5,000.
$1 fine for each violation. Do you get that kind of sweetheart deal when you get pulled over for speeding?
http://legalectric.org/weblog/2690/
Clean water is not the “Delaware Way”
The state just approved an ocean outfall pipe for their sewage treatment plant. The only reason why the pipe is being moved out of the bay is because environmentalists sued to get it removed.
i dunno. this seems like quite an un-due burden on companies who dont have anyone drinking the water here. Markell will not let it happen, thank goodness.
lol. Well said.
The people in Rehoboth said they could couldn’t afford land application. The cheapest home in Rehoboth is a 600K 2 bedroom 900 sq ft modular on a 50 ft lot
I think ocean outfall is probably the least harmful as long as the waste treatment plant works as advertised. The problem is that during peak tourist months the treatment plant has been overwhelmed in the past.
It’s the same with spray irrigation and rapid infiltration basins. As long as the waste water is drinkable like they say, but as someone who has a well, I like this method the least.
Having the effluent discharged into the bay like it has been in the past is probably the worst of the choices. The inland bays are critical nurseries to all kinds of sea life, and because of the lower rate of water circulation, they are vulnerable to high nutrient build up, and the subsequential oxygen depletion that comes with it.
One problem that doesn’t get mentioned much is the fact that certain drugs and antibiotics remain in the discharged waste water.
The issue of clean water needs to be addressed, and I think recently these problems have been neglected due to environmentalism being sidetracked by pop culture and politics.
You do realize the outfall pipe is proposed to discharge right into…….a threatened species and an endangered species habitat as well as a shark breeding ground, right?
The EIS (environmental impact statement) clearly indicates all the harmful chemicals that are knowingly going to be discharged into the ocean.
Outfall is a bad idea. Is it less bad than the inland bays? Yes. Being the second worst option should offer little comfort to anyone who gives a rats ass about clean water.
Land application is not the answer for disposing of wastewater in Sussex County. First, it can’t be used for crops for human consumption, yet it can be used on feed crops. Does anyone think that having the chicken you eat as a middleman eliminates whatever bad chemicals are present?
Second, spray irrigation and land application were not methods designed for use in areas where the aquifer is 4′ down. It was designed for arid areas where the water is filtered through hundreds of feet of dirt, rock, etc. before it hits the aquifer.