Post by Lisa Petrison on Mar 23, 2012 9:10:30 GMT -5
www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/environment/regions-rivers-are-some-of-nations-most-polluted-627667/?p=0
A report issued Thursday, World Water Day, shows toxic pollution remains a stubbornly persistent environmental and human health problem, and some of the worst waterways flow through Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
But that didn't happen. A report issued Thursday, World Water Day, shows toxic pollution remains a stubbornly persistent environmental and human health problem, and some of the worst waterways flow through Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
In 2010, the report says, 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals fouled 14,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 220,000 acres of lakes, ponds and estuaries. The toxins total was down only slightly from the previous year.
The report, issued by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, is based on discharge statistics submitted by industries to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory for 2010, the most recent year available.
The Ohio River ranked first among the nation's waterways for the most toxic discharges, with 31.1 million pounds, followed by the Mississippi River, the New River in North Carolina and Virginia, the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina, and the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
The Ohio River also ranked third for reproductive toxicant discharges like benzene, fourth for cancer-causing discharges like arsenic and fifth for developmental toxicants like mercury.
A report issued Thursday, World Water Day, shows toxic pollution remains a stubbornly persistent environmental and human health problem, and some of the worst waterways flow through Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
But that didn't happen. A report issued Thursday, World Water Day, shows toxic pollution remains a stubbornly persistent environmental and human health problem, and some of the worst waterways flow through Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
In 2010, the report says, 226 million pounds of toxic chemicals fouled 14,000 miles of rivers and streams and more than 220,000 acres of lakes, ponds and estuaries. The toxins total was down only slightly from the previous year.
The report, issued by the PennEnvironment Research and Policy Center, is based on discharge statistics submitted by industries to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory for 2010, the most recent year available.
The Ohio River ranked first among the nation's waterways for the most toxic discharges, with 31.1 million pounds, followed by the Mississippi River, the New River in North Carolina and Virginia, the Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina, and the Delaware River in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
The Ohio River also ranked third for reproductive toxicant discharges like benzene, fourth for cancer-causing discharges like arsenic and fifth for developmental toxicants like mercury.