Causes & Effects of Water Pollution
What are the Clean Water Act & Water Pollution Solutions?
Dec 11, 2008
The Ask An Earth Scientist website, sponsored by the Department of Geology and Geophysics, the University of Hawaii, published an undated article by Dr. Ken Rubin, Assistant Professor of the Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822. The untitled article is an answer to an anonymous inquiry about causes and effects of water pollution. Dr. Rubin’s answer contains two subheadings, What are the sources of water Pollution?, and What are the effects of water pollution?
Causes of Water Pollution
Dr. Rubin says that there are two general categories for sources of water pollution, “direct and indirect contaminant sources.” He lists direct sources of water pollution as discharge from industry such as factories, refineries, and other production sources. Dr. Rubin lists indirect sources of water pollution as agricultural products, contaminants in the air, and “...gaseous emissions from automobiles, factories and even bakeries.”
Effects of Water Pollution
Dr. Rubin informs that the environmental effects “...unbalanced river and lake ecosystems that can no longer support full biological diversity (due to contamination), deforestation from acid rain...effects are specific to the various contaminants.” The medical effects are specific to the various contaminants, according to Dr. Rubin. The long term effects are described as “...organisms having bio-accumulated toxins from the environment over their life spans...”
What is the Clean Water Act?
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Act website, updated September 12, 2008, the author anonymous information begins “...The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States.” The article goes on to state “...the Act does not deal directly with ground water nor with water quantity issues... (CWA uses) a “variety of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to sharply reduce direct pollutant discharges into waterways...waste water treatment facilities...manage polluted runoff.” The Act is extensive, and readers can enter the website to learn more.
The July 8, 2008, issue of the Washington Post published an article, on page A06, by Post Staff Writer Juliet Eilperin, titled "EPA Enforcement Is Faulted". The article refers to a March 4, 2008, memo about EPA regulations, written by EPA’s chief enforcement officer Granta Y. Nakayama. Nakayama’s memo is about a 2008 Supreme Court ruling relating to two Michigan developers wanting to build on wetlands. According to the article, the court split on “...what areas deserve protection.” The article goes on to say “That left the ruling open to interpretation...what sort of waterway and accompanying wetlands should qualify for protection.”
Readers can visit The Green Media Toolshed sponsored website and enter their zip code to find out about water and other pollution in their locality. GMT was founded by Martin Kearns, according to the undated web page. GMT provides technical tools and resources to environmental organizations such as software for environmental communications, training and advice about how to use new communication technologies, and help for conservation groups to have a greater influence on media sources. Mr. Kearns has a Masters in Environmental Science from Yale University, according to his website.
According to the sources in this article, the effects of water pollution can cause serious health problems in humans. The Clean Water Act helps identify causes of water pollution and provides protective legislation,.but the EPA enforcement officer, Granta Y. Nakayama, says more efficient legislation is needed. Al Gore’s Climate Project website blames the burning of fossil fuels for creating environmental pollution, including water pollution. He believes in switching to 100% renewable, clean sources such as solar energy and wind energy.
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