Water Resources

Aquifer Protection

Clean Water Act

    • The Teeth in the Clean Water Act *   The CWA made it unlawful to  discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a  permit was obtained.  Which means a sewage or any water treatment plant  that is not permitted to treat and dump shale gas waste fluid….is violating  the EPA Federal  Clean Water Act.

*   _Laws and  Executive Orders_ (http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/)
Summary of the Clean Water Act

Quick Links
*   _PDF of CWA,  from U.S. Senate_ (http://epw.senate.gov/water.pdf)
(234 pp, 571K, _About  PDF_ (http://www.epa.gov/epahome/pdf.html) )
*   _CWA History_ (http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/cwahistory.html)
*   The EPA Watershed Academy’s _Introduction to  the Clean Water Act_
(http://www.epa.gov/watertrain/cwa/)  .
*   The official text of the CWA is available in _the United States
Code on FDSys_ (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/
collectionUScode.action?collectionCode=USCODE) , from the US  Government Printing Office

33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972)
The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948  and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. “Clean Water Act” became the  Act’s common name with amendments in 1977.
Under the CWA, EPA has implemented pollution control programs such as setting  wastewater standards for industry. We have also set water quality standards for  all contaminants in surface waters.  The CWA made it unlawful to discharge  any pollutant from a point source
into navigable waters, unless a permit was  obtained. EPA’s _National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)_ (http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/) permit program controls discharges. Point sources are discrete conveyances such as pipes or man-made ditches. Individual homes that are connected to a municipal  system, use a septic system, or do not have a surface discharge do not need an  NPDES permit; however, industrial, municipal, and other facilities must obtain  permits if their discharges go directly to surface  waters.

World Water Crisis

Local Water Sources and Testing

Developing Testing Technology

Natural Gas Extraction – How to Protect Your Private Water Supply

Water Supply and Drilling

Water Contamination:

Pennsylvania’s top environmental regulator says the state will sue a Houston-based drilling company unless it agrees to pay nearly $12 million to extend a public water line to at least 18 residents whose water wells have been contaminated with methane gas.

Environmental Secretary John Hanger accused Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. on Thursday of reneging on its promises to the residents of Dimock, a small town in Susquehanna County, where tainted wells have raised concerns nationwide about the environmental and health consequences of gas drilling.

Case Studies

  • THIS POWER POINT HAS SOME POWERFUL TESTIMONY. This Woman lives near Towanda PA and is struggling with all the issues of ruined/poisoned water for her home and kennel. She gave us permission to publish on the net. People like this are our neighbors, friends and relatives and it is simply not part of our American values to allow this type of collateral damage with this industry. Let’s think about the possibility of a witness protection program for these affected folks, so they will no longer be silenced by agreements with the gas companies in exchange for inadequate restitution.–David Walzcak, Sept. 2010

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