Waterways

A lot of people really enjoy living near water. There is just something peaceful and happy about it. Whether it’s a lake or the ocean, a big river or a small stream, living along the shore is nice. It is wonderful to be able to sit and watch the water go by. Maybe you remember going to a summer home on a lake when you were young.  

 

In addition to people enjoying living near the water, businesses also like to situate themselves there as well.  Their reasons for being along the water are quite different in most cases. Aside from a restaurant or a hotel located there for the view, many businesses usually want to use the available water as a resource. Some businesses want to take the water out from the source for use in an industrial operation such as cooling water for a power plant or for mixing materials in a paper mill. Other businesses want to use the water for discharging waste from the industrial operation into the waterway. 

 

There are very large industrial operations along the nation’s rivers and lakes. Taking a look at what hazards they could possibly be causing is a bit alarming. Even more alarming is the sad reality that in most cases these harmful emissions are allowed. 

 

For those who live along a body of water, there is quite a high possibility of being in the pathway of outflow from an industrial operation. It may be  from a sewage treatment plant, an industrial operation, or any other number of places that discharges any number of harmful substances into the water. 

 

Looking closer at each of these groups gives a better idea of what we may be exposing ourselves to. We want to make it very clear that living next to any type of water, while very pleasurable, comes with some inherent risk. It does not matter whether it is a lake, river, ocean or even a small stream–you need to be aware of potential sources of pollutants. 

 

1. Industrial Wastes

 

As unbelievable as it may sound, industries treat our lakes and rivers as their own personal sewers. They always have. Every year, millions of gallons of waste are discharged into the nation’s waterways from industrial operations. Everything from arsenic to acids pour out of pipes and into rivers, lakes, and any body of water large enough to be used as a disposal site. There are actually permits to pollute. Companies tell the EPA how much and what wastes they wish to discharge into our nation’s waters. The permit is reviewed and either approved as is or modified. 

 

The amount of hazardous chemicals the EPA allows industries to dump into our water is staggering. Over a four year period, permits were issued to allow more than 14 billion pounds of chemicals to be released into waterways. For larger rivers like the Mississippi or Missouri, for example, the length of the river system allows all of the industrial waste to multiply as it moves along further downstream. There are those who think dilution is the solution, but this is outmoded thinking used as a cover by polluters. 

 

Rivers pass through big, industrialized sections in many large cities. As the river passes by, all those factories pour in their chemicals and wastes. By the time they reach the ocean, most rivers are so heavily polluted with industrial waste an analysis of the water would read like a list from a Superfund site. 

 

This type of pollution on a massive scale has always gone on, and it likely always will. The only way it can possibly ever change is to force the government to enact and enforce stricter guidelines and regulations limiting, and eventually eliminating, industrial discharges. Unfortunately, at the present time and for the foreseeable future, that does not appear to be happening, so we need to be vigilant and aware. 

 

One of the worst disasters and examples of such industrial waste came from what General Electric knowingly did in upstate New York. They polluted well over 150 miles of the Hudson River in New York with PCBs. For 30 years, the company dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of this highly toxic chemical into the river from two manufacturing plants they operated. Traces of these chemicals are found along the Hudson River all the way down to New York City over 200 miles downstream. The chemicals bioaccumulate in the environment and the body, meaning they simply stay put continuously increasing in quantity. People are at the highest risk because of being at the top of the food chain. PCBs in humans increase rates of cancers. Cancer of the brain, liver, gallbladder, melanoma and others are all linked to PCBs exposure. PCB exposure in pregnant people may affect unborn children with developmental issues, physical issues, and deformities. For years, people in the Hudson area ate fish from the river, and many communities along the 200 mile stretch depended on fish as a food source. Nobody told people they were being contaminated for many years. 

 

The public tried for years to pressure the EPA and GE to clean up one of the worst stretches of river where there was some of the highest levels of contamination. Despite the fact that they dumped four to five million pounds of toxic chemicals in the water, GE mounted a public campaign of misinformation for years, telling people that cleaning up the wastes would cause even more pollution and instead, everyone should just leave it sit where it was. The EPA and public pressure, however, forced GE to clean up about 40 miles of the river. At least 40% of the PCBs are still in the river, and GE and the EPA are not willing to clean any more. Much of the river will remain polluted and a hazard to people and the environment for decades to come. 

 

A report reviewing the issue of industrial waste discharge in Michigan revealed that over 40% of the major industrial plants poured amounts of industrial wastes into Michigan’s waterway in excess of what their permits were for. Environmental regulators, whose job it is to enforce the Clean Water Act, were accused of lax enforcement, which risks the health of the public. In one 21 month period, groups reviewing the data reported to state and federal regulators that they had counted 196 discharges of pollution beyond what the permits allowed. Environment Michigan and the Frontier Group noted the discharges included highly toxic mercury and fecal bacteria. Both of these groups counted 70 instances where the industrial facilities discharged twice the legal limits. Three beaches along Lake Michigan were closed because of cyanide and ammonia wastes dumped by a steel plant along the shores. The worst part was the plant never notified the authorities about the spill. It was discovered by a fisherman who noticed dead fish floating in the ater and notified the local environmental agency. 

 

In another instance in November, 2017, hexavalent chromium, a highly toxic chemical, was dumped into a waterway leading to Lake Michigan. Federal agencies were never informed of the spill, and when a group of law students from University of Chicago discovered the report, not only did they notify the federal agency but also found information showing that U.S. Steel, the company who dumped the chromium, had asked state regulators to keep the information secret. 

 

In Luke, Maryland, a closed paper mill run by Verso Corporation is being sued by the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. Verso had been illegally discharging toxic waste from the mill into the North Branch of the Upper Potomac River. The discharge, which is called black liquor, is a hazardous byproduct from the production of paper almost all paper mills have to dispose of. At the Verso facility, the material is leaking from the site into the waterway. Testing of the discharge showed a variety of toxic chemicals found in black liquor in addition to indications of toxic coal ash. The area waters are heavily used by people to kayak, fish, and swim; in addition, several municipalities draw water for their public drinking water systems from the river. Toxic chemicals such as cyanide, arsenic, boron, and chromium are among those found during testing. As always, it is unknown how long the company let these chemicals leak into the water before they were caught.

 

2. Sewage Plants

 

Like industrial plants, sewage treatment plants use our waterways as an extension of the sewer system. Normal discharges from the treatment plant occur after the liquid wastes pass through the tertiary treatment stage. At this point, the liquid waste that makes up about 99% of all waste should have the levels of bacteria, solids, and pathogens safely down. Millions of gallons of this pour into our lakes and rivers everyday around the country. 

 

For those who have a sewage treatment plant nearby, chances are that there are already millions of gallons of waste flowing past. The beautiful area behind a house can be loaded with raw and untreated sewage and industrial waste. It would be extremely unhealthy for children to play in water that is loaded with so much disease-causing bacteria or chemicals. Even when the plant is not operating under overflow conditions and is discharging their normally treated water, it is far from drinking quality, and it still has some levels of bacteria and coliform unacceptable to most people even though it may be acceptable to the government. 

 

There is no way around the fact that a sewage treatment plant must have a place to discharge the treated wastewater at the end of processing. While Tony and I may dispute how clean it is and by whose standards, millions of gallons need a place to go. If there are any sewage treatment plants upstream from where you are located or nearby if you are on a lake or beach, you will be affected by this discharge on a daily basis. 

 

In addition, overflow events at sewage treatment plants are not going to end anytime soon. Discharges of raw sewage after large amounts of precipitation or snowmelt will occur on some regular basis. The treatment plants simply were not built to handle the volume going into the system. 

 

In Buffalo, New York, the sewage system would overflow during periods of heavy snowmelt and rain. This would cause untreated sewage along with toxic materials to be discharged directly into waterways. Upwards of four billion gallons of untreated waste flowed into the Niagara River and its smaller tributaries. 

 

Along the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, there was yet another major discharge from the sewer district.  Lake waters near the popular Edgewater Beach were the unlucky recipient of over 142,000 gallons of raw sewage and stormwater runoff. Everything appears to be alright, though, as the sewer district issued an advisory for the beachgoers. They said, “people should avoid contact with the water.” Apparently, the way things are is a significant improvement for them as the sewer district made a point of saying it’s much better than back in the 1970s when this would happen 40-50 times a year. 

 

A report was done by Congress for the Great Lakes Basin area on the combined discharge for all the sewage treatment plants using the lakes for their outflow. The report stated during sewer overflow events in 2014, an estimated 22 billion gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged. 

 

At Lake Nokomis, two of the most popular beaches were shut down indefinitely by health authorities on August 14, 2019. An outbreak of E coli was already suspected of causing three children to become sick, and high bacteria levels could make an outbreak of the bacteria cause even more people to become ill.  

 

Even the oceanfront and all its multi-million dollar mansions can’t escape the sewage. Officials are shutting down yet another New Jersey beach due to high bacteria levels. It seems raw sewage from a sewer line leaked into a nearby storm drain, sending tons of human waste into the ocean.  The effects of exposure to the bacteria Enterococci are fever, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, and diarrhea. The beaches in the area needed tol be closed until bacteria levels returned to acceptable. This was an annual ritual at the Jersey shore when I lived in the state. Like many beaches along the ocean, sewage is a regular visitor to the waters just like the beach goers. At one point, 47 health advisories were issued throughout New Jersey, effectively placing one third of the beaches at risk of being closed due to high levels of bacteria found in animal and human waste.

 

In upstate New York, one of the most beautiful lakes, Lake George, is plagued with E. coli contamination. The town was desperately searching for a solution as the elevated levels of E. coli started to affect the lake back in 2016. E. coli again closed down the shining gem of the lake, Million Dollar Beach, numerous times in 2017 and 2018. Million Dollar Beach is operated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The town tried to find the source of the contamination but even after fixing a broken sewer line, it still had issues. There was talk that some of the million dollar homes along the lakeshore were discharging raw sewage directly into the lake in addition to there being other leaks in the sewer system. Closures lasting the majority of the prime summer months were costing the town lots of tourist dollars in addition to having people coming in contact with the bacteria suffering diarrhea, nausea, and other health issues as a result. While there was no specific information on anyone needing hospitalization due to contact with the water before the beach was closed, many people may have been taken ill with lesser illnesses such as diarrhea. In 2019, Chuck Schumer secured a grant for Lake George to upgrade the sewer treatment after seeing for himself the contamination flowing into the lake. 

 

3. Industrial Accidents

 

In addition to using our waterways as a disposal facility with the permission of the EPA, industrial operations also have frequent accidents. Many larger waterways have storage facilities for chemicals and petroleum products along them. Leaks and spills are common. Smaller accidents usually go unnoticed and may be unreported. Larger ones, however, affect thousands of people and become a hazard to the population living on the waterway and residents who use drinking water supplied by the local utility. 

 

In Charleston, West Virginia, at least 10,000 gallons of a toxic industrial chemical leaked into the Elk River from a nearby chemical storage company on January 9, 2014. The chemical, 4-methylcyclohexanemethanol, is used by the coal industry in part of their operation. The main concern was that the water utility that used the river for a water supply had an intake pipe just a mile and a half below the spill location. Before the water company was able to issue a “do not use” order, the West Virginia Poison Center was swamped with phone calls. People throughout the area were reporting poisoning and health issues including rashes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and other symptoms. Hospital emergency rooms started to see increases in visits. Over 300,000 people are served by the water company now distributing the contaminated water through the supply lines. Exposure to high levels of the industrial chemical have even caused problems with the liver, kidneys, and brain in laboratory animals. 

 

In August of 2015 an accident at a mine in southwestern Colorado allowed three million gallons of contaminated wastewater to be released into local waterways. The contaminates included lead, copper, aluminum, iron, and several other metals. The spill was so massive that it polluted rivers as far away as New Mexico and Utah. There were sections of water that were turned a shade of orange-yellow from the metals in the water. The EPA apologized for causing the spill. Native Americans who drew their water from the rivers were unable to use them for months after the spill for drinking, crop irrigation, or watering their livestock. Farmers along the waterways polluted by the spill reported losing their crops and in some cases, animals were dying. The EPA claimed there were no immediate health effects to humans as a result of the spill however, people who were unaware of the contamination of the water continued using and ingesting the heavily metal laden water while it was dissipating . There were 540 tons of heavy metals released and a portion of that remains in the sediment along the waterways to be released slowly over time now. Health effects of this may not be seen for another decade. 

 

The beautiful Dan River runs along the border of Virginia and North Carolina. In 2014, just one month after a chemical spill on the Elk River, an estimated 82,000 tons of toxic coal ash poured into the Dan River. Along with the coal ash, a containment pond used by a power plant operated by Duke Energy leaked, sending an estimated 27 million gallons of contaminated water into the Dan River as well. Duke Energy has a reputation for landfills that leak coal ash and has had multiple accidents in the past. The spill contaminated the river with arsenic, chromium, iron, and lead, chemicals frequently found in the toxic coal ash generated by these coal fired power plants. The spill was only one month after the Elk River spill, which left 300,000 people with contaminated water for days. How the coal industry handles their operations raises issues about the dangers to the health of hundreds of thousands of people.   

 

At Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, over 50,000 gallons of foam-containing toxic chemicals known as PFAS went into the Farmington River. These chemicals, which never degrade but stay in the body and accumulate, are carcinogenic. Downstream from the spill, recreational activities on the river are frequent. People living along the river and sportspeople are only told, “Please don’t eat the fish.”

 

Knowing what may possibly be in the water you are looking at may take away a tiny bit of the enjoyment you have. Since I found out years ago what is in small creeks and at the beach as well, it has made me a bit uncomfortable at times. It also makes me more aware and cautious. When I use the water for recreation, I make certain not to get any in my mouth. Depending where I am, swimming in the water may be out of the question. 

 

Would I live somewhere near the water if I could? Almost definitely, once I checked out the hazards nearby just to be certain what my risk level was at that specific place.