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Pallone & Campbell Blast Bush Administration Proposal Weakening Sewage Dumping Laws

April 29, 2005

Long Branch, NJ --- With the Bush administration preparing to proceed with a policy change that would weaken the 30-year-old Clean Water Act and allow partially treated human sewage to be dumped in New Jersey's waterways, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell, environmentalists, fishermen and surfers all came together today to voice their strong opposition to the President Bush's plan, and urged him to reconsider the ill-advised rule change.

In November 2003, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed to allow publicly owned water treatment facilities to combine filtered but untreated human sewage with fully treated wastewater before discharge whenever it rains instead of only during periods of extreme weather. Implementing this policy would effectively lift the current prohibition on bypassing the critical second step in the treatment of wastewater, allowing more bacteria, pathogens, viruses and parasites into our waterways.

"The Bush administration should be concentrating on putting less sewage into our waters, not more," Pallone said at today's press conference. "Taxpayers have already invested billions in sewage treatment infrastructure, which has dramatically reduced waterborne illness, beach closures, shellfish bed closures and drinking water contamination. Under the Bush administration proposal, the successes we've witnessed here along the shore over the past two decades would seriously be jeopardized. We could see a dramatic rise in beach closures and serious impacts to our coastal tourism economy."

"As New Jersey is taking steps to strengthen protection of the state's waterways and coastal resources, we need to improve the aging infrastructure that handles our sewage," Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell said. "The Bush Administration's proposed blending policy, combined with the massive cuts it proposed in infrastructure funding, threatens to rollback progress in protecting our oceans and coasts. In contrast, the President's own Commission on Ocean Policy has called for decisive actions to strengthen ocean and coastal protection."

Last year, New Jersey had a total of 168 beach closure days, most caused by the discovery of contaminants found in improperly treated sewage. Sewage contamination was also the cause of shellfish bed closures late last year in Ocean County. New Jersey's economy is directly dependent on coastal tourism, with the industry supporting nearly 500,000 jobs and generating $16.6 billion in wages and $5.5 billion in state tax revenue.

Pallone, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and co-chairman of the Congressional Coastal Caucus, introduced legislation in Congress that would block the implementation of the November 2003 rule. The Save Our Waters Sewage Act was introduced in March by the New Jersey congressman and U.S. Reps. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Clay Shaw (R-FL), and Mark Kirk (R-IL) to prevent the Bush administration from moving forward with this rule change.

In February, Pallone also initiated a bipartisan letter of 135 Members of Congress that was sent to Acting EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson urging the EPA not to weaken the Clean Water Act in reference to sewage. The letter sent a strong message to the Bush administration that this policy change is not supported on Capitol Hill. Despite the strong bipartisan showing, the New Jersey congressman received a wholly inappropriate response from the EPA, and he and Stupak wrote back demanding a more detailed response. (COPIES OF ALL THREE LETTERS FOLLOW.)

The Bush administration could come down with a final decision on its sewage blending rule at anytime.