EPA Seeks Nominations for Contaminant Candidate List

Contaminant Candidate List 3 Nominations

EPA has started the process to develop the third Contaminant Candidate List (CCL3) to help identify unregulated contaminants that may require a national drinking water regulation in the future. The CCL 3 contaminant nominations process is an opportunity to provide information on contaminants you think should be considered for the CCL. The Agency will also accept nominations during the notice and comment period following EPA’s publication of the proposed CCL.

Source: EPA Waterheadlines

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2005 Adirondack Aquatic Invasive Plant Project Report online

The 2005 annual report for the Aquatic Invasive Plant Project is now available online http://www.adkinvasives.com/documents/2005AquaticProjectReport.pdf.

Click on Title link to view entire article. Thanks to Hilary Oles for the submission.

SETAC Journals Online - PERCHLORATE INDUCES HERMAPHRODITISM IN THREESPINE STICKLEBACKS

PERCHLORATE INDUCES HERMAPHRODITISM IN THREESPINE STICKLEBACKS
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: No. 25, pp. 2087–2096. Richard R. Bernhardt, Frank A. von Hippel, and William A. Cresko

Abstract–Recently, concern regarding perchlorate contamination has arisen in many contexts. Perchlorate has many military, commercial, and domestic applications, and it has been found in milk, drinking and irrigation water, and produce. Perchlorate is harmful at low levels, yet it remains unregulated in the United States while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency attempts to establish acceptable exposure levels. The present study investigated potential reproductive effects on vertebrates using a model fish species, the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Sticklebacks were raised from syngamy through sexual maturity in untreated water and in three target concentrations of sodium perchlorate–treated water. Perchlorate was found to interfere with the expression of nuptial coloration, courtship behavior, and normal sexual development. Genetic testing revealed that some females were masculinized.

Click on link to view entire article. Thanks to Jane dauffenbach for the submission.

ContraCostaTimes.com | 08/05/2006 | Streams full of pesticides from runoff

Streams full of pesticides from runoff
08/05/2006 |
By Mike Taugher
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

In their most detailed look yet at water quality in the streams that drain into the Delta, regulators found widespread pesticide pollution and compounds that have been banned for three decades.

Pesticides were found at 98 of 107 monitoring stations in the Central Valley. More than one-third of the time they turned up at levels high enough to exceed water-quality standards set to protect fish and humans.

The results are the latest from a program that, for the first time, is attempting to regulate water pollution in the runoff from California farms.

Click on link to view entire article. Thanks to Jane dauffenbach for the submission.

PA Increases Pollution Penalties

Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/04/2006 | Legislative Action

Yesterday in the Pennsylvania General Assembly:

Pollution penalties. The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee unanimously approved legislation to increase penalties for people who pollute the state's waterways. The bill would make intentional violations of Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law a felony and boost penalties to a maximum of seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Thanks to Jane Dauffenbach for the submission.

NJ DEP Upgrades Standards to Protect Surface Water

NJDEP-News Release 06/57 - DEP Upgrades Standards to Protect Surface Water: "DEP UPGRADES STANDARDS TO PROTECT SURFACE WATER

(06/57) TRENTON - New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today announced the final adoption of regulations that will upgrade the state’s surface water quality standards to achieve cleaner water statewide.

“With these upgraded standards, we can safeguard our public drinking water supplies and protect critical habitats for threatened and endangered species,” said Commissioner Jackson.

The newly adopted rules establish more stringent standards for more than 100 toxic pollutants to protect human health and a broad range of aquatic species. Discharge permits will be revised to ensure compliance with these tougher standards, which are based on updated scientific information.

Click on link to view entire article. Thanks to Jane dauffenbach for the submission.

Resistant genes found in Colorado water

Rocky Mountain News: Local:

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
October 27, 2006

FORT COLLINS - Microbes in the waters of northern Colorado are carrying genes resistant to antibiotics, a problem scientists and health professionals need to take seriously, a researcher says.

Amy Pruden, an environmental engineering professor at Colorado State University, found the antibiotic-resistant genes in the Cache la Poudre River, as well as in treated water and wastewater.

The genes are resistant to tetracycline and sulfonamide, antibiotics commonly used in people and animals.

Click on Title link to view entire article. Thanks to Jane Dauffenbach for the submission.

Alabama Glossary of Water related terms

Alabama Water Quality Information System - Glossary:

The following is a comprehensive glossary of water resources, water quality, water use and water management terms. In addition to the following glossary, we have links to water quality sites in our Publications and Links sections, which have specific glossaries.

Click on Title link to view entire article. Thanks to Jane Dauffenbach for the submission

City switches treatment of lake water

Napa Valley Register Online | LocalNews: "City switches treatment of lake water"

By JULISSA McKINNON, Register Staff Writer
Monday, August 14, 2006 1:14 AM PDT

After local environmentalists sounded the alarm on the city's use of copper sulfate to kill algae in Napa's main reservoir, water officials are switching to an alternative herbicide.

Members of Earth Defense for the Environment Now objected last spring to the city's application of copper sulfate to Lake Hennessey, citing the heavy metal's well-documented effects of decimating fish, frogs and other aquatic life. Like other heavy-impact pollutants, copper accumulates in higher concentrations as it moves up the food chain.

The group also protested the fact that the water division had not conducted a review of copper sulfate's environmental effects after the city asserted that the impact of a decade's worth of copper sulfate use was negligible. After EDEN contested that claim, the city stopped using copper sulfate, and has yet to decide whether it will resume, according to Phil Brun, general manager of the city's water division.

In the meantime, the city plans to try a new algaecide -- PAK-27 -- to eradicate the lake's green goo.

Click on link to view entire article. Thanks to David Rosenthall for the submission

Open space cash may go for water projects

PoughkeepsieJournal.com - Open space cash may go for water projects: "Open space cash may go for water projects" August 10 2006
By Dan Shapley
Poughkeepsie Journal

The Dutchess County Legislature may spend money originally earmarked for open space preservation on a variety of drinking water protection projects.

The proposal would amend the county's Partnership for Manageable Growth so Dutchess could grant towns money to draft or implement water source protection plans or well-testing initiatives.

Towns would be eligible for up to $10,000, or $25,000 for intermunicipal projects, assuming the county share doesn't exceed 50 percent of the total cost, and the town contributes at least 15 percent.

The plan has bipartisan support and will be up for a vote Monday. The Environment Committee unanimously approved it Wednesday.

'It is certainly the next step in protecting our farmland ... and revitalizing our communities,' said Noreen Reilly, R-Hyde Park.

Thanks to David Rosenthall for the submission.