Survey Shows Serious Need to Protect the Ohio from Increased Pollution

Millions of people use the Ohio River for fishing, swimming, and boating according to a survey carried out by the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO).

What’s alarming is that people responding to the survey said they were not deterred from these activities within 48 hours of a rain event, when bacteria levels are often elevated due to polluted runoff and combined sewers that overflow.

ORSANCO commissioned the survey following the public’s resistance to a 2006 proposal to allow more bacteria into the Ohio River following a rain event, under the assumption that the public does not recreate during this time. The resistance was thanks in large part to an awareness campaign carried out by KWA and allies. 

“The survey underscores what we’ve known for years, that recreation and fish consumption along the Ohio River is increasing. We all need to work together to find ways to keep bacteria and other toxins out of the water,” said Judy Petersen, executive director, Kentucky Waterways Alliance.

ORSANCO recently released the survey at a series of public education meetings for a proposed 2010 accelerated review of Pollution Control Standards. ORSANCO sets these standards for industrial and municipal waste water discharges to the Ohio. The standards designate specific uses for the Ohio, and establish guidelines to ensure that the river is capable of supporting these uses.

They plan to propose several new revisions to standards, one of which KWA opposes: “changes to the use of variance procedures.” This particular revision has been pushed heavily by the coal power industry. Coal plants have recently been required to install air stack scrubbers to comply with the Clean Air Act. Scrubbers are regularly washed off, creating wash water that contains all the toxic chemicals released from burning coal. These facilities are now seeking water discharge permits for their scrubber wash water, but claim they cannot adequately treat their discharges for certain toxins, primarily mercury, although treatment technologies have been available for these toxins for decades.

The proposed revision would allow the legal dumping of mercury and other toxins into a river that already shows high levels of mercury in water and fish tissue samples. Mercury is especially dangerous to children and women of child bearing age due to links in birth and developmental effects.

ORSANCO plans to conduct additional public meetings in October before approving revisions. Contact Jason Flickner for more information and to find out how you can act for a safe Ohio River.