Sunday, December 12, 2004

Better living through sewage

In keeping with the notion that more is better, the Bush administration has decided to allow much larger and more frequent releases of raw sewage into American waterways. (The decision just happened to coincide with a $250 million cut in the federal loan fund that helps local sewage treatment plants upgrade.) Previously, federal policy has been to allow such releases only in extreme emergencies such as hurricanes and tropical storms. The new policy is probably illegal under the Clean Water Act.

How dangerous is it? According to a leading specialist in waterborne diseases the risk to swimmers will be 100 times greater.

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