EPA urged to prevent sludge dumping into Potomac River

WASHINGTON — Citing flawed science, a dozen Congress members asked US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Christie Whitman to withdraw a permit that allows dumping toxic sludge from the Washington Aqueduct into the Potomac River. The EPA is in the process of renewing a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the aqueduct. Ninety-five percent of the Washington area gets its water from the Potomac River system, which is one of the many drinking water sources that are depleting because of the recent drought that has affected much of the East Coast. In a 15 April letter, the Congress members asked Whitman to withdraw the permit and take into consideration the findings of an independent peer review published by the Institute for Regulatory Science, Columbia, MD. The institute conducts studies, assesses the scientific validity of regulatory actions and evaluates the results of studies performed by others through the peer review process. Its review found that the study used by the EPA to justify the sludge discharges was "sufficiently inconsistent with established scientific and engineering standards" and recommended that the operators of the aqueduct be urged to end the discharges and construct a treatment facility. The Washington Aqueduct facility discharges all of the sludge it produces directly to the Potomac River, but the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers maintain that the discharges are within legal and scientific standards, according to the letter. "It is disturbing that the federal agency charged with protecting our environment would issue a permit for what can only be considered egregious violations of both the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act," said Radanovich, one of the 12 people who signed the letter. Others were representatives Ken Calvert, R-CA; John J. Duncan Jr., R-TN; John Dolittle, R-CA; Wally Herger, R-CA; Doc Hastings, R-WA; Tom Osborne, R-KS; Butch Otter, R-ID; John E. Peterson, R-PA; Richard Pombo, R-CA; Mike Simpson, R-ID; and Greg Walden, R-OR. The House Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the matter on 15 May. The EPA did not return calls for comment.