Clean water
Together we can protect the waterways that sustain our communities and our health.
Our waterways should be safe for swimming, fishing and drinking. But weak regulations and lax enforcement allow many of our rivers, lakes and streams to become so polluted they are no longer safe. This pollution, along with outdated infrastructure – like lead pipes in our schools – puts our health at risk. We need to work together to make sure our water is treated like the life-giving resource that it is.
The Latest on Clean water
Campaign for Columbia Sportswear Commitment to Eliminate PFAS Launched Today
Why is nobody talking about outdoor gear’s PFAS problem at Snow Show?
Updates
An underappreciated way to fight the opioid crisis AND keep our waterways clean
Featured Resources
Who are the top toxic water polluters in your state?
Get the Lead Out
Get the Lead Out Toolkit
Wasting Our Waterways
The Latest
2023 Hurricane Season resource guide: data, resources & interview opportunities
The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June 1 through November 30. This resource guide can help members of the media cover it more thoroughly and accurately.
Report: Polluters dumped ~200 million lbs. of toxics into waterways
Call to cut down water pollution as Supreme Court case, 50th anniversary of Clean Water Act, near
Advocacy groups, 48,000 petitioners demand Columbia Sportswear stop using toxic PFAS chemicals in clothing
U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) hosted a media conference outside Columbia Sportswear’s flagship store in downtown Portland on Thursday to deliver a petition, with more than 48,000 signatures, urging the clothing manufacturer and retailer to phase out the use of PFAS chemicals in their products.
Consumer advocacy groups launch campaign to get Columbia Sportswear to phase out toxic ‘forever chemicals’
U.S. PIRG Education Fund and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) launched a campaign on Tuesday calling on outdoor gear and apparel brand Columbia Sportswear to phase out the use of PFAS in its products and supply chains. Last month, the company received low marks in a scorecard report released by the advocacy groups. The report found that Columbia Sportswear has failed to adopt policies that ban PFAS chemicals or provide up-to-date, publicly available information on any ongoing efforts to phase out these toxic chemicals from their products.
Interactive map shows widespread lead contamination in schools drinking water
Lead contamination of school drinking water is more pervasive than previously thought, according to testing data from across the nation published on Thursday by Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund on a new interactive map. The groups urged public officials to take swift action to “get the lead out” of schools’ drinking water.