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 This pollution, along with outdated infrastructure – like lead pipes in our schools – puts our health at risk.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
The military is ending the use of PFAS. Why that’s a win for kids’ health.
48,000 signers urge Columbia Sportswear to live up to its sustainability values by banning toxic PFAS
Updates
U.S. House takes crucial step toward cleaning up toxic ‘forever chemicals’
An underappreciated way to fight the opioid crisis AND keep our waterways clean
Toxic waste cleanups are lagging. We need polluters to pay to clean up their messes.
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
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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
Reinstated ‘polluter pays’ tax goes into effect, protecting Americans from toxic waste
A chemical excise tax to fund Superfund toxic waste site cleanups nationwide will go into effect on Friday, reinstating one of several “polluter pays” taxes that had been allowed to lapse 26 years ago. The EPA’s Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up the country’s most hazardous waste sites.
Statement: EPA advises stronger limits on levels of toxic PFAS chemicals to protect Americans’ health
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled on Wednesday new health advisories for four of the most common toxic PFAS chemicals that pollute drinking water nationwide. These official EPA actions “provide technical information to drinking water system operators, as well as federal, state, Tribal, and local officials, on the health effects, analytical methods, and treatment technologies associated with drinking water contaminants.”
Statement: Congress should pass legislation to protect drinking water from PFAS contamination
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire introduced the Clean Water Standards for PFAS 2.0 Act into the Senate and the House this week. The bill would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish limits on how much PFAS chemicals producers can dump into waterways and to set water quality criteria to protect human health.
