Donate Now
Connect
Explore Your Community
Discover the Issues
Anacostia Restoration Fund Survives Threat of Budget Grab
Chesapeake Currents|online, Summer 2010
Last year, with the help of Clean Water Action members, the District set up a new fund supported by a fee on plastic and paper bags to help restore the Anacostia River and other District waterways. However, within a few months, this fund was threatened by proposals to raid the money to support other programs. One of the many positive aspects of the legislation that imposed a fee on bags was that it would generate money for river clean-up efforts, and thus provide funding during challenging fiscal times.
Chesapeake Currents|online, Summer 2010
Tell the EPA to Keep Stormwater Out of DC's Rivers
What is the greatest threat polluting the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek? The answer may surprise you. It is not industrial waste or piles of trash.
It's runoff of stormwater after heavy rains.
Unfortunately, this problem often goes unnoticed for the simple fact that we can't see it. During rain storms (or when our recent dumping of snow melts) water rushes off all of our paved surfaces taking much of the untreated oil, sediment, trash and other pollutants into our storm drains and the combined sewer/stormwater system which empty directly into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
Unlike the pollution that can more easily be controlled from a single source (waste discharged from an industrial building or construction site) stormwater is more difficult to control and thus requires a comprehensive solution.
The problem is that two-thirds of the District have an inadequate stormwater drainage system that uses old approaches to rush water away from our neighborhoods and streets as fast as possible towards DC's creeks and rivers.
Fortunately, new water management solutions can reduce and even eliminate stormwater pollution.
Take action now: Urge the EPA to issue the strongest stormwater permit possible for DC. Help protect the Potomac, Rock Creek, and the Anacostia from this hidden pollutant.
Ask Your Legislators to Pass the Safe Cosmetics Act
What are all those chemicals in your shampoo? Your lipstick? your aftershave? And what do they have to do with asthma, breast cancer and learning disabilities?
Learn, share and help change this toxic mess: Watch The Story of Cosmetics, a 8-minute film exposing the ugly truth about personal care products - brought to you by Clean Water Action, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff Project and Free Range Studios, and take action to help pass the Safe Cosmetics Act.
Tell the EPA to Keep Stormwater Out of DC's Rivers
What is the greatest threat polluting the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers and Rock Creek? The answer may surprise you. It is not industrial waste or piles of trash.
It's runoff of stormwater after heavy rains.
Unfortunately, this problem often goes unnoticed for the simple fact that we can't see it. During rain storms (or when our recent dumping of snow melts) water rushes off all of our paved surfaces taking much of the untreated oil, sediment, trash and other pollutants into our storm drains and the combined sewer/stormwater system which empty directly into the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.
Unlike the pollution that can more easily be controlled from a single source (waste discharged from an industrial building or construction site) stormwater is more difficult to control and thus requires a comprehensive solution.
The problem is that two-thirds of the District have an inadequate stormwater drainage system that uses old approaches to rush water away from our neighborhoods and streets as fast as possible towards DC's creeks and rivers.
Fortunately, new water management solutions can reduce and even eliminate stormwater pollution.
Take action now: Urge the EPA to issue the strongest stormwater permit possible for DC. Help protect the Potomac, Rock Creek, and the Anacostia from this hidden pollutant.
Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake
In 1983, 1987 and 2000, Maryland Governors and their counterparts in Virginia, the District of Columbia and other jurisdictions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed signed formal agreements that set timelines for cleaning up the Bay. The most recent agreement called for deadlines that were to be met by 2010. That deadline will not be met. Clean Water Action supported the strongest possible version of this latest agreement, understanding that we would continue fighting for the enforcement of the Clean Water Act as the likeliest means restoring the Bay.