Groundwater: a national strategy
One of our nation’s most valuable, yet least protected resources is groundwater. Approximately 50% of the population depends on groundwater for its drinking water supply. Yet, unlike surface water or air, there is no specific federal statute to protect it from pollution. Ironically, by strictly regulating discharges into surface water and air, other environmental statutes encourage land disposal of wastes and thus hasten contamination of groundwater supplies.
The problem Groundwater moves very slowly, often only a few feet per year; therefore, unlike surface water, acquifers cannot be “flushed” clean. EPA estimates t h a t 1700 billion gallons of liquid waste, much of it unregulated and of unknown composition, is discharged into the ground each year; and migration of this waste from disposal areas is common. Of the 16 000 landfills in this country that dispose of 230 million tons of waste per year, only 6000 operate under state permits and are therefore assumed to be “sanita ry .” The toxicity of the waste varies widely. EPA’s best estimate is that there a r e 32 254 sites that “may” contain hazardous waste in quantities that could impact adversely on public health or the environment. Of these,
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638 sites “may contain significant quantities of hazardous wastes which could cause significant imminent hazard to public health.” (For a more comprehensive overview, see ES& T, February 1980, p 38.)
ronmentalists also assert that groundwater standards, comparable to surface water and air standards, are needed (Tripp and Jaffee, Harcard Encironmental Law Reciew, Vol. 3, 1979, p 1).
Current statutory scheme
The EPA program Recently EPA set as one of its “highest priorities” the development of a National Groundwater Strategy. In October 1979, Administrator Costle convened a “Groundwater Policy Committee” to address the protection of the nation’s groundwaters. The elementary nature of its charter emphasizes the degree to which groundwater protection has been ignored in the past. The committee is focusing on four basic issues: the nature and extent of the problem current planning and control programs and what existing legislation can be applied the relationship between federal, state, and local efforts and how to best define respective roles the information and resource gaps. Issue papers are currently being prepared for a “Strategy Workshop” which is scheduled for June. This public forum will solicit the views of government officials, the academic and environmental communities, and industry. Publication of this emerging strategy in the Federal Register is planned for August, to be followed by public hearings, TV documentary showings, and publication of a final strategy by December 1980. While EPA is admittedly long overdue in formulating a strategy for the protection of groundwater, the delay provides a unique chance for interested parties to help hone this critical policy.
Federal jurisdiction for the regulation of groundwater currently lies in a confusing hodgepodge of statutes. The Clean Water Act arguably applies since it refers to the “waters of the United States,’’ but EPA has been reluctant to push its regulatory possibilities. The Safe Drinking Water Act authorizes EPA to establish drinking water standards and treatment technologies for public water-supply systems, and the agency has promulgated maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for various pollutants. The Resource Conservation Recovery Act of 1976 provides the basis for regulation of land disposal of municipal waste and “cradle-to-grave’’ control of hazardous waste. Various other statutes, including the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Surface Mining Act, add to the confusing array. Industry argues that EPA, by proposing to apply its MCL approach to all groundwater, regardless of whether it can be used as drinking water supply, is in practice establishing an unrealistic and unnecessary zero-discharge requirement. Environmentalists contend that EPA, by not focusing on a nondegradation policy, is ignoring the most practical regulatory approach. “High-quality” surface water and “pristine” air is protected from nondegradation, and high-quality acquifers should be similarly preserved. The ability to isolate acquifer segments would make nondegradation a far simpler process for groundwater than for either surface water or air. Envi-
Volume 14, Number 5, May 1980
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