Pollution in the Delaware River

Pollution in the Delaware River

It is important to examine the local environmental issue of pollution in the Delaware River in order to gain a better understanding of how pollution affects everyone.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is the "contamination of water resources by harmful wastes. In the United States, industry is the greatest source of pollution, accounting for more than half the volume of all water pollution and for the most deadly pollutants. Some 370,000 manufacturing facilities use huge quantities of freshwater to carry away wastes of many kinds (unknown, Columbia)." In 1996, the EPA reported that at least 40% of the freshwater sources in the United States were "too polluted for such basic uses as drinking supply, fishing and swimming (unknown, Columbia)." The Delaware River is one such water source, and has been dealing with pollution for years.

Dubious Honor

In 2002, when the EPA released its "Toxic Release Inventory that tracked toxic discharges in 2000, Delaware earned the dubious distinction of having a plant that emitted the nation's highest amount of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE). Motiva Enterprises, an oil refinery, had more MTBE releases than 463 other plants, and most of the 272,000 pounds of the additives vapors escaped from treated wastewater as it flowed into the Delaware River. Besides MTBE releases, Delaware also was among the nation's highest emitters of vinyl chloride, dioxin, mercury and chlorinated benzenes, with Occidental Chemical Corporation, a chlorine maker, ranked sixth nationwide out of 564 sites for mercury releases to water (Unknown, Clean Water Report)."

Problems With PCBs

There have been proposals to "establish limits on the amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Delaware River. The EPA has classified PCBs as a probable human carcinogen. Although their production was banned in the United States in the late 1970s, existing uses were not affected and substantial amounts of the substance remains in the environment (Unknown, Newswire)."

These proposals are to create "a 'pollution budget' which is known as TMDLs, or total maximum daily loads. It sets the maximum amount of a specific pollutant, in this case PCBs, that can be introduced into a river or stream without violating applicable water quality standards. It then allocates that total amount among all sources of the pollutant in the watershed, which must then reduce individual pollutant loads to those allocated levels (Unknown, Newswire)." The discharges into the river from the pipe and those from storm water are dealt with by the TMDLs.

Although the executive director of the "Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) stated that the Delaware River in 2003 is the cleanest it has been in decades, the presence of PCBs remains a problem (Unknown, Newswire)." The high amount of PCBs in the river have forced states to issue warnings about consuming fish from the river due to the detection of high amounts of PCBs in their tissues. The DRBC hopes to eventually eliminate these warnings by finding ways to lower the amounts of PCBs in the river. They are currently working with "Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and the EPA to develop the technical basis for four TMDLs to address four different water quality zones in the river's tidal reach, the 85-mile stretch from Trenton, N.J., downstream to the head of the Delaware Bay, and near Liston Point, Delaware (Unknown, Newswire)." While they acknowledge it will take a while to lower PCB levels in the river, they are already requiring plans to reduce waste be implemented by those who release PCBs into the water.

Failing Pollution Standards

In early 2003, in a ruling "that could set the stage for tougher pollution-control requirements along the Delaware River, state officials listed a 25-square-mile stretch of the waterway as chronically toxic. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control included the designation - which means pollution is killing or causing lingering harm to aquatic life - in a newly updated report on waters where pollution is serious enough to require federally mandated restrictions and cleanup plans (Montgomery)."

This designation has been challenged by the DuPont Company, which discharges wastewater from its chemical plants on each side of the river. The company feels there has not been enough evidence presented to earn the designation, and "warned that businesses could face unjustified restrictions on wastewater permits because of the designation (Montgomery)."

Officials argued that "recent research confirmed previous warnings to 1996 that the river only partially supported aquatic life between the Pennsylvania line and Killcohook National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey (Montgomery)."

Protectors

There are groups which are dedicated to preserving the river. One group is the Delaware Riverkeeper which "is the voice of the Delaware River and its streams, championing their rights as living members of the community, and is leader for the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The Delaware Riverkeeper and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network stand as vigilant protectors and defenders of the River, it tributaries and its watershed committed to restoring the natural balance where it has been lost and ensuring its preservation where it still exists (www.delawareriverkeeper.org/)." These groups have brought legal actions when necessary, to uphold state and federal environmental laws, in their efforts to reduce the amount of pollutants in the river.

Recent Problems

The pollution problems of the Delaware River continue to occur. On November 26, 2004, a stretch of the river was closed due to a 20-mile oil slick from a leaking tanker. The tanker "spilled 30,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the Delaware River between southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, leaving the slick that threatened fish and birds (Rubinkam).: The spill is reported to be the worst on the river in the past decade. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials "said 50 birds were dead from the spill and 300 injured. Two snapping turtles also washed up dead (Rubinkam)."