We All Live Downstream

Prevent Pollution and Health Harm Before Toxics Enter Our Water

The Problem: You’ve seen the reports on “gender-bending” fish in waterways around the country, and pharmaceutical drugs detected in drinking water sources… On the aging water treatment systems that spill raw sewage whenever it rains… And the thousands of water pollution or safe drinking water violations that go unpunished each year. For every “regulated” contaminant there are tens of thousands for which safety standards have yet to be set. Under-funded government agencies are years behind in meeting environmental cleanup, research and health protection targets.

Consider the latest on bisphenol A (BPA), the synthetic sex hormone found in many plastics. After years of study and debate, the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) finally took the baby step last January (2010) of classifying BPA as a “chemical of concern.” Meanwhile, BPA remains on the market and in products ranging from baby bottles and toys to water containers and linings in canned foods.

Solving these problems involves more than just updating a few laws, strengthening enforcement programs, funding more research, investing more and smarter in water supply and pollution treatment systems. All of these are needed, and more, but the system itself is in need of an overhaul.

The old ways of tackling one pollutant at a time and behaving as if water pollution is somehow separate from what’s in our air, on the land, in our food, in our bodies, affecting our health and that of the planet, are no longer up to today’s challenges – if they ever were.

The Solution: Look Upstream and Act Now to Prevent Harm

The “we all live downstream” view of things has never been more true than in our modern global economy and time of global ecological crisis. For solutions, we should be looking upstream.

Take BPA. Why delay, when we can protect children now from preventable exposures that are linked to cancers, behavioral changes, reproductive harm, heart problems and other illnesses? Get BPA-laden products off the market, and make more room for the safer alternatives that are already available.

Move away from our system of after-the-fact treatment and clean-up, which requires the conclusive proof of harm only us human lab rats can provide, before action is even considered.

Looking upstream means holding companies accountable for their products’ “downstream” impacts. Proof of safety should be required before any new chemical enters the marketplace, rather than proof of harm once the contaminant shows up in our water and our bodies.

Shift the focus to prevention, and whole new areas for problem-solving, innovation and green commerce open up. We can continue and accelerate progress toward cleaner water and healthier communities, even in the face of scientific uncertainty and resource constraints.

We can move upstream in 2011 and beyond:

• give the public full access to information on chemical hazards in workplaces and consumer products by closing “trade secret” and “security” loopholes corporations use to sidestep disclosure rules;
• engage in the first-ever overhaul of the broken Toxic Substances Control Act; and
• support state-level campaigns to protect children from preventable toxic exposures.

Together, we can re-value and re-invest in America’s Clean & Safe Water.

Everybody we know is in favor of clean and safe water. People get it that healthy, vibrant communities and local economies need clean water. We all want clean and safe water for our children and for the future. Clean water issues are the environmental issues that people consistently care about most and where environmental concerns cut across all party lines and other social and political divisions.

Yet the past decade has seen a shameful de-valuing and degradation of water. After decades of steady progress cleaning up the nation’s waters, communities have begun to experience declining water quality. The system’s ability to control harmful contaminants has been compromised.

It’s time to turn this around. Let’s restore America’s commitment to clean and safe water. Let’s reinvigorate our communities and economy by getting serious once again about our water. Let’s invest in a new generation of 21^st century water solutions and infrastructure that will create jobs, save energy and deliver cleaner, safer and more affordable water.

Let’s pursue an energy policy and global warming solutions that make water protection a litmus test for sustainability. Energy technologies that degrade our water need to be replaced with those which preserve and protect it.

The previous administration’s “no protection” policy endangers drinking water sources for more than 110 million Americans. Together, we water consumers have the power to turn this situation around.

Let’s start by fixing the Clean Water Act to reaffirm its goals for protecting all of the waters and wetlands of the United States, not just some of them. Then, let’s act together to end the destructive practice of mountain top removal coal mining, which obliterates mountains and stream valleys, destroys entire ecosystems, and devastates communities and families across Appalachia. Ditto for reckless hydrofracking schemes which inject toxics into our groundwater, mainly to fatten energy and natural gas companies’ bottom lines.

More people care more about water than about any other environmental concern. The Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act are among our greatest environmental successes. Every American has seen improvements in the quality of a river, lake, stream, pond, swimming beach or other “water place” that is special in their lives. All of us benefit from a system which still delivers some of the world’s best and safest drinking water. Let’s recognize the full value of this public resource and take steps to continue the progress that’s already been made.

Instead of giving our water resources away to multinational corporations, so we can then buy it back from them in single-serving water bottles, let’s invest in bringing our clean and safe water protections and water infrastructure into the 21^st century.  Doing this right will create new, good-paying jobs and revitalize local economies across the country. There is a role for every American and every community, from watershed to water tap. Every American will benefit, in communities from the mountains and forested watersheds far upstream to the urban centers and coastal areas at the “downstream” end of our systems.

This guest post is from Minnesota Clean Water Action organizer, Kim LaBo, whose work was featured on the front page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press last Sunday, February 7.

Have you heard?  There is a revolution happening.  A recent newspaper headline called it “The Chemical Revolt.”

Parents across the country are demanding that their children and families be protected from toxic chemical exposure.  They are tired of news stories about yet another toy or product being recalled because it had high levels of lead, cadmium or other toxic chemicals.

In response, parents are challenging the status quo and advocating for more protective policies.

Clean Water Action is proud to say we are helping lead this revolution.  From California to Connecticut, Clean Water Action is leading coalitions and helping states pass groundbreaking policies that protect children’s health. Minnesota took the lead by passing the nation’s first BPA ban, with Connecticut soon following. This success was possible because hundreds of thousands of Clean Water Action members took action by calling, emailing, or writing their state lawmakers.

Change is also happening in the marketplace. If you have looked around store shelves recently, you’ve probably noticed more items such as stainless steel water bottles, cast iron pans, and fabric shower curtain liners being sold.  These products are being offered because parents are demanding alternatives to the toxic BPA plastic water bottles, PFC coated non-stick pans and vinyl shower curtains.

Recent store offerings reflect increased public awareness due in part to Clean Water Action’s work educating parents about toxins in products and their safer alternatives.  From PTA’s to Early Child and Family Education Classes, our organizers are spreading the word about the health and environmental damage caused by toxic chemicals.  As a result, parents are making different choices with their dollars and thus driving markets.

Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund, along with state partners and other groups across the country, will continue to lead the chemical revolution for a healthy future by advocating for reform of our broken federal law, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and by organizing parents and other concerned people to take action.

While we can’t buy our way out of the problem of toxins in products, we can organize our way out!