EPA creates new water pollution loophole

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will not regulate pollution that travels through groundwater to rivers, lakes, and the ocean, according to an “interpretive statement” posted by the agency. The move, of course, would let more than a few polluters off the hook. Pollutants from coal ash ponds, sewage systems, manure lagoons at industrial livestock facilities, and accidental chemical spills can all make their way through groundwater to surface waterways, contaminating drinking water sources and threatening ecosystems and wildlife in the process. The announcement is just the latest attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the Clean Water Act, including its proposal late last year to exclude numerous streams, wetlands, and other waters from the law's scope.