50 Years After the James River Disaster, Clean Water Protections Are Under Siege

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of one of the worst environmental disasters in history. Virginia’s James River was closed to fishing from Richmond downstream to the Chesapeake Bay, after manufacturers poisoned the once-fertile waters with a harmful chemical called kepone.

Senior attorney Jon Devine, director of freshwater ecosystems for NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), made the following statement:

“The kepone disaster was a national wake-up call. It summoned public officials from both parties to action—a generation of commonsense safeguards to protect our waters and our health. Now those needed protections are under siege from the administration, the courts, and Congress. The quality of our drinking water and the health of waterways like the James are again under threat. 

“Today, we recall the devastating impact and lasting consequences that come from failing to protect our waters. It’s time to stand up to attacks on our waters and all they support and to strengthen clean water protections.”

Background

Beginning on December 17, 1975, the lower James and its tributaries were off-limits to recreational anglers and commercial fishermen for 13 years while a dangerous contamination settled into the riverbed and adjacent wetlands. In the decades since, federal environmental safeguards have been strengthened to protect against similar disasters. Those needed protections, though, are under siege.

• The Trump administration has taken a wrecking ball to the Clean Water Act and is working to weaken standards to protect drinking water from forever chemicals, coal-fired power plants, and pollution from meat and poultry plants.
• The U.S. Supreme Court’s disastrous 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA has exposed millions of miles of U.S. streams and tens of millions of acres of wetlands to the risk of pollution and destruction.
• And, just last week, the House of Representatives voted for dirty water in passing a panoply of assaults on the Clean Water Act, in the guise of so-called permitting reform.
• The Trump administration’s attacks on fresh water and drinking water are chronicled in this NRDC report here, along with the administration’s broader assault on the environment and public health.
• An authoritative NRDC report documenting the damage from the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision is here.
• The vote tally from House passage last week of the so-called permitting reform bills can be found here.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).