A federal lawsuit seeks to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to set new water quality standards for a 38-mile section of the Delaware River, aiming, among other benefits, to help save the Atlantic sturgeon from extinction, writes Patrick Long for Yahoo! News.
For decades, wastewater treatment plants have been releasing ammonia into the river, causing dangerously low oxygen levels that threaten the Atlantic sturgeon and other native species. Yet, current legal standards do not ban this practice.
Established in 1967 – three years before the first Earth Day launched the U.S. environmental movement – these standards remain unchanged.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental group, has long advocated for stronger water quality standards. Its lawsuit has led to a pending legal agreement directing the EPA to raise the Delaware River’s oxygen level standards by June 30.
In addition to helping save the Atlantic sturgeon from extinction, a cleaner Delaware River provides vital benefits to other plant and animal life, as well as for humans, since it supplies drinking water to more than 17 million people across five states.
Read more about the federal lawsuit to set new Delaware River water quality standards in Yahoo! News.
