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While everyone was distracted by the impeachment drama, the Trump administration quietly muddied the nation's waters.
Trump and his Environmental Protection Agency gutted an Obama-era rule that limited dumping in wetlands and what are considered "non-navigable" rivers and streams. These limits are now imposed only on rivers that can be navigated.
That includes the Cape Fear River, which technically can support boat and barge traffic as far as Fayetteville, and the Neuse River. Lots of non-navigable rivers and streams flow into the Cape Fear and Neuse, though, so the exception is pretty much meaningless.
Further, the EPA will no longer require landowners to seek permits from the EPA for dumping. That means if there's any pollution we'll only find out about it long after the fact. Just as we find out that horrendous quantities of potential toxic "forever" chemicals are winding up in the streams we depend on for our water supply. That's not very reassuring.
As is often the case, these rules changes are being couched as a boon to that beloved and dwindling class, the Small Family Farmer. Farmers were supposedly being vexed by bureaucrats about their irrigation ponds.
The giveaway, however, was that Trump's EPA chief unveiled the new changes at a meeting of the National Association of Home Builders in Las Vegas. Some developers love to bulldoze muck and waste from construction sites into the nearest stream, out of the way, instead of wasting money to cart it off.
Some also love to fill in wetlands when they need land for new subdivisions. That's not a good idea.
We used to think of wetlands as malarial swamps, wasteland. Now, scientists see wetlands as nature's natural filter, sucking up waste water from elsewhere and cleansing it. Wetlands also act as the ecosystem's sponges, soaking up excess water -- say from a major hurricane. (A lot of wetlands have vanished in southeastern North Carolina. See what's happened since.)
In coastal areas, wetlands also support a huge population of useful wildlife, including seafood in its immature stage. We don't need to be getting rid of more wetlands, but it looks like that's what's going to happen.
In three years, the Trump administration has weakened or repealed more than 100 environmental laws and regulations, and has opened thousands of acres of former national forests and monuments to mining and logging.
This marks a radical departure from previous Republican policies. Teddy Roosevelt expanded the national parks system. Richard Nixon, for all his faults, founded the EPA.
Unlike tweets and feuds, these moves will have permanent impact on our landscape, our lifestyle and even our health. Voters will need to weigh this record come November. It’s not inconsequential, especially for folks who get their drinking water from some of the waters affected.
StarNews of Wilmington, a Gannett publication
This article originally appeared on Times-News: Editorial: Bad move for water quality
