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In 1948 Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (FWPCA). [14] The law authorized the Surgeon General and the Public Health Service to develop programs to combat pollution that was harming surface and underground water sources, but did not create any new regulatory or enforcement authority for pollution control. The FWPCA also ...
Groundwater pollution (also called groundwater contamination) occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way into groundwater.This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent, contaminant, or impurity in the groundwater, in which case it is more likely referred to as contamination rather than pollution.
The arid areas of the world are requiring more and more water for growing populations and agriculture. In the San Joaquin Valley of the United States, groundwater pumping for crops has gone on for generations. This has resulted in the entire valley sinking an extraordinary amount, as shown in the figure. [4] This has not come without consequences.
Environmental impact of fracking in the United States has been an issue of public concern, and includes the contamination of ground and surface water, methane emissions, [1] air pollution, migration of gases and fracking chemicals and radionuclides to the surface, the potential mishandling of solid waste, drill cuttings, increased seismicity and associated effects on human and ecosystem health.
The June 2015 draft report of an ongoing EPA study on fracking effects on drinking water listed a number of mechanisms by which fracking can degrade drinking water. The draft report noted among its major findings: We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United ...
The Clean Air Act amendments of 1970 (CAA) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments of 1972 (Clean Water Act) moved environmental concerns in a new direction. The new CAA standards that were to be promulgated were unattainable with existing technology—they were technology-forcing.
The Clean Water Act (CWA), enacted in 1972 as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, [1] regulates water pollution into "waters of the United States." [2] One of its provisions involves the regulation of pollutants from point sources (such as the drainage from an industrial plant) into surface waters.
Topsoil runoff from farm, central Iowa (2011). Water pollution in the United States is a growing problem that became critical in the 19th century with the development of mechanized agriculture, mining, and manufacturing industries—although laws and regulations introduced in the late 20th century have improved water quality in many water bodies. [1]