Category Archive: Toxic Contamination

Mar 24

When a wet winter can be bad for water quality

For more than 100 years, coal was mined near Turtle Creek in western Pennsylvania. The river became polluted. “But that began to improve through the 1970s,” says Gary Smith of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. He says regulations and restoration projects led to cleaner water. Then last year a very wet winter filled abandoned mines …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/turtle-creek/

Mar 17

Why the Clean Water Act Is a Hard Act to Follow

One law has led to a scrub-up of America’s waterways. Dive in to the many ways rivers, lakes, and coasts have since benefited: Forty-odd years ago, two-thirds of America’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters were too polluted for swimming or fishing. When an oil slick on a Midwestern river caught fire, the public was fed …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/agricultural-runoff/clean-water-act/

Mar 10

That Watershed Moment When You Realize…

…that water in the middle of the country eventually makes its way to the ocean. No, seriously. Listen up: You might think that people living in the middle of the United States are very removed from ocean issues, but the reality is their actions have far-reaching consequences. It’s an interconnected world, so water quality problems …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/the-watershed-approach/

Mar 04

Microorganisms on medicine

When we take medication, some of it gets excreted in our waste. And from there, it often ends up in water. John Kelly of Loyola University Chicago says common pharmaceuticals can harm benthic microbes – microorganisms that grow in the sediment at the bottom of rivers. “The microbes are at the bottom of the food web …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/toxic-contamination/microorganisms-on-medicine/

Feb 26

Oil and water in the Straits of Mackinac

Every day, about 20 million gallons of oil travel through an underwater pipeline at the narrow passage that connects lakes Michigan and Huron. “There’s a lot of concern that this line could rupture,” says Mike Shriberg of the National Wildlife Federation, which helps organize the Great Lakes Business Network. It’s a coalition of more than …

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Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/toxic-contamination/oil-and-water-in-the-straits-of-mackinac/

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