Congress must act to keep coastal waters free from sewage
On March 10 and 11, the Surfrider Foundation will host virtual meetings between Surfrider activists from around the country and the members of Congress that represent them. Funding for wastewater improvements and enhanced coastal resilience is a top agenda item. Sadly, many water men and women can relay appalling personal experiences in describing the dangers that inadequately treated sewage and runoff pose to surfers and coastal ecosystems. Their experiences include serious illnesses from sewage-borne pathogens, toxic algal blooms and economic hardships from beach closures.
Sewage is a ubiquitous source of pollution and contamination throughout the U.S. Inadequate sewage treatment and routine leaks are in large part due to aging infrastructure and outdated technology. These include traditional septic tanks and cesspools, as well as larger scale treatment plants and supporting collection systems that in some cases are more than a century old.
Climate change is making the problems worse. Pollution is particularly acute in coastal waters, where rising seas, elevated lake levels and more intense rainfall events, such as wetter hurricanes, routinely overwhelm sewage collection and treatment systems. These events also flush effluent from cesspools and septic systems into ground and surface waters. The high concentrations of nutrient pollution in sewage fuel harmful algal blooms, while the effluent spreads dangerous pathogens into our waterways. Mass wildlife die-offs and human health issues from exacerbated algal blooms are unacceptable. So are the mounting threats that a day at the beach could result in the stomach flu, skin rashes, pink eye, respiratory infections or worse. And yet month after month, year after year, these avoidable catastrophes continue. Our communities deserve better.
Pollution at recreational beaches costs the U.S. economy more than $2.2 billion and results in 20,000 health advisories annually. This pollution drives visitors away from tourism-dependent coastal towns, severely impacting brick-and-mortar businesses that depend upon surfers and other beachgoers for their revenue.
Our organizations support a four-pronged approach to tackling American’s sewage crisis:
■ Robust funding to execute beach water quality testing that will identify hotspots and keep beachgoers safe through the EPA BEACH Act
■ Sufficient public funding for sewage infrastructure improvements
■ Laws enforced at local, state and federal levels to protect clean water
■ Legal action and transparency by enforcement agencies when necessary to address noncompliance issues.
Congress must act. The National Society of Civil Engineers estimates that our nation faces a $271 billion backlog in badly needed wastewater infrastructure investments. We recognize the need for cost-sharing by local, state and federal partners. That’s why we suggest that Congress significantly increases funding for the EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. Congress can provide this critical funding to upgrade wastewater infrastructure while also boosting the economy and creating quality jobs for American workers of diverse races and ethnicities through an economic and infrastructure stimulus package that prioritizes wastewater infrastructure. An annual investment of $10 billion for 10 years would help fund this backlog, building equity and equitability back into communities — frequently minority communities — that often bear the burden of sewage pollution. The economic benefits of investing in water infrastructure, both directly and indirectly, far outweigh the cost, with every $1 in water investments resulting in $2.4 in economic returns to our nation.
All people deserve water that is clean and free from sewage contamination. We must rebuild America’s wastewater infrastructure so that it can meet the challenges of increasing coastal populations and climate change, while protecting public health and our nation’s coastlines and waterways.