Here Today... Gone To Hell!

More than half of U.S. streams are polluted, with the worst conditions found in the eastern third of the country, according to a study by the     Environmental Protection Agency.

In its first-ever study of shallow or "wadeable" streams, the agency found 42 percent were in poor condition, and another 25 percent were considered fair. Only 28 percent were in good condition, EPA said. Another 5 percent were not analyzed because of sampling problems in New England.

Streams running in the East, from the Atlantic coast through the Appalachian Mountains, fared the worst, with 52 percent listed as poor.

In contrast, 45 percent of streams running west of the Rocky Mountains were the least polluted, the report found.

Streams in 48 states were sampled from 2000 to 2004. The EPA plans to extend the study to Alaska and Hawaii.

The survey found activities such as farming and logging helped raise the levels of nitrogen and phosphorous in the water, said Mike Shapiro, an EPA administrator who worked on the report, in a conference call. Those chemicals promote the growth of plants and algae that gobble up oxygen. That, in turn, kills aquatic life.

At the extreme those conditions could create "dead zones" in streams, similar to one in the Gulf of Mexico where fishermen have given up catching any live fish, said Ken Cook, president of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group.

"We passed the Clean Water Act 35 years ago, and this is the first time we've taken a look at our small rivers and streams," Cook said. "It took too long."

Cook also said that the report results could be extrapolated for larger bodies of water.

"The findings are fairly consistent with what we know about the larger river system," he said.

Source: Yahoo news


I'm not shocked to see that more that more than half the streams are polluted. It's just very sad to know that.   :(

Can't say I'm surprised, considering the USA are one of the most industrialised countries in the world. I'm quite sure the situation is similar in Europe.

OH I have to go fishing, get some poluted fishmeat!!! YUM YUM!!

not really......  in russia maybe....

yep. there are plenty of laws and regulations to protect the environment in middle and western europe...

I' d also say people here are more aware of the whole pollution and environment issue and most of them actually do care about it.

What does that mean, to care about it?? We have many laws in the US that prevent pollution, it's not as if companies are dumping waste into streams and rivers (at least not legally, though that can be said about anywhere).? The environment is an important issue in America as well, but people can't devote an equal amount of time and effort to every issue.? Some issues take priority over others and when you have people making up issues and exaggerating the issue it only gets worse.

check out asia..... Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonisa.. Malaysia... 100 percent are polluted.. so i guess we are ok... only half of ours are polluted

good to know the situation isn't that bad here. I wonder, is that because of all the different countries in Europe? let's face it, if the belgians pollute the river, us Dutch people get stuck with it. If Americans pollute a river, it's still an American problem. Anybody knows if that has something to do with regulations being stricter in Europe?

If there weren't so many damn illegals in this country our water would be clean!

yeah coz you know they bathe in the rivers right?  :hihi: