REPORT: Clean Water Act Violations Occur Routinely

Cookie Control

This site uses cookies to store information on your computer.

Some cookies on this site are essential, and the site won't work as expected without them. These cookies are set when you submit a form, login or interact with the site by doing something that goes beyond clicking on simple links.

We also use some non-essential cookies to anonymously track visitors or enhance your experience of the site. If you're not happy with this, we won't set these cookies but some nice features of the site may be unavailable.

By using our site you accept the terms of our Privacy Policy.

Cookies are on

(One cookie will be set to store your preference)

Do not ask me again
(Ticking this sets a cookie to hide this popup if you then hit close. This will not store any personal information)

REPORT: Clean Water Act Violations Occur Routinely

October 24, 2007

In 2005, at least 3,600 facilities violated their water discharge permits more than 24,000 times, according to a US Public Interest Research Group report released Oct. 11, 2007.

USPIRG: Christy Leavitt, 202-546-9707 x313.

The violators made up more than half the major facilities reviewed by the advocacy group, after it acquired the data from EPA via a FOIA request. Many facilities dumped nearly four times what they were allowed in their permit, and some exceeded their permit six-fold. Many other smaller facilities that may be polluting weren't included in the study.

In the report, USPIRG breaks out the violations in a variety of ways, such as by state, county, number of violations, and frequency of violations. You can also download a spread sheet for all the identified major violators in each state (except for Oregon, which has not provided data to EPA since 2004).