Environment Rhode Island Works to Support EPA for Closing Loopholes in Clean Water Act

This fall, the Environmental Protection Agency has been receiving comments on their study connecting pollution in smaller bodies of water to larger water bodies downstream. This is important to me as a URI student; I go sailing in Narragansett Bay and I have also rowed in the Narrow River leading into the Bay. I cannot picture Rhode Island without these beautiful waterways. Unfortunately, loopholes in the Clean Water Act prevent seasonal and intermittent streams and wetlands from being fully protected; these are the waterways that filter and feed into the Narrow River and Narragansett Bay.

I urge Rhode Island's congressional delegation to support the EPA in closing these Clean Water Act loopholes to protect all waterways, large and small. I have been collecting petition signatures and comments from professors at URI in support of closing these loopholes, and I know I am not alone in my desire for a clean Bay for the years to come. We need the EPA to act, and Rhode Island's pro-environment senators and representatives in Washington can be important allies in Congress.

-Elizabeth Shadle
eshadle@my.uri.edu