May 8, 2006

AUDUBON NEW YORK
CITIZENS CAMPAIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK
GREAT LAKES UNITED 

BUSH PROPOSAL WOULD DRAIN FUNDING TO PREVENT SEWAGE CONTAMINATION IN NEW YORK
Bill Pending in Congress Would Restore Money for Crucial Water-Quality Protection

(ALBANY, NY)—As summer approaches, New Yorkers are facing renewed concerns about beach closings, water boil alerts, and other problems associated with discharges of untreated sewage into waters used for swimming, fishing, and drinking water supplies. Against this backdrop, the White House has proposed major reductions in funding for efforts to reduce discharges of raw sewage, according to a recent analysis by the Northeast-Midwest Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based, private, non-profit, and non-partisan research organization. 

New York, the largest user of federal funds for addressing these problems, would forfeit more than $21 million, or almost one-third, of its total funding to pay for improvements in sewage treatment next year, under the Bush Administration’s proposal. This is a higher cut in funding than is proposed for any other state in the Great Lakes region. 

Contrary to the administration, bills are currently pending in both houses of Congress that would increase contributions to the State Revolving Loan Fund, a program that helps cities finance modernization of water treatment plants. The bill, championed by Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton and Representatives Sherwood Boehlert and Louise Slaughter, among others has earned the backing of the Governors and Mayors across the region, as well as conservationists, hunters, anglers, and concerned citizens.

“We can’t afford to cut funding for a program that keeps sewage out of our drinking water and off New York’s beaches,” Rob Moore, Executive Director, Environmental Advocates of new York.  “In light of ongoing sewage contamination on the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, we should increase our efforts to modernize aging infrastructure and protect the health of the Great Lakes. The longer we wait to make these investments, the worse the problems will get and the more money it will cost to fix them.”

The analysis comes as Congress crafts its budget and decides funding levels for Great Lakes protection and restoration programs including the State Revolving Loan Fund.

“We’ve made great strides in the last year to identify the restoration and clean-up needs for the Great Lakes, however, the Bush Administration’s drastic cuts in funding put these clean-up goals and the region’s 350 bird species at risk,” said David J. Miller, Executive Director of Audubon New York.  “Governor Pataki and the State Legislature have recognized the importance of keeping sewage out of the Great Lakes with the creation of the Great Lakes and Water Quality Improvements categories in the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), and we now urge the New York Congressional

Delegation to follow the lead of Congresswoman Slaughter and Congressman Boehlert to renew the federal commitment, and push for increased funding for this important clean water program.”

According to “Testing the Waters,” a report released last year by the Natural Resources Defense Council, contaminated water closed beaches in New York more than twice as often in 2004 as in the previous year. The state’s water quality report notes that nearly 84 percent of New York’s Great Lakes shoreline are impaired or threatened. The major sources of contamination include urban runoff, storm sewers, and combined sewer overflows. Statewide, 61 percent of our waters fail to meet water quality standards from the same types of pollution and 96 percent of our coastal waters have restrictions on shellfish harvesting.

Sewage infrastructure is systematically failing in the Great Lakes Basin. According to the Citizens Campaign for the Environment’s 2005 “New York State Sewer Scorecard: A Snapshot of New York’s Sewage Treatment Plants,” of the nine sewage treatment plants evaluated in the Great Lakes Basin, seven were found to be teetering on the edge of failure or were failing. Surveyed sewage treatment plants earned a “D” or “F” for discharging multiple raw sewage overflows, violating permit limits, and bypassing treatment during minor rain events. The full report can be found at  www.citizenscampaign.org/special_features/sewer_scorecard.htm.

“It is not a secret that New York has aging and failing sewer systems—and that sewers don’t fix themselves,” said Brian Smith, Program Coordinator, Citizens Campaign for the Environment.   “Understanding that clean water is vital to our economy, well-being, and existence, the public strongly supports clean water investments and demands our federal leaders keep the promise of clean water by adequately funding the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund.”   

“We have a solid roadmap with practical solutions to restore the Great Lakes national resource, and protect cities throughout the Great Lakes region from beach closings—and the president is ignoring it,” said Reg Gilbert, Senior Coordinator from Great Lakes United. “Absent strong leadership from the President, Congress now holds the key for the future of the Great Lakes. We look forward to working with Congress and our Republican and Democratic allies to restore the Great Lakes so that they can be used and enjoyed now and for generations to come.”

In recent years, the Rochester Embayment in Monroe County was closed up to one-half of the season due to fecal coliform bacteria contamination.

In the City of Buffalo, where heavy rains regularly result in the release more than 35 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Buffalo River, Scajaquada Creek, Niagara River, and Lake Erie, resources provided by the State Revolving Loan Fund are desperately needed to update antiquated sewage infrastructure. Stormwater and combined sewage overflow are the primary causes of beach closures.

In Oswego, sewage overflows have contributed to degradations of local fish and wildlife, as well as restrictions on fish and wildlife consumption. Oswego has also reported excessive phosphorus and undesirable algae attributable to discharges from wastewater treatment facilities, combined sewer overflows, and urban/rural land runoff.

This growing problem has coincided with a dramatic decline in federal funding for water-treatment improvements. For instance, if Congress adopts the President’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 Budget, New York’s share of the State Revolving Loan Fund will have fallen by nearly 50 percent since FY 2001, according to the analysis by the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

This trend parallels the plight of other states across the Great Lakes region, which will have collectively lost $240 million—or nearly half of their allotment—in sewage treatment funds during the same six-year period, the study found.   

The Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act (S.2545/H.R.5100) authorizes Congress to increase contributions to the State Revolving Fund. Versions of the bill have been introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate, with strong bi-partisan support from New York’s congressional delegation.  The legislation also puts into practice priority recommendations of a multi-billion dollar Great Lakes clean-up strategy released in December as part of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, a planning process initiated by President Bush in 2004.

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Audubon New York, the 50,000 member State program of the National Audubon Society, is dedicated to protecting birds and other wildlife and the habitats that supports them.  Our national network of community-based nature centers and chapters, scientific and educational programs, and advocacy on behalf of areas sustaining important bird populations, engage millions of people of all ages and backgrounds in positive conservation experiences.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE) is an 80,000 member, non-profit, non-partisan, advocacy organization working to protect public health and the natural environment throughout New York State and Connecticut. For more information please visit www.citizenscampaign.org.

Environmental Advocates of New York is the state’s government watchdog, holding lawmakers and agencies accountable for implementing policy that protects natural resources and safeguards public health. Founded almost 40 years ago as the Environmental Planning Lobby, Environmental Advocates has more than 7,000 individual and 130 organizational members. The nonprofit organization is a 501© (3) and is the New York State affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. For more information call 518.462.5526 or visit www.eany.org. 

GLU is an international coalition dedicated to preserving and restoring the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River ecosystem. Great Lakes United is made up of member organizations representing environmentalists, conservationists, hunters and anglers, labor unions, community groups, and citizens of the United States, Canada.

The Healing Our Waters^®–Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 85 state, regional and national zoos, museums, aquariums, hunter, angler, and conservation organizations. Headed by the National Wildlife Federation and the National Parks Conservation Association, the coalition is seeking state and federal support to restore sensitive coastal wetlands and other critical habitat, stop the introduction of invasive species, eliminate toxic hotspots, reduce polluted runoff, end beach closings, and clean up contaminated sediments in our Great Lakes.