Expansion of Clean Waters Act? EPA Can't Even Do Their Current Job!

In May of 2015, the Obama Administration announced that the EPA would start managing water supplies over and above the original intent of the Clean Waters Act.  Unfortunately , since then, there have been two major screw ups by this agency for things for which they have had a long standing responsibility.

Just 3 months later in August, there was the "Gold King Mine" waste water spill of 3 million gallons of a toxic slush into the waterways and water supplies that connect Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.  That slush was made up of poisonous heavy metals which included lead, cadmium, and even arsenic.   Who caused the spill? The EPA who is charged with maintaining clean waters.  Worse than that, they knew of the possible risk a year earlier.  Yet, they carelessly proceeded with the work they were doing.

At the same time as the Colorado incident, the EPA caused another heavy metal spill in Georgia.  Like Colorado, the they were directly responsible for releasing toxic waste into another water source; this despite prior concerns of the local government.

Then, there was the Flint drinking water's lead contamination.  While the EPA didn't directly cause this problem, they knew about it in February of 2015 and did nothing. Instead, they argued with the State of Michigan over testing standards and safe lead limits.  It wasn't until October that they actually admitted there was a problem.  In the meantime, the residents of Flint were drinking water that had lead levels 5 times more harmful than the EPA limits for drinking water.   As a result of all the delays due to bureaucratic blame gaming, 100,000 residents have been poisoned and will probably suffer debilitating mental and physical health issues in the future.  Of course, the EPA claims no responsibility.  However, its Regional Director announced her resignation.  There is no indication as to whether or not the resignation was voluntary or sacrificial.  My bet is on the latter.

As with most government agencies, expansion merely creates monsters where one hand doesn't know what the other is doing.  Simpler and smaller is always better and more efficient than the creation of massive bureaucracies.  But, try and tell that to Obama and the Democrats.

References:

EPA Broadens Clean Water Regulations: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/05/27/epa-expands-clean-water-regulations

2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Gold_King_Mine_waste_water_spill

Another EPA disaster, this time in rural Georgia: http://watchdog.org/234655/ga-epa-spill/

The EPA’s Silent, Guilty Role in the Flint Water Crisis: https://newrepublic.com/article/128156/epas-silent-guilty-role-flint-water-crisis