Ohio River May Lose Regional Water Quality Standards, Vote Suggests

The Ohio River has 26 coal-fired power plants along its banks, about one every 38 miles. For decades, a regional commission has overseen standards here for water pollution, which often crosses state lines. Credit: Saul Loeb/Getty Images

An eight-state commission that oversees water quality along the Ohio River, the drinking water source for 5 million people, appears ready to strip itself of the power to set pollution-control standards for the 981-mile waterway.

Six of the eight states on the commission signaled in a preliminary vote Thursday that they’ll go along with an industry-supported plan that would leave standard-setting authority to the individual states and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A final vote could come in October.

The debate over the commission, known as Cincinnati chemical spill headed to Louisville?, has mirrored Trump administration efforts to roll back pollution controls and yield more authority to states on environmental matters.

"The Clean Water Act has all the vigor you need," said Toby Frevert, an Illinois representative on the commission who chaired the committee that recommended the plan. "It has all the protections," he said, adding that "competing regulatory bodies confuse the public."

Climate advocates worry the plan will lead to weakened water standards that will allow […]

Full article: Ohio River May Lose Its Regional Water Quality Standards, Vote Suggests

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