MORROW SWCD ANNUAL REPORT
The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, March 2, 1978 FIVE
Section 208
.....part of the most comprehensive program
ever enacted to clean up the nation9s waters
208. Although little known at
the present time, the number
designates a program which
will cast a prominent bearing
on area agriculture in the
coming years.
Section 208 is part of the
Federal Water Pollution Con
trol Act Amendments of 1972,
a law mandating sweeping
federal-state-community
campaigns aimed at prevent
ing, reducing and eliminating
water pollution. In short, the
legislation officially titled
Public Law 92-500 is the most
comprehensive program ever
enacted to clean up the
nation's waters.
The national goals of the
Clean Water Act are to
achieve fishable and swim
able waters by 1983, wherever
possible, and to eliminate
discharges of pollutants in
U.S. waters by 1985. The
governors of each state have
the responsibility for comply
ing with the law. In Oregon,
Gov. Bob Straub has assigned
the Department of Environ
mental Quality (DEQ) the
task of developing the state's
i water quality plan.
The 1972 law identified two
sources of water pollution
point and non-point. During
the first few years after the
law's passage, most of the
emphasis was placed on point
sources usually a discharge
from a pipe into a stream,
generally from a city sewage
treatment plant or an industry
and in some cases, concentra
ted animal feedlots.
Point sources are controlled
by a national system of
permits which prescribe the
types and amounts of pollu
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tants that a city, industry or
feedlot can dump into water
ways. Permits are issued
either by the state or Environ
mental Protection Agency
(EPA) and must include
schedules of accomplishment
and provisions for self moni
toring. Pollution from point sources
received early attention be
cause they were easy to
identify and the public could
see, and often smell, that
there was a real problem.
Billions of tax dollars have
been spent and more are
budgeted to build sewage
treatment plants for towns
and cities. Industries are
required to- clean up their
wastes and feedlot designs
now include waste collection
facilities to prevent dis
charge into streams.
By 1975, it became apparent
that phasing the attack strict
ly at point sources wasn't the
total answer to the problem. A
considerable amount of pollu
tion comes from other sources
and that's where non-point
pollution comes into the plan.
Non-point pollution sources
are a much more difficult
problem, just as the term
itself is difficult to define. It is
sometimes said to include
everything that is not point
pollution and some examples
could include:
Urban stormwater water
running off buildings and
streets, carrying with it oil,
grease, trash, salts, lead and
other pollutants.
Agricultural runoff rain
washing fertilizers, pesticides
and topsoil into water.
R0T0TILLERS
F0H RENT
03
Construction runoff earth
washed into streams, rivers
and lakes from erosion.
Acid mine drainage water
seeping through mined areas.
Forestry runoff water
washing sediments from
areas where the earth has
been disturbed by logging and
timber operations.
Non-point pollution also
comes from septic tanks, poor
landfills or underground
waste areas where water
seeps through the soil, picking
up pollutants and carrying
them into waterways and
groundwater. These sources
of pollution generally can't be
collected arid treated they
can only be reduced by
greater care in the manage
ment of water and land
resoures.
The importance of control
ling non-point water pollution
is seen in the statistics
released last year by the
National Commission of
Water Quality which esti
mates that non-point pollution
is responsible for 92 per cent of
suspended solids found in
water, 79 per cent of nitrogen
loading, . 53 per cent of
phosphorous loading and' 98
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(LDGDD
COLLIER
per cent of the coliform
bacteria count.
Obviously, the task is impos
ing, but much needed. Other
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articles in this section deal
more with implementation of
the program on the. county
level
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