Judge Orders New Pollution Standards For Anacostia
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt or approve new pollution standards for the Anacostia River.
The Washington Post reports that Monday's ruling from Chief U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth orders regulators to change current pollution caps because they may not be strict enough to clean up the river. The ruling gives the EPA a year to adopt or approve new standards.
The suit was brought by two nonprofit environmental groups who argued that pollution caps adopted in 2007 would not meet the requirement that the river be clean enough for swimming, boating and other recreational uses.
The EPA was joined in defending the suit by the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and other associations. They argued that the pollution standards met legal requirements.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
