WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and author of the True LEADership Act (S.2821), a comprehensive plan that recommits the federal government to a critical role in water infrastructure investment, thanked Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Administrator Shawn Garvin for highlighting the important role wastewater treatment plants have in our communities. Cardin called on Garvin to support greater federal funding for our nation’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund and he lauded several key areas in which better wastewater management has helped the health of the Chesapeake Bay.
“Marylanders have reason to be optimistic about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. By basing our actions on science and understanding the often underappreciated importance of wastewater infrastructure, we’ve seen nitrogen levels entering the Bay drop by 57 percent and phosphorus by 75 percent. For the first time we are on track to meet the 2025 nutrient pollution goals outlined in the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). Though we have made progress, we are far from finished. In Congress, the Clean Water Act is under threat and in communities across Maryland, crumbling water infrastructure threatens to continue to endanger public health, damage private property and poison our waterways.
“Investing in infrastructure like the District of Colombia Water and Sewer Authority pays direct dividends in the form of a healthier Chesapeake Bay and a stronger economy. I will continue to take every opportunity to remind my colleagues in Congress and the Administration that water infrastructure impacts the quality of life for every single person in America. Pipes may be out of sight, but they cannot be out of mind. We urgently need to minimize the risks to our communities and our children. Urban, rural and suburban neighborhoods – in every community in Maryland and across America – all rely on safe, clean water. Our health and our livelihoods will continue to be in danger if we do not act decisively.”
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