Of torrents and torrents

So, on the one hand, there’s this story that highlights how the big contributors to the dissolved oxygen problem in the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Wilmington are reacting to what may be new rules to help solve that problem.

Sewage plant operators resist pending EPA water quality rules for Delaware River

Yes, these rules have been years in the making, starting back in 2013 with the Delaware Riverkeeper and other environmental groups pushing for new standards to protect the endangered Atlantic sturgeon.

Those advocates have argued over the years that the wastewater treatment plants knew that some tightening of those rules was coming, so they should have started working on solutions, which were likely going to cost millions of dollars. 

But read the story to see what the wastewater treatment plants are saying about the significant costs and about the science that underpins those new rules.

And then on the other hand, here’s a story about an award given to the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority for its development of a long-term control plan for combined sewer overflows and an ongoing $24 million sewer separation project to alleviate flooding in the Cramer Hill section of Camden and improve the ecological health of local waterways.

Those are also important priorities and maybe the people who live in the Cramer Hill section of Camden care less about the sturgeon and more about reducing flooding.

Especially with big-ticket items, there will always be some argument, but as Shawn LaTourette, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said at the award ceremony in Camden, aging infrastructure demands attention before it fails.

Keeping one eye on the torrent coming out of Washington, I’d like to put a word in for National Public Radio. My own stations here in northeastern Pennsylvania are WJFF/Radio Catskill and WVIA, both a radio and a television station based in Scranton.

The whole public media ecosystem is under attack: President Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for all public broadcasting.

And this analysis from Vanity Fair: Why NPR Is “Vulnerable” in a New Trump Era.

There are a lot, A LOT, of things to be worried about these days but I’m a huge fan of all sorts of news media to keep us informed — accurately informed — about all the aforementioned torrent. 

If there’s a public radio station near you, become a member if you’re not, and if you are a member, see if you can spare a few more bucks to help them through what are likely going to be tough times ahead.

Thanks for reading.