California water regulators on Tuesday cut the level at which water suppliers must report detecting perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel, fireworks, airbags, and other products. The federal Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year declined to regulate perchlorate, which has been linked to thyroid conditions.
Coal miners, stone quarrying companies, and other businesses are rushing to lock down any exemptions to federal water jurisdiction for at least five years, under changes the Trump administration recently made to the nation’s water rule.
Defying environmentalists and public health advocates, the Trump administration on Thursday will announce the replacement of Obama-era water protections with a significantly weaker set of regulations that lifts limits on how much pollution can be dumped into small streams and wetlands.
The changes to the Clean Water Act’s protections are expected to hit California and other Western states especially hard.
A Poway landowner has filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the city for allegedly failing to adhere to water pollution control permits in the Lake Poway area along the trails leading to Mount Woodson and Potato Chip Rock. Poway City Attorney Allen Fenstermacher on Tuesday said the city denies all claims made in the suit and will file a response next month. He said the plaintiff, Kevin T. Kelly, filed the suit after the city rejected his request to purchase his property.
