Protect Missouri's Rivers Updates

Wasting Our Waterways uses Toxic Release Inventory data from the EPA to look at how much toxic chemicals were dumped into our waterways in 2010.  The report finds that facilities discharged over 2 million pounds of toxic chemicals into Missouri’s waterways in 2010 alone. The Mississippi River received 12.7 million pounds of toxic chemicals from industries across the entire region where it flows, making it the second worst waterway in the nation. And the Meramec River watershed received approximately 5,000 pounds of toxins linked to reproductive disorders, making it the 12th worst watershed in the nation in terms of reproductive toxins. The report also outlines out several recommendations for cleaning up this toxic pollution, including using safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals, stricter enforcement of the Clean Water Act, and restoring Clean Water Act protections to all of our waterways.

This is a helpful factsheet on the Clean Water Act, threats to Missouri's streams, and the EPA's proposed guidance to protect all of Missouri's waterways.