Lehigh watershed polluted with thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals in 2020
Author: Jay Bradley
According to data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Toxics Release Inventory program, thousands of pounds of chemicals linked to toxic and harmful reproductive effects were released within the Lehigh River watershed during 2020. At an event (September 28, 2022) on the bank of the Lehigh River at Allentown’s Canal Park, Flora Cardoni, the field director for PennEnvironment, the Pennsylvania state division of Environment America, highlighted the findings of the report and spoke about how the data was concerning. Cardoni said that because data often is repod to the EPA by the polluting facilities, not all chemicals needing to be repod - and certain industries, such as oil and gas, do not have to disclose their releases - the full scope of pollution may be greater than what is repod. The report, titled “Wasting our Waterways,” argues that the EPA should update pollution regulations to eliminate toxic materials’ release into waterways wherever possible. Currently, it states, millions of pounds of chemicals are released into waterways that have been linked to cancer or reproductive and developmental problems.