News & Updates
Waterkeeper Groups Petition N.C. to Remove “Swamp Waters” Classification from Lower Cape Fear River
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Waterkeeper Alliance and Cape Fear River Watch, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, petitioned today to remove North Carolina’s “swamp...
We Say: Drop the “Swampwaters” Classification of the Lower Cape Fear
- By: Kemp Burdette
- News
According to observable facts, the lower Cape Fear River isn’t a swamp. According to North Carolina’s Environmental Management Commission, however,...
Proposed Changes to the Clean Water Act Would Imperil Iconic Waters
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
The Trump administration wants to strip lakes, streams, and other waterways around the country from protection by the Clean Water Act. The change would...
We Can’t Afford to Lose the Clean Water Act
- By: Larissa Liebmann
- News
In 1972, waterways in the United States were severely polluted and dangerous. Rivers caught on fire, communities were sickened, and wildlife disappeared....
Tennessee Riverkeeper Takes on a New Fight: Microplastics
- By: Bart Mihailovich
- News
National Geographic recently ran a piece titled “Alarming’ level of microplastics found in a major U.S. river.” The Tennessee River got a lot...
Hope for a Water-Stressed Middle East
- By: Marc Yaggi
- News
Co-written by Marc Yaggi & Gabrielle Segal A major water crisis is gripping the Middle East. Freshwater resources are dwindling and more frequent droughts...
Providing Clean Water in China’s Cancer Villages
- By: Min Zheng
- News
Rapid industrialization and scant pollution controls have left China with more than 400 villages where the cancer rate is extraordinarily high. The country...
How N.C. Can Handle Swine Waste Better
- By: Will Hendrick
- News
North Carolina is in the process of revising the permit that governs how 9.5 billion gallons of swine waste are handled at more than 2,000 industrial swine...
‘Red Tide’ Lawsuit Launched After Feds Ignore Wildlife Harms of Lake Okeechobee Discharges
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
U.S. Army Corps to Extend Algae Bloom-triggering Discharges Through 2025 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— Conservation groups today filed a notice of intent...
Utilities Admit Coal Plants in 22 States are Violating Federal and State Pollution Standards by Leaking Toxic Chemicals into Groundwater
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Conservation Groups Seek a Court Order to Stop New Trump Rule from Delaying Closure of Leaking Toxic Coal Ash Dumps Numerous utilities have just disclosed...
Suit Filed to Protect Colorado River and Prevent Dam Expansion in Boulder County
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- Clean Water Defense
Conservation Coalition Seeks to Halt Denver Water’s Moffat Project A coalition of conservation groups filed suit today in federal district court seeking...
Investigating Coal Pollution in Puchuncaví, Chile
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
A study by Waterkeeper Alliance and the Maule Itata Coastkeeper of the area near the AES Ventanas coal-fired power plant in Puchuncaví, Chile found toxic...
Protecting the Heart of the Clean Water Act | Dive Into Democracy
- By: Larissa Liebmann
- News
Thank you for an amazing year of fighting for clean water! For the last Dive into Democracy for 2018, we wanted to thank all of our engaged readers for...
Keeping poop out of Casco Bay, one pumpout at a time
- By: Casco Baykeeper
- News
Since it was launched in 1995, Friends of Casco Bay’s Vessel Pumpout Program has kept more than 195,000 gallons of raw sewage out of Casco Bay, Maine....
Waterkeeper Cleanup Clears Nearly 100k Pounds of Trash from U.S. Waterways
- By: Bart Mihailovich
- News
In September, we asked Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates across the United States to participate in a collective cleanup push. Many Waterkeeper...
North Carolina Pipeline Fight: The Art of Organizing
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
Haw Riverkeeper Emily Sutton is fighting the MVP Southgate pipeline in her North Carolina watershed, work that doubles as a master class in community organizing....
Tackling E. Coli: Lessons from North Carolina
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
Waterkeeper groups throughout North Carolina completed a blitz of water sampling this fall, drawing samples in watersheds from the mountains to the coast....
Jury Finds for Smithfield Neighbors
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
A jury Wednesday found in favor of the neighbors of a North Carolina industrial hog operation, the fourth case in a row the industry in the state has lost....
Protecting the Mighty Mekong
- By: Sharon Khan
- News
With a length of 2,703 miles, the mighty Mekong River originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows through 6 countries in Asia—China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand,...
Trump Administration to Slash Clean Water Act Protections for Rivers, Streams, Wetlands
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Radical Proposal Would Disproportionally Harm Western United States, Putting Over 75 Endangered Species on Fast Track to Extinction A Trump administration...
Protect the Public’s Right to Know!
- By: Kelly Foster
- News
Hazardous pollution released by densely concentrated, industrial-scale livestock operations can be very dangerous for people, even deadly, but the U.S....
EPA Must Uphold Its Duty to Protect Our Drinking Water
- By: Marc Yaggi
- News
Co-written by Marc Yaggi and Gabrielle Segal In 1996, plaintiffs settled the infamous Erin Brockovich case against Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)...
Act Now to Stop Weakening of EPA’s “Methane Rule”
- By: Kate Hudson
- News
EPA succumbs to White House and fossil fuel industry pressure to put protection of our health and our planet on the chopping block Under pressure from...
US insurers provide lifeline to coal as global insurance market shrinks
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- Climate And Safe Energy
Report shows European insurers leading on restricting coal industry’s access to underwriting while U.S. insurers undermine action to tackle climate...
We have technology to manage hog waste better. We need to use it
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s Hurricane Florence Recovery Recommendations included $75 million to either buy out industrial animal operations in the...
Waterkeeper Alliance Statement on Smithfield Foods Methane Initiative
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, earlier this week announced a $250 million partnership with Dominion Energy to capture methane from...
Florence Flooded Poultry Operations with 1.8 Million Birds
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
NEW BERN, N.C. – The heavy rains and high waters after Hurricane Florence flooded 35 industrial poultry operations in North Carolina housing an estimated...
An “emerging” drinking water disaster 50 years in the making
- By: Larissa Liebmann
- News
A few weeks ago we warned about the threats of “emerging contaminants” to water quality and drinking water. This week, we are focusing on one class...
New Partnership to Defend the Great Lakes
- By: Waterkeeper Alliance
- News
The Great Lakes are the largest freshwater system on the planet, with six quadrillion gallons of freshwater — 95 percent of the U.S. supply and 20 percent...
Raise a stink about North Carolina’s hog waste crisis
- By: Ellen Simon
- News
We’ve won a rare opportunity, starting tomorrow Nov. 27, to demand more transparency and better pollution controls from the industrial swine operations...