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EPA Approves Plan to Improve Water Quality in Delaware

Release Date: 1/6/2000
Contact Information: Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567

Roy Seneca (215) 814-5567


PHILADELPHIA - The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan by Delaware that outlines how the state will control runoff of water from farms, roads, construction sites and other sources into the state’s waterways.

Under President Clinton’s Clean Water Action Plan, all states were required to establish long-term and short-term plans on how they would address water quality problems attributed to pollution from runoff.

EPA has doubled its Clean Water Action Plan funding from $200 million to $400 million nationwide, and approval of Delaware’s plan means that the state is eligible to receive an additional $708,900 this fiscal year, bringing Delaware’s total federal funding to $1.4 million.

"Delaware’s plan is well-designed and promises to deliver on-the-ground results that will directly improve the states water quality," said EPA Regional Administrator Bradley Campbell.

Polluted runoff is one of the nation’s largest sources of water quality problems, contributing to the impairment of 40 percent of U.S. rivers, lakes and estuaries. Polluted runoff is generated from places like agricultural land, lawns, construction sites, and parking lots and pavements where chemicals, metals and other pollutants can travel from and end up in nearby waters during heavy rainfall or snowmelt.