Government officials marked the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act with a Sept. 12 tour featuring the largest estuary in the United States.
Water quality improvements in the Chesapeake Bay were highlighted during the celebration tour that looked back to the history of Clean Water Act passed in 1972 and forward to more progress through the investment of $50 billion in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s water programs through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to a Sept. 12 EPA news release.
“In just a few decades, we are turning around 400 years of degradation of the Bay and the waters that flow into it. There is much still to do but there is certainly much to celebrate,” EPA Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz said in a news release.
“When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972 — with an overwhelming bipartisan majority — it charted a new path for America’s waters,” EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said in the release. “As a result, we have seen transformational progress over the last 50 years — waters that were once polluted are now fishable and swimmable. President Biden and Congress have laid the foundation for the next 50 years of progress by investing $50 billion in EPA’s water programs through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
Fox was joined on the celebration tour at Chesapeake Bay by Democratic Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Rep. John Sarbanes, Ortiz and other local leaders. Officials noted the restoration in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the release reported.
The celebration tour will highlight several sites leading up to the 50th anniversary Oct. 18, including the Boston Harbor, the Florida Everglades, Cuyahoga River and San Francisco Bay, according to the release.
