Control of Water Pollution from Toxics: Southeast U. S.

A detailed review of the programs of eight southeastern states for the control of water pollution from toxic wastes is presented. The review examines water quality standards, effluent limitations, National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permits for direct and indirect discharges, pretreatment programs, waste residuals management, monitoring, emergency response, and analytic capability. Existing programs fall far short of providing control of 129 priority pollutants. The problem is particularly acute for chemicals with long-term health effects. The state-of-the-art relative to causal relationships and degree of risk primitive is covered. It is concluded that the transition from the earlier era of pollution control to encompass toxic wastes will be very difficult, particularly with cutbacks in federal cost sharing and research.