EPA: 11,000 facilities illegally discharged pollutants into nearby waters in 2018

Read the full story at The Hill.

Nearly 11,000 U.S. facilities discharged pollutants into local waters beyond the levels allowed under the law, the Environmental Protection Agency told a nonpartisan congressional watchdog.

In a report released Monday, the Government Accountability Office said that the EPA found that in 2018, close to 11,000 facilities with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits illegally dumped large amounts of pollutants into local waters. As of fiscal 2020, some 335,000 facilities have active NPDES permits, 60,000 of which are required to monitor pollutant discharge.