Melosi 17-19
city water/sewer/sanitation systems were developed mostly
around issues of disease
the environmental movement was concerned with chemical
pollution (mostly from factories)
solid waste dumped in landfills but it was becoming visible as
a problem because more and more waste
recycling was declining 1945-1970
reuse of materials (such scrap metal, rags) seemed
oldfashioned and inconvenient
What changes after 1970:
- political realities of running systems
- water, sewer and trash systems were already built and
not easily changed (technological momentum)
- By the 1980s there was a lot of concern
about aging infrastructure
- change behavior or find technological
solutions?
- Environmental movement
- Earth Day 1970--public sentiment was strong
- Nixon signed Environmental Policy Act of
1969--required environmental impact statements for
federal projects
- Established the Environmental Protection
Agency in late 1970
- Environmental justice movement
- increasing concern about chemical pollution
-
85% of population received water from public suppliers in 2000
Army Corps of Engineers projects
- Lake Hartwell completed 1963
- Keowee 1971
- Jocassee 1973
Increasing concern about water quality
- chemicals in drinking water
- pollution of rivers and lakes
- pollution of groundwater
1972 clean water act
the responsibilities of water systems had changed
dramatically