In 1972, the United States celebrated the signing of the landmark "Clean Water Act" by President Richard Nixon and promoted the law's ambitious goal of making waterways "fishable and swimable." Nixon incorporated the regulatory regime into the new law by creating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and appointing one of its best directors in history, Bill Ruckelshaus (Bill Ruckelshaus).

In Minnesota, the new Pollution Control Agency (PCA) is formulating clean-up regulations, and the first Earth Day attracted a large number of people in teaching nationwide. In Sao Paulo, a bill entitled Green passed the legislature.

That was half a century ago.

So, recently there is news that Minnesota’s "damaged waters list" has added 304 lakes and streams, bringing the total to nearly 3,000? This, after five long years?

These explanations mainly reveal disturbing stories about the pressure politics of agriculture and mining. It's also about public complacency, regulatory timidity, and institutions' interest in research not just to correct problems.

In the 1970s, two young lawyers, Chuck Dayton and John Herman, were the only public lobbyists to promote the ecological bill in the Capitol. Their advocacy has been duly praised in many basic laws, including Minnesota’s Environmental Policy Act.

After a particularly fruitful meeting, Dayton mused that it is one thing to pass bills into law, and it is another thing to protect them from being sterilized, and one needs to be vigilant. Since then, a large number of capable environmental advocacy groups have emerged, and the state's PCA and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have greatly expanded the roster of resource experts.

Despite this vigilance, the list of "damaged waters" is still increasing. The stories of resource conservation efforts are full of incursions by rich and powerful "neutral masters" from governments at all levels, which often frustrates the initially popular ecological initiatives.

An example: In 2015, Governor Mark Dayton won support for a 50-foot natural buffer zone along all waterways to improve wildlife habitat and filter out harmful runoff. Within two years, Farm Benefits and their legislators allies reduced the plan from a game changer to an attaboy.

Yes, the Clean Water Act helped resolve shocking attacks such as dumping untreated sewage and industrial waste directly into rivers, making our own state of Mississippi a stinking dead zone through the Twin Cities. The river no longer catches fire or turns red from slaughterhouse waste, and advanced sewage treatment systems can be seen everywhere.

But the "Clean Water Act" has a huge exception. "Point sources" such as pipelines and garbage canals are regulated, but "non-point sources" such as farmland are taken care of "voluntarily"-this is not feasible.

Therefore, it is no wonder that most of the "damaged" waters are in farmland, and the biological "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico caused by agricultural runoff now covers 6,000 square miles and is still growing. Small towns in Minnesota and elsewhere are spending millions of dollars to upgrade their water treatment systems to reduce nitrates. This is another pollutant coming from... guess where?

In the 1970s, PCA’s arrogant new director, Grant Merritt, worked tirelessly to prevent the direct dumping of iron flint waste on Lake Superior in Silver Bay and predicted the impact of copper-nickel mining. This is too much for the Steel Wanderer who launched Merritt after only two years of work.

Then 3M tried to fire Sandra Gardebring of PCA because she pressured the company to clean up the annoying chemical waste in the Eastern Metro (these and other "forever chemicals" are still a major issue). Gardebring survived, but the PCA director for the next government came from 3M.

Last summer, PCA director Laura Bishop resigned under the fire of familiar enemies in agriculture and industry, including auto retailers who were dissatisfied with the effectiveness of Bishop's "clean cars" initiative by Governor Tim Walz.

The current controversy over copper mining and efforts to reduce sulfate emissions from iron flint production, as well as the designation of the wilderness in the canoe area of ​​the border waters, are mainly the main reasons why the Iron Ranger became politically red when it was dark blue in history.

Regulators are reluctant to enforce ecological rules, prefer safer sampling and research problems, identify problems and solutions... and hope that the problems can correct themselves, which may be understandable.

The same timidity prevails because county and town committees often approve the removal of trees and deep-rooted plants around lakes for farmland and housing, and warned DNR that when the surrounding watershed is more than 75% developed, nearby lakes will definitely be “damaged” ".

Therefore, the list of "damaged waters" may continue to increase on roads paved in good faith.

Ron Way lives in Edina.

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