Protecting the Great Lakes and the Clean Water Act

David Ullrich, longtime US EPA Great Lakes regional official and former executive director, later advisor, of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, traced the history of US water protection: the 1899 Refuse Act, the 1970 Clean Air Act, NEPA and the 1972 Clean Water Act. He gave a first-hand account of writing permits for 17 Wisconsin River pulp and paper mills straight out of law school in 1973, then turned to combined sewer overflows, legacy contaminated sediments, agricultural nonpoint pollution, climate change and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Audience Q&A followed.