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Chapter V: The U.S. Government, the Detergent Industry, and Eutrophication
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the lake erie enforcement conference had agreed, as had other parties, that eutrophication could be controlled by reducing phosphorus inputs, and further had targeted phosphorus for substantial reduction in wastewater. Although the conferees recognized that phosphate detergents contributed considerable amounts of phosphorus to wastewater, that was something they could do little about beyond recommending that substitutes for phosphates in detergents be found. Within the U.S. federal government , however, both means of controlling eutrophication—reducing or, better, completely eliminating phosphorus in wastewater and in detergents —had been actively pursued, the former through research and the latter through cooperation with and encouragement of the detergent industry . In May 1965, in testifying before a Senate subcommittee holding hearings on water pollution, James M. Quigley, assistant secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), stated that the “algae problem” caused by phosphates in sewage was becoming “more and more a difficult pollution problem in more areas of the country.”1 He added that although detergents were not the only source of phosphates in sewage, they were a growing one. Quigley was accompanied by Leon W. Weinberger, chief, Basic 71 The U.S. Government, the Detergent Industry, and Eutrophication C H A P T E R V Science Branch, Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, Public Health Service (PHS), who stated that work was underway within the division to devise treatment methods to remove more phosphate from sewage. A large treatment plant which would remove a “good percentage” of phosphate was being built at Lake Tahoe in California. Within HEW the PHS had had responsibility for water pollution matters from 1912. In 1965, an amendment to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act created the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (FWPCA) within HEW and transferred to it responsibility for most water pollution matters. The new body reported directly to the secretary of HEW, bypassing the PHS. In May 1966, as part of a reorganization of federal offices initiated by President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, the FWPCA and most of HEW’s responsibility for pollution control were transferred to the Department of the Interior.2 On July 28, 1966, by which time algal blooms had become a major pollution problem in the Potomac River below Washington, the secretary of the interior, Stewart L. Udall, announced that FWPCA engineers were developing a fast and relatively inexpensive method of dealing with “one of the most baffling problems in water pollution control—the explosive, water-choking, fish-killing growth of algae.”3 The method, which had originated in an observed anomaly, enabled more phosphate to be extracted during the sewage treatment process. FWPCA staff members regularly reviewed operational data collected from sewage treatment plants around the country. In late 1965, they noted differences in the data from three similar plants in San Antonio, Texas. Two plants were performing effectively with typically low phosphate removal , much like other plants around the country. In contrast, virtually all of the phosphate was being removed in the third plant. Leon Weinberger, now FWPCA assistant administrator for research and development, initiated an investigation of the differences. Secondary waste treatment plants, such as those in San Antonio, employed an activated sludge process involving two principal stages: the first, in which matter was allowed to settle out of the sewage liquor; and the second , in which bacteria broke down and assimilated organic matter remaining in the liquor after the first stage. Several factors influenced the 72 The U.S. Government, the Detergent Industry, and Eutrophication [52.205.218.160] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 03:01 GMT) effectiveness of such plants, including their structural and hydraulic designs , the rate of input of liquor to be treated, the amount of aeration in the second stage, and the concentration of bacteria used. FWPCA investigators found that the San Antonio plant achieving high phosphate removal was being operated differently from the other two plants in a number of ways. When they changed five of the operational features of one of the latter two plants—increasing aeration, the concentration of bacteria, and the ratio of bacteria to organic materials in the sewage liquor; and reducing both the time for settling and the time that settled materials remained in the settling tank—they found that they could remove over 90 percent of the phosphate. Subsequently, similar changes made at several plants around the country yielded similar results. Weinberger announced that, with the goal of achieving the maximum reduction of phosphate in sewage...