Phosphorous Level Double Allowable Limit In Boston's Charles River

November 19, 2008 7:17 a.m. EST

Boston, MA (AHN) - The Environmental Protection Agency is taking action against excessive phosphorus in stormwater runoff that is polluting Boston's Charles River and causing toxic algae blooms.

EPA officials are requiring commercial and industrial property owners in the Charles River watershed to divert storm water run off from their properties to reduce pollution in the river.

The agency is instituting new rules because phosphorous levels in the Charles River are double the federally allowable limit because of the phosphorous pollution in storm water. Those high levels are threatening public health and recreation, EPA officials say.

Those new rules will require industrial, commercial and residential facilities in the watershed that have two or more acres of impervious area - such as parking lots, roofs and roadways - to operate under a Clean Water Act and reduce stormwater run off.

"Polluted storm water runoff causes serious water quality problems, and is the next great challenge for cleaning the Charles River," Robert Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England office, said in a statement.

Excess phosphorous from lawn fertilizer or farmer's fields being washed into stormwater run off as a pollutant is an ongoing problem causing pollution in creeks, streams, rivers, lakes and even coastal ocean areas nationwide.