The article discusses the historical pollution of the Potomac River and ocean beaches, sharing firsthand accounts from former EPA administrators about their experiences before and after the establishment of environmental protections. It highlights significant improvements following the establishment of the EPA in 1970 and the Clean Water Act in 1972. However, the article warns against the current trend of rolling back environmental regulations under the Trump administration, which could jeopardize public health and reverse decades of progress in water quality and safety.
"After the first two dogs got out and vomited, it was closed down," he says. At the time, the river was intensely polluted, full of raw sewage and industrial waste.
"You had to be very careful of the tar balls," she says. "We'd go down to the beach and we'd get tar all over our feet."
Experts say removing those regulations would be a catastrophic move that endangers all of our lives.
This is what we're in danger of returning to amid the Trump administration's efforts to gut the EPA and roll back regulations.
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