The United States has always enjoyed a position of prosperity, especially in terms of the abundance of its natural resources. Today, the United States remains one of the few strong industrial nations in the world. Over the past 30 years, there has been a growing public awareness with regard to the maintenance of the environment and possibly a restoration of some of the environmental quality that has been lost to industrialization. Initially, public awareness was directed to the condition of the lakes and streams throughout the nation. During the mid-1950s, Lake Erie was declared "dead," a victim of eutrophication--the accelerated aging resulting from the dumping of phosphorous-laden waste and sewage.
The quantity of industrial and agricultural waste material being injected into the nation's water supply has been widely publicized for many years. It was due, in part, to this publicity, that stringent legislation was enacted which helped somewhat to control the types and amounts of waste materials that could legally be added to our waterways.
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was established to control the "point sources" where industry was found to have dumped fluids into the nation's water system. Over the past 15 years, conditions have improved significantly as the quality of the nation's water supply and the amount of aquatic life in these waters have improved significantly.
The nation's air quality has suffered a similar fate. Thirty years ago, the image of smokestacks belching particulates and gaseous materials into the atmosphere was considered an acceptable, if not necessary byproduct of economic prosperity and industrial strength. Legislation enacted in 1960 (The Clean Air Act) mandated a change in this thinking, requiring these belching symbols of prosperity be cleaned up. Since that time, significant improvements have been made regarding the air quality near and around industr...