EPA warned to address ocean acidification or face lawsuit

The Center for Biological Diversity today notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of its intent to file a lawsuit against the agency for its failure to respond to the threat of ocean acidification. Last year, the Center filed a formal petition asking EPA to impose stricter pH standards for ocean water quality and publish guidance to help states protect U.S. waters from ocean acidification. Todays notice of intent to sue urges EPA to promptly respond to the Centers petition.

The oceans cover about 70 percent of the Earths surface and absorb about 22 million tons of carbon dioxide each day. The absorption of carbon dioxide is changing seawater chemistry, causing it to become more acidic. This process, known as ocean acidification, impairs the ability of marine animals to build the protective shells and skeletons they need to survive.

Already, the pH level of the ocean has decreased 0.1 units on average due to carbon dioxide pollution caused by human activity — especially emissions from such sources as automobiles and electrical power plants. If carbon dioxide emissions continue unabated, seawater pH may decrease an additional 0.4 units — more than a 100 percent change in acidity. A recent article in the journal Science noted that rapid changes in pH would have adverse effects on a number of marine organisms and highlighted the need to update EPAs water-quality standard for pH, according to the authors of the July 4 Science article, "Carbon Emissions and Acidification. The seawater quality criteria of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency date back to 1976 [t]hese standards must be re-evaluated based on the latest research on pH effects on marine organisms, the authors wrote.

The federal Clean Water Act requires the EPA to update water-quality criteria to reflect the latest scientific knowledge. Since the agency developed the pH standard back in 1976, an extensive body of research has developed on the impacts of carbon dioxide on the oceans.

Ocean acidification is global warmings evil twin, said Miyoko Sakashita, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversitys oceans program. The EPA has a duty under the Clean Water Act to protect our nations waters from pollution, and today, carbon dioxide is one of the biggest threats to our ocean waters.

According to the Centers notice of intent to sue, the EPAs current water-quality criterion for pH is outdated and woefully inadequate in the face of ocean acidification. A decline of 0.2 pH allowed under the current standard would be devastating to the marine ecosystem. Twenty-five leading scientists researching ocean acidification concluded in a Sept. 25, 2007 commentary in the Geophysical Research Letters that a decrease of this magnitude would pose a risk to the physiology and health of a variety of marine organisms.
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The EPA needs to face many lawsuits for their total apathy to the environment and the dereliction of their duties. However, in addressing ocean acidification they will then have to address the CO2 emissions that are soaked up by the oceans in the first place and their sources. I will not hold my breath waiting for that to happen.