NORFOLK, Va. — The Trump administration made a major announcement Thursday, rolling back Clean Water Act policies that give federal protections to certain waterways in the U.S.
Millions of miles of arroyos, streams and wetlands will no longer be protected in a move that the EPA Administration and the President claim lifts unnecessary burdens for infrastructure and business development and farmers.
It's something President Trump has promised to do since arriving in office.
However, the move is drawing intense criticism from environmental groups including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
"It's an assault on our protection of our waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay," Christy Everett, Director of the organization's Hampton Roads arm said.
Serving in her role for 14 years now, Everett is passionate about the health of the famous East Coast estuary.
"To see this one single administration unravel what is obviously a priority for Hampton Roads, for Virginia," Everett said. "It's the base of an economic engine, it's so important for quality of life. It's really frustrating."
Everett said economic prosperity is the opposite of what these changes will produce.
"We know there is economic payback from keeping our water clean or restoring our waterways," she said. "So, to say that we should weaken protection and allow our waterways to get more polluted does not make economic sense."
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In Hampton Roads, that looks like the marine industry, home values and tourism. People flock here to enjoy our clean waters and eat fresh seafood from our waters.
Everett said it would simply cost more to fix the problems later.
The policy changes will go into effect 60 days after it is added to the Federal Register. If a Democrat is elected this November, the policy change could very well be reversed, but that would still take some time.
Everett said a lot of harm could still be done in even a small gap in time.