Indiana is First

From the Indiana Daily Student comes Indiana ranks highest in nation for miles of polluted waterways, report finds:

Nearly 25,000 miles of Indiana rivers and streams are too polluted to be safe for swimming or fishing, according to a report released by the Environmental Integrity Project on March 17. In the report, Indiana ranked first for the most miles of impaired waterways and 11th for the highest percentage of impaired waters assessed. 

Impairment is a classification for water that is too polluted to meet standards for typical use, like swimming, drinking or fish consumption. The report assessed a number of waterways across the nation to rank states based on the percentage of impaired waterways and the total amount of miles of impairment. 

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Although Yoder said he believes Indiana water needs to be cleaner, he was optimistic about the work being done. 

“It doesn’t mean, necessarily, that our waters are the worst in the country,” Yoder said. “What it does mean is that we’re at least doing a better job of monitoring than some other places.

sch 4/1/22