streams

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the direction of the Trump administration, will revoke a rule that gives the agency broad authority over regulating the pollution of tributaries and wetlands that flow into the country’s largest rivers. [1]
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told Congress on June 27, 2017, that the agency would “provide clarity” by “withdrawing” the rule, and follow standards set in 2008. Pruitt had previously said he would recuse himself from working on litigation to the rule.
Said Pruitt:

Glyphosate, a controversial ingredient found in Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, is showing up in streams, rivers, and other aquatic systems around the world due to runoff. Unfortunately, this may be damaging a type of green macroalgae that is common in streams, a new Brazilian study published in the journal Phycologia shows. [1]

The U.K. government pledged on September 3 to phase out plastic microbeads in cosmetics by the end of 2017. We’re expected to know which products will be covered by the ban in the coming days. [1]

Both legal and illegal drugs are polluting streams in and around at least 1 major U.S. city, a new study reveals. This includes amphetamines, which are biologically active and highly addictive. [1]
The pollution comes at a high cost, ecologically. Areas in some streams have high enough concentrations of amphetamines to alter the bottom of the aquatic food chain.
Study author Sylvia Lee said:

The Midwestern United States first saw a burgeoning problem with super weeds, caused by GMOs. Now in a study conducted by researchers from the United States Geological Survey who collected samples from 9 sites in Nebraska and Iowa, it was found that neonicotinoids, otherwise known as bee-killing pesticides, were present in varying amounts in every single river and stream.