A U.S. Steel spokesman said he simply did not see the problem as his. “To the best of our knowledge,” he said, “we are in complete conformity with all existing federal and state codes relating to water quality in the Cuyahoga River.” Nobody was fined a dime. In 1972, Congress overrode a President Nixon veto and approved a sweeping package of amendments to the existing federal water pollution regulations that are known today as the Clean Water Act. This turned the tables by establishing the principle that industry does not have a “right” to pollute and must therefore apply for a permit to do
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