Group Petitions States To Block Ocean Acidification

A conservation organization has requested that Alaska and six other states _ including New Jersey _ add bodies of water to their list of impaired waterways: the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The Center for Biological Diversity, based in San Francisco, requested that Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii list the Pacific Ocean as impaired under the federal Clean Water Act. The group wants New York, New Jersey and Florida to list the Atlantic. The reason: ocean acidification, the changing of sea water chemistry because of absorption of carbon dioxide produced by humans. center attorney, Miyoko Sakashita, said listing the oceans as impaired under the Clean Water Act would allow states to set limits on the discharge of pollutants...