Brett Walton

About Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club's Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

Entries by Brett Walton

Federal Water Tap, May 28: EPA Issues Draft Standards for New Drinking Water Contaminant

May 28, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown Perchlorate is the first new drinking water contaminant to be regulated by the EPA since the 1990s. A $19 billion disaster relief bill is held up in Congress. The House budget committee commits to a spending increase for the EPA. The Army Corps submits a $778 million Asian carp plan. Two water bills […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

EPA Considers Options for Reuse and Discharge of Oil and Gas Wastewater

May 23, 2019/in Water & Energy, Water News/by Brett Walton

U.S. oil and gas companies are setting production records, while also pumping up enormous volumes of salty, chemical-laden water. The question now: What to do with the noxious water?

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

‘It’s Raining Plastic’: Researchers Find Microscopic Fibers in Colorado Rain Samples

May 22, 2019/in Water News, Water Quality/by Brett Walton

“We’re seeing plastics virtually everywhere we look,” U.S. Geological Survey researcher says.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Energy Companies Eye Big Oil and Gas Expansion in Wyoming

May 21, 2019/in Water & Energy, Water News/by Brett Walton

Will the fracking boom echo in America’s leading coal state?

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 20: House Democrats Seek To Boost Water Infrastructure Spending

May 20, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown House spending bill adds hundreds of millions for water systems. The EPA considers additional ways to reuse or dispose of oil and gas wastewater. Senators introduce a bill to establish a total PFAS standard for drinking water and schedule a hearing on PFAS legislation. The EPA adds seven sites to the national Superfund […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

‘Alarming’ Increase in U.S. Hepatitis A Cases, CDC Reports

May 16, 2019/in Sanitation/Health, Water News/by Brett Walton

The resurgence of the viral liver disease hepatitis A is linked to drug use and homelessness.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 13: PFAS Week in Congress

May 13, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown A barrage of PFAS legislation appears in the House and Senate. The House passes a $19.1 billion disaster aid package for recent flood, fire, and hurricane damage. The CDC reports a substantial increase in Hepatitis A cases. The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee says he will investigate federal approval of a […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, May 6: Trump, Democrats Float $2 Trillion Infrastructure Idea

May 6, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown More infrastructure talk from the White House and Congress. The Justice Department settles with ExxonMobil over a 2011 oil spill into the Yellowstone River. Representatives introduce a slew of water bills in Congress. Hydropower generation declined in 2018 due to lower snowpack in the West. Colorado River hydrologists will discuss the 2019 runoff […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Capital Flight? Indonesia Leader Suggests Moving Government Out of Sinking Jakarta

April 30, 2019/in Water News, Water Policy & Politics, WEF/by Brett Walton

Unsustainable groundwater use is one factor that could prompt a political and urban restructuring in Indonesia.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, April 29: EPA Releases Draft PFAS Groundwater Cleanup Guidance

April 29, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown The EPA uses its drinking water health advisory to guide PFAS cleanup in groundwater. Senators ask the GAO to assess the cost to the federal government of PFAS cleanup. Senate Democrats release report on the financial costs of climate change. A federal health research agency publishes more details on a PFAS health study. […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Nitrate Pollution Rising In Private Wells in Iowa

April 25, 2019/in Water News, Water Quality/by Brett Walton

Report highlights lack of water quality data for household wells.

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

Federal Water Tap, April 22: In Reversal, EPA Excludes Groundwater Pollution from Clean Water Act Permitting

April 22, 2019/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett Walton

The Rundown The EPA says that all groundwater pollution is excluded from Clean Water Act permitting, even if it eventually flows into regulated waters. President Trumps signs a bill authorizing a Colorado River conservation plan, while a water rights settlement introduced in the Senate would allow more water to be withdrawn upstream in the basin, […]

Brett Walton

Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton

circleofblue.org/author/brett

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About Brett Walton

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