As of this date, Albany County in New York has come to join
several other states and counties who have banned the usage of microbeads. The
measure passed unanimously with bipartisan support after local officials were
tasked with three options: “do nothing, which… is not acceptable; spend
millions of dollars of taxpayer money to upgrade water treatment facilities to
filter out the tiny pollutants; or ban them.” Tom Ellis, an activist who helped
pushed the bill, is hoping vendors will cease to use microbeads in their
products; since this bill will require retailers to request no products
containing microbeads, there is an assumption that big vendors will stop using
microbeads instead of wasting resources on creating specialized product
shipments by county and state. Those who violate this law will face fines
reaching upwards to $5,000 a day.
This measure was particularly meaningful because it was the
first ban to pass in the Hudson River watershed, a 13,390-square-mile drainage
basin where surface water from rain, snow or ice converge to a single point at
a lower elevation where waters join another water body. Groups such as the
Hudson River Estuary Program have been working diligently to ensure the natural
habitat and wildlife of the watershed are preserved, and this measure acts as a
major victory in their favor. The Hudson River watershed is especially
important because it is one of the most studied bodies of water; settlers
founded it 400 years ago, and researchers have been drawing information from it
regarding fish patterns for over 100 years. New species of fish are introduced
to it every year; with the ban on microbeads in Albany County, it is now up to
the other counties surrounding the Hudson River watershed to ensure that the
wildlife continues to flourish.
Sources
timesunion
timesunion
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