April 2, 2025 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it plans to finalize new water quality standards that aim to protect fish in a portion of the Delaware River.
The announcement comes more than a year after the protections were first proposed, and after environmentalists took legal action to speed up the process.
Some fish traveling the river between Philadelphia, South Jersey and Wilmington struggle to survive and thrive due to low dissolved oxygen levels caused by ammonia discharges from wastewater facilities.
This urban stretch of the Delaware River is the only section of the region’s waterways that isn’t fully protective of aquatic life, according to the EPA, and oxygen level criteria doesn’t meet Clean Water Act standards.