"There are many reasons why water pollution is bad. It can make you sick right away, it can kill you right away, it can kill you slowly, it can make you sick slowly.

"And then, it can do all these same things to the environment."

Peter Lehner is a senior attorney and director of NRDC's Clean Water Program. He focuses on Clean Water Act legislation, pollution prevention initiatives, runoff programs, and oil spill prevention and response. He has also taught a seminar on natural resource protection at Columbia University Law School since 1993.

Previously, Peter was Deputy Chief and Director of Environmental Prosecution for the New York City Law Department. He has an A.B. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Columbia University Law School.

  Published by the Natural Resources Defense Council -- contact us at nrdcinfo@nrdc.org