Suburban septic-tank threats converted water pollution from local into national policy.

Evidence

In a more straightforward fashion, the new evidence about the dangers of septic tanks increased popular support for federal water-pollution legislation. Though a variety of conservation and public health groups had lobbied on the issue since the 1930s, the campaigns led only to two weak bills, in 1948 and 1956, which enabled the federal government to provide technical assistance to local governments. In part, the limited federal role in the 1950s expressed President Dwight Eisenhower’s view that water pollution was essentially a local problem. There was little popular protest against Eisenhower’s position. In the early 1960s, however, the water-pollution issue began to hit home. The number of articles and books on the subject rose dramatically, and many gave prominent play to the threats posed by septic tanks – the spread of infectious disease and the contamination of drinking water with detergents. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside, 421

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Suburban pollution protests produced the major federal water laws of 1965-74. — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 423; Septic tank concerns escalated from property to public-health to environmental frames — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 374; Suburban septic tanks threatened to reverse a century of urban sewer reform — Adam Rome, The Bulldozer in the Countryside:…, 389 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Movement organizing turned pollution prevention into national policy #corroborates (0.85) — Luke W. Cole and Sheila R. Foster, From the Ground Up, 139