PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Delaware Riverkeeper Network is urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act immediately to ensure the survival of the Atlantic sturgeon. 

Riverkeeper has issued a 60-day notice of intent to sue the EPA for failing to finalize its proposed rule revising the dissolved oxygen Water Quality Standards for the Delaware River.

The Clean Water Act requires EPA to promulgate the final Water Quality Standards within 90 days of publishing the proposed standard. Yet the deadline has passed, said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper and leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network.

She said the delay is harming the genetically unique population of Atlantic sturgeon found in the river. The proposed rule, once finalized, would set higher dissolved oxygen standards for the Delaware Estuary to protect aquatic life, including the oxygen-sensitive sturgeon species.

The organization has given the EPA 60 days to respond, indicating that it will file a lawsuit on day 61 if necessary.