For Immediate Release	Contact:	Nicole Capretz
October 18, 2002		619-236-6616 619-886-2155 Cell

Councilmember Frye Named National Clean Water Hero

One of Thirty Clean Water Act Heroes to Celebrate Act's 30th Anniversary

October 18, 2002?Today the Clean Water Network named Councilmember Donna Frye one of thirty national Clean Water Act heroes as part of the celebration of the Clean Water Act?s 30th anniversary. This award honors individuals who have made powerful contributions to the protection and restoration of America?s rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastal waters.

An environmental activist since the early 1980s, Donna Frye is known for her commitment to clean water. She founded Surfer's Tired of Pollution, which initiated efforts to establish statewide water monitoring standards (AB 411), worked with San Diego County and City using DNA analysis to determine the source of bacteria from storm drains, and partnered with the County Department of Environmental Health to establish the Ocean Illness Survey. Frye also successfully worked to strengthen San Diego City policies related to polluted runoff, including the initiation of the posting of warning signs in front of storm drains, the monitoring of discharges at storm drain outfalls, and the diversion of dry weather low-flow runoff into the sewer system. Additionally, Frye played a central role in obtaining millions of dollars from the state for cleaning Mission Bay.

During her tenure on City Council, Frye has voted to repair and replace aging sewage infrastructure, protect and preserve our canyons, open space and public parkland, and minimize development that would increase polluted runoff and compromise our quality of life.

In hearing she was chosen as a ?hero,? Frye said, ?I am thrilled and deeply honored to receive this award. I accept this award on behalf of all the dedicated clean water activists in San Diego who continue to fight fearlessly and fervently to make all of our beaches and bays fishable and swimmable.?

The 30th anniversary of the Act provides an opportunity to reflect on how far the nation has come and how far the nation has yet to go to achieve our goal of clean and safe water. In many ways, the Act truly did turn the tide on water pollution. We have drastically reduced the percentage of American waters deemed unsafe for fishing and swimming, invested billions in storm water runoff and sewage treatment technologies, and cut the rate of wetland loss dramatically.

And yet despite great strides, more than 40 percent of our nation?s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are still not clean. San Diego continues to suffer from sewage spills, polluted runoff, and closed beaches and bays. Wetlands ? so crucial for habitat, flood control and pollution reduction ? continue to be lost at an alarming rate.

Bruce Reznik, Executive Director of San Diego Baykeeper, says, ?No one deserves this award more than Donna Frye. She has singlehandedly made clean water one of the most important priorities for the City and County of San Diego -- despite strong political opposition. When reflecting on the great strides we?ve made in San Diego to achieve clean water, all roads lead to Donna. She has been, and continues to be, instrumental in protecting and preserving our most precious natural asset.?

?Donna Frye?s work shows the power of real people taking action to protect and restore the rivers, lakes and coastal waters they love," says Betsy Otto, co-chair of the Clean Water Network and Senior Director of Watershed Programs at American Rivers. "What lessons can we learn from these heroes? That people working at every level - from Congress to their own community - can make a difference. Every local river and wetland is worth taking a stand for; in fact it is exactly that kind of dedication that is necessary. The Clean Water Act provides the tools; these folks provide the elbow grease."

The other 29 heroes include such notables as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Senator Barbara Boxer (California), Representative John D. Dingell (Michigan), Senator Edmund S. Muskie (Wisconsin) and Senator John Chaffee (Rhode Island), Representative Frank Pallone (New Jersey), Representative James L. Oberstar (Minnesota), and other local community activists. The full list of heroes is available upon request.

About the award: In celebration of the Act and the people behind it, this award honors individuals nominated for their work by their neighbors and peers. While no awards program could possibly recognize the thousands of individuals who have fought for our right to clean water, the selections of the award committee represent the broad scope of geography, background, strategy and scale of heroes and their work. The groups conferring the Thirty Heroes for Thirty Years of the Clean Water Act awards are nonpartisan, and the awards do not reflect endorsement of any candidate or party. For press materials related to the award ? including individual biographies for each of the thirty heroes, visit www.cwn.org.

# # #