Supreme Court Leaves Users Disgusted After Rolling Back Clean Water Act's Raw Sewage Discharge Limitations: 'Poop Is Back On the Menu'

The US Supreme Court weakened restrictions on the discharge of raw sewage into the nation's water supplies in a 5-4 decision to roll back key provisions of the 1972 Clean Water Act (CWA), inspiring disgust and outrage online.

The decision, authored by Justice Samuel Alito and backed by the court's conservative majority, prevents the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing broad water quality protections for pollution permit holders, favoring case-specific regulations.

The ruling is a legal victory for San Francisco, which challenged the EPA's ability to issue "narrative" permits that broadly prohibit water pollution, The Guardian reported. The city, backed by powerful business groups such as the National Mining Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argued that the EPA overstepped its authority by holding polluters responsible for overall surface water quality.

"The city is wrong," Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in a dissenting opinion joined by the court's three liberal justices. Barrett argued that the decision undermines the CWA's core mission of implementing water quality standards.

Social media users condemned the ruling, describing it as a pro-corporate decision at the expense of public health.

"Poop is back on the menu!" one user wrote. "They're literally making you eat s--t," another said. Others sarcastically suggested that the justices who voted in favor should be forced to drink sewage water themselves.

Critics warn that the decision could lead to increased pollution in drinking water supplies across the country, further eroding environmental protections in the wake of last year's ruling that overturned the 40-year Chevron precedent that required courts to defer to the expertise of federal agencies to reasonably interpret unclear laws.

Meanwhile, supporters of the CWA ruling argue that it reins in EPA overreach.