MA town faces $82K fine for drinking water violations
BOSTON, December 4, 2009 (Water Tech) — Gloucester, a city on Massachusetts’ North Shore which was forced to issue a 20-day boil-water order during August and September, now faces more than $82,000 in fines from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for violating safe drinking water regulations, The Boston Globe reported December 4.
The total fine is $82,187.50: $15,000 for clean water violations during the drinking water crisis and a $67,187.50 penalty that will be suspended if the city complies with the terms of the consent order, the DEP said in a December 3 news release.
The consent order requires the city on Cape Ann to make improvements to its water supply system, including $8 million in upgrades to equipment at its Babson water treatment facility.
Water testing detected fecal coliform at the Babson plant; the plant eventually was temporarily shut down, as WaterTech Online® reported.
According to a December 3 Gloucester Daily Times story, “In their first report on what went wrong this summer, DEP experts cited ‘years of neglect’ of the systems at Babson combined with ‘lax oversight’ by the city of its private water contractor as central causes of persistent bacteria blooms.”
Drinking water violations examined by NY Times
NEW YORK, December 8, 2009 (Water Tech) — Regulatory and water system data analyzed by The New York Times show that more than 49 million people in the US have consumed polluted drinking water since 2004, according to a report in the December 8 print edition of The New York Times.
Pollutants of concern included concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as bacteria often found in sewage, the report said.
Analyzing data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other regulators and water systems, the New York Times reported: “More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.”
Fewer than 6 percent of the water systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials. According to the article, which quoted current and former EPA enforcement officials who wished to remain anonymous, federal regulators were informed of violations, but in many cases, unless the violations would make sensational news stories or target big money, pursuing the violations were overlooked.
EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy, in response to questions regarding the agency’s drinking water enforcement, told the New York Times: “This administration has made it clear that clean water is a top priority. The previous eight years provide a perfect example of what happens when political leadership fails to act to protect our health and the environment.”
High levels of lead at taps in NJ community
HIGH BRIDGE, NJ, December 10, 2009 (Water Tech) — The Borough of High Bridge Water Department recently conducted water quality monitoring tests and discovered higher-than-normal levels of lead in several homes’ and buildings’ tap water, according to a December 10 article from the Hunterdon Review.
During August 2009 testing, water samples surpassed the federal action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb) and reached as high as 89 ppb.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), some compounds, such as lead and copper, typically enter drinking water through onsite plumbing fixtures; the news article said the municipal water system here is not the source.
High Bridge Director of Public Works Mike Hann noted that “there are about six homes/buildings affected.”
“The lead is leaching out of the solder sites and any lead parts that are in the (plumbing) fixtures,” Hann said. He said the community’s water is safe to drink.
Although the borough has tested its water for lead every three years, which is required by state and federal law, Hann said that testing frequency will increase to every six months.
Tap water report reveals best and worst supplies
December 14, 2009 (Water Tech) - A report from the Environmental Working Group has been released ranking the top 100 (those serving a population over 250,000) water supplies.
According to the Environmental Working Group website, the report based its findings on the "total number of chemicals detected as of 2004; the percentage of chemicals found of those tested; and the highest average level for an individual pollutant, relative to legal limits or national average amounts, including for the most common pollutants (disinfection byproducts, nitrate and arsenic)."
Pensacola, FL, was ranked at the bottom of the list and was found to have the highest amount of pollutants and chemicals. Arlington, TX, was ranked in the top spot and had the least amount.
The report, released on Dec. 12, surprised some, including Jim Neustadt, a spokesman for the Montgomery & Prince George's Counties, MD, which ranked 82nd. In a Dec. 13 Washington Post story, Neustadt said, "We've never had any drinking-water violations," WSSC spokesman Jim Neustadt said. "Our water is perfectly safe to drink."
The Environmental Working Group said the Environmental Protection Agency can be lax with its standards. Jane Houlihan, senior vice president for research at the group, told the Washington Post, "This is water that meets all federal standards, but it still contains residues" of some pollutants.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
You can read EWG's full report at www.ewg.org/tap-water/home to learn more about drinking water pollution -- what contaminants we face, where they come from, what the government is and isn't doing about them -- and what EWG recommends to policy makers.
NY Rep probed over his bottled water budget
UTICA, NY, December 14, 2009 (Water Tech) — U.S. Rep Michael Arcuri’s offices apparently spend $200 a month on bottled water, an amount that is questionable, according to the advocacy group Common Cause New York, the Observer-Dispatch reported.
The Dec. 13 story quoted Arcuri’s spokesman who said that the office water is undrinkable and not even suitable for making coffee.
Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, said in the story, “As a proponent of using tap water, bottled water is something which would jump out to me. I’d like to introduce him to some great sources for stainless steel water holders — there are some really wonderful ones out there.”
According to a July-September quarterly report, Arcuri’s Washington office spent $308 on Deer Park bottled water, and his congressional district offices spent $305 on Nirvana Spring bottled water.
Oneida, NY, County Republican Party Chairman George Joseph said that while it is something worth discussing, there are certainly more important issues at hand, such as health care. “Is it worth mentioning? OK, but there are bigger issues out there,” he said in the story.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Another good reason to talk to people about the advantages of having a Multi-Pure drinking water system. The consumer can save lots on money compared to bottled water while protecting the environment!
Las Vegas’ drinking water among worst in nation
LAS VEGAS, NV, December 15, 2009 (Water Tech) – The water provided by the Las Vegas Valley Water District ranked 98th out of 100 cities studied, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Riverside, California and Pensacola, Florida were the only two cities to rank below Las Vegas, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group, based in Washington, D.C.
Las Vegas’ drinking water contains trace amounts of 30 different chemicals, including arsenic, bromate, lead and radon, the article noted.
According to the story, although the water delivered to 1.3 million valley residents contains a “chemical cocktail” of regulated and unregulated substances, it does meet all federal safety standards.
“This water is considered legal and safe, and that’s because we consider all these chemicals individually,” said Richard Wiles, senior vice president of policy for the group. “Over the long haul, it raises serious questions about the quality of the water if you're going to be drinking it over a lifetime.”
The environmental watchdog group spent the last three years compiling an online database of water quality reports and sampling data from 48,000 communities across the United States, the article noted.
The water utilities of Arlington, Texas, Providence, Rhode Island and Fort Worth, Texas were ranked the highest.
Pollutants found in Riverside County’s water supply
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA, December 15, 2009 (Water Tech) – According to a study by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, water supplies from Riverside Public Utilities and Eastern Municipal Water District contain excessive levels of toxic pollutants, the Press-Enterprise reported.
Richard Wiles, senior vice president of policy for the group, said, “The number of pollutants in the water is shocking. It's safe to say people shouldn't be drinking this water over the long term.”
The most alarming concern is the presence of perchlorate, a substance found in rocket fuel that is known to disrupt thyroid function, the story said.
According to Wiles, the tests also revealed several carcinogens, including pesticides, arsenic and hexavalent chromium.
Despite the findings of Wiles’ group, officials from both districts claim that the water from their facilities is safe, the article reported.
Kevin Milligan, assistant general manager for Riverside utilities, said, “We recognize that much of the water we pump out of the ground is contaminated, and we have spent millions of dollars over the past 20 years building treatment facilities to mitigate that.”
Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Hexavalent Chromium and Perchlorate.
Study of cancer cases in New Jersey underway
POMPTON LAKES, N.J., December 17, 2009 (Water Tech) — New Jersey state officials plan to expand a study of cancer cases in a town where a DuPont munitions plant was once located, the Associated Press reported.
A previous report by the state Health Department showed increased rates of kidney cancer among women and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in men in a neighborhood near a plume of polluted groundwater, but could not conclusively link the cancers to the toxins in the groundwater, the article stated.
The solvents that are polluting the groundwater had been used at the DuPont factory, which was closed in 1994, the story reported.
DuPont is currently studying groundwater cleanup methods, company spokesman Robert Nelson said.
That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy
NEW YORK, December 17, 2009 (New York Times) - The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal.
Only 91 contaminants are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, yet more than 60,000 chemicals are used within the United States, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Government and independent scientists have scrutinized thousands of those chemicals in recent decades, and identified hundreds associated with a risk of cancer and other diseases at small concentrations in drinking water, according to an analysis of government records by The New York Times.
But not one chemical has been added to the list of those regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act since 2000.
Other recent studies have found that even some chemicals regulated by that law pose risks at much smaller concentrations than previously known. However, many of the act’s standards for those chemicals have not been updated since the 1980s, and some remain essentially unchanged since the law was passed in 1974.
All told, more than 62 million Americans have been exposed since 2004 to drinking water that did not meet at least one commonly used government health guideline intended to help protect people from cancer or serious disease, according to an analysis by The Times of more than 19 million drinking-water test results from the District of Columbia and the 45 states that made data available.
Multi-Pure Commentary:
To read completed article, please go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/us/17water.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=tainted%20tap%20water&st=cse
EPA begins cleanup of Ottawa River
CHICAGO, IL, December 23, 2009 (Water Tech) — In cooperation with the Ottawa River Group and the state of Ohio, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has started construction on phase one of a cleanup effort of the Ottawa River and Sibley Creek in Toledo, Ohio, according to a press release.
The project, which is part of the EPA’s Great Lakes Legacy Act, aims to reduce impacts to human health and the environment by removing approximately 260,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment from the creek and river, the release said.
The presence of heavy metals, PCBs and PAHs in the sediment is the main reason that fish advisories are currently in place, the release added.
Please Note: iwaterdrops is intended
to be an informational and educational
news bulletin for Multi-Pure Independent
Distributors. The news articles
included are excerpted from the publications
shown. The contamination problems
and health effects reported occurred
in the community or region identified
in the article. Please check your
local newspapers and magazines for stories
about pollutants and water treatment
problems in your own community.
For previous issues of iwaterdrops go
to: http://www.multipureco.com/BusinessGuide/iwaterdrops.htm
If you do not wish to be included in
future mailings of iwaterdrops, reply
to this email with remove in the subject
line. |
