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Monday, September 14, 2009

Environment - Several recent environmental stories

Sunday, Sept. 13th the NY Times had a major front-page story that continued on to two full inside pages: "Toxic Waters: Clean Water Laws Are Neglected, at a Cost in Suffering." Some quotes:

Almost four decades ago, Congress passed the Clean Water Act to force polluters to disclose the toxins they dump into waterways and to give regulators the power to fine or jail offenders. States have passed pollution statutes of their own. But in recent years, violations of the Clean Water Act have risen steadily across the nation, an extensive review of water pollution records by The New York Times found.

In the last five years alone, chemical factories, manufacturing plants and other workplaces have violated water pollution laws more than half a million times. The violations range from failing to report emissions to dumping toxins at concentrations regulators say might contribute to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses.

However, the vast majority of those polluters have escaped punishment. State officials have repeatedly ignored obvious illegal dumping, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which can prosecute polluters when states fail to act, has often declined to intervene.

Because it is difficult to determine what causes diseases like cancer, it is impossible to know how many illnesses are the result of water pollution, or contaminants’ role in the health problems of specific individuals.

But concerns over these toxins are great enough that Congress and the E.P.A. regulate more than 100 pollutants through the Clean Water Act and strictly limit 91 chemicals or contaminants in tap water through the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Regulators themselves acknowledge lapses. The new E.P.A. administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, said in an interview that despite many successes since the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, today the nation’s water does not meet public health goals, and enforcement of water pollution laws is unacceptably low. She added that strengthening water protections is among her top priorities. State regulators say they are doing their best with insufficient resources.

The Times obtained hundreds of thousands of water pollution records through Freedom of Information Act requests to every state and the E.P.A., and compiled a national database of water pollution violations that is more comprehensive than those maintained by states or the E.P.A.

In addition, The Times interviewed more than 250 state and federal regulators, water-system managers, environmental advocates and scientists.

That research shows that an estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways.

Those exposures include carcinogens in the tap water of major American cities and unsafe chemicals in drinking-water wells. Wells, which are not typically regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, are more likely to contain contaminants than municipal water systems.

Stephanie Gattman of the Elkhart Truth has an interesting story on the choices presented by an offer of free hookups to city water to residents near a Superfund site. Some quotes:
ELKHART -- You live just outside a plume of contaminated groundwater coming from a Superfund site. You're offered a chance to hook up to city water for free, but you know eventually you'll have to pay the bills.

What do you do?

a) Accept the offer. You're not taking any chances with the contamination plume moving toward you in the future. There are other benefits, too.

b) Let them put the water lines to your home, but not turn on the water. You don't want to give up your private well.

c) Nothing. You're not concerned about contamination.

Those are real decisions being made right now just west of the city limits in the HIMCO Superfund site.

So far, 23 homeowners on Westwood, Northwood and Plainfield drives have signed compacts with the city to hook up to city water because of contamination coming from the HIMCO Superfund site on C.R. 10 and John Weaver Parkway. * * *

Of the homeowners who have not agreed to hook up, del Rosario said one of the biggest issues is that they don't want to cap their existing well, a state and local requirement when connecting to city water. Cost and compensation are other issues. Some homeowners recently installed new wells.

John Hulewicz, Elkhart County's environmental health supervisor, said individuals do have a choice whether to hook up, but he said he doesn't see the argument against it. "Personally, I would rather hook up to city water and know that I'm protected from past contamination issues and any future contamination issues," he said. "In Elkhart County it's not like we're at a loss for problems when it comes to groundwater contamination issues."

John and Janina Haines live on Northwood Drive in a vein of contamination and they've decided to connect. They need a new well anyway, John said, but he also sees other benefits. "We're going to get fire hydrants, which should make our insurance a little less," he said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 14, 2009 01:45 PM
Posted to Environment