Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show
New York Times
7 December 2009
By Charles Duhigg
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.
That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local
residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million
people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic
or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria
often found in sewage.
Regulators were informed of each of those violations as they occurred.
But regulatory records show that fewer than 6 percent of the water
systems that broke the law were ever fined or punished by state or
federal officials, including those at the Environmental Protection
Agency, which has ultimate responsibility for enforcing standards.
Studies indicate that drinking water contaminants are linked to
millions of instances of illness within the United States each year.
In some instances, drinking water violations were one-time events, and
probably posed little risk. But for hundreds of other systems, illegal
contamination persisted for years, records show.
On Tuesday, the Senate Environment and Public Works committee will
question a high-ranking E.P.A. official about the agency’s enforcement
of drinking-water safety laws. The E.P.A. is expected to announce a new
policy for how it polices the nation’s 54,700 water systems.
“This administration has made it clear that clean water is a top
priority,” said an E.P.A. spokeswoman, Adora Andy, in response to
questions regarding the agency’s drinking water enforcement. The E.P.A.
administrator, Lisa P. Jackson, this year announced a wide-ranging
overhaul of enforcement of the Clean Water Act, which regulates
pollution into waterways.
“The previous eight years provide a perfect example of what happens
when political leadership fails to act to protect our health and the
environment,” Ms. Andy added.
Water pollution has become a growing concern for some lawmakers as
government oversight of polluters has waned. Senator Barbara Boxer,
Democrat of California, in 2007 asked the E.P.A. for data on Americans’
exposure to some contaminants in drinking water.
The New York Times has compiled and analyzed millions of records from
water systems and regulators around the nation, as part of a series of
articles about worsening pollution in American waters, and regulators’
response.
An analysis of E.P.A. data shows that Safe Drinking Water Act
violations have occurred in parts of every state. In the prosperous
town of Ramsey, N.J., for instance, drinking water tests since 2004
have detected illegal concentrations of arsenic, a carcinogen, and the
dry cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene, which has also been linked to
cancer.
In New York state, 205 water systems have broken the law by delivering
tap water that contained illegal amounts of bacteria since 2004.
However, almost none of those systems were ever punished. Ramsey was
not fined for its water violations, for example, though a Ramsey
official said that filtration systems have been installed since then.
In New York, only three water systems were penalized for bacteria
violations, according to federal data.
The problem, say current and former government officials, is that
enforcing the Safe Drinking Water Act has not been a federal priority.
“There is significant reluctance within the E.P.A. and Justice
Department to bring actions against municipalities, because there’s a
view that they are often cash-strapped, and fines would ultimately be
paid by local taxpayers,” said David Uhlmann, who headed the
environmental crimes division at the Justice Department until 2007.
“But some systems won’t come into compliance unless they are forced
to,” added Mr. Uhlmann, who now teaches at the University of Michigan
law school. “And sometimes a court order is the only way to get local
governments to spend what is needed.”
A half-dozen current and former E.P.A. officials said in interviews
that they tried to prod the agency to enforce the drinking-water law,
but found little support.
“I proposed drinking water cases, but they got shut down so fast that
I’ve pretty much stopped even looking at the violations,” said one
longtime E.P.A. enforcement official who, like others, requested
anonymity for fear of reprisals. “The top people want big headlines and
million-dollar settlements. That’s not drinking-water cases.”
The majority of drinking water violations since 2004 have occurred at
water systems serving fewer than 20,000 residents, where resources and
managerial expertise are often in short supply.
It is unclear precisely how many American illnesses are linked to
contaminated drinking water. Many of the most dangerous contaminants
regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act have been tied to diseases
like cancer that can take years to develop.
But scientific research indicates that as many as 19 million Americans
may become ill each year due to just the parasites, viruses and
bacteria in drinking water.
Certain types of cancer — such as breast and prostate cancer — have
risen over the past 30 years, and research indicates they are likely
tied to pollutants like those found in drinking water.
The violations counted by the Times analysis include only situations
where residents were exposed to dangerous contaminants, and exclude
violations that involved paperwork or other minor problems.
In response to inquiries submitted by Senator Boxer, the E.P.A. has
reported that more than three million Americans have been exposed since
2005 to drinking water with illegal concentrations of arsenic and
radioactive elements, both of which have been linked to cancer at small
doses.
In some areas, the amount of radium detected in drinking water was
2,000 percent higher than the legal limit, according to E.P.A. data.
But federal regulators fined or punished fewer than 8 percent of water
systems that violated the arsenic and radioactive standards. The
E.P.A., in a statement, said that in a majority of situations, state
regulators used informal methods — like providing technical assistance
— to help systems that had violated the rules.
But many systems remained out of compliance, even after aid was
offered, according to E.P.A. data. And for over a quarter of systems
that violated the arsenic or radioactivity standards, there is no
record that they were ever contacted by a regulator, even after they
sent in paperwork revealing their violations.
Those figures are particularly worrisome, say researchers, because the
Safe Drinking Water Act’s limits on arsenic are so weak to begin with.
A system could deliver tap water that puts residents at a 1-in-600 risk
of developing bladder cancer from arsenic, and still comply with the
law.
Despite the expected announcement of reforms, some mid-level E.P.A.
regulators say they are skeptical that any change will occur.
“The same people who told us to ignore Safe Drinking Water Act
violations are still running the divisions,” said one mid-level E.P.A.
official. “There’s no accountability, and so nothing’s going to change.”