Word: epa
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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LEAD: The risks have been known for years, but plenty of lead still gets into drinking water, since testing for the heavy metal is not universal. About 560,000 children have unacceptably high levels of lead in their blood, which could lead to neurological problems. The EPA also calculates that 680,000 cases of high blood pressure in adult men could be prevented by reducing lead in drinking water...
RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION: There are no rules about how much is safe, but the N.R.D.C. cites EPA figures showing that about 50 million Americans drink radon-tainted water. The tasteless, odorless gas, which seeps into water naturally from underground rocks in many areas, is a proven cause of both lung and rectal cancer...
What can be done? Predictably, the two sides in the debate mostly talk past each other, with environmentalists stressing the dangers and water providers focusing on costs and the inflexibility of the laws. For example, the EPA requires testing for dioxin, a possible human carcinogen, but, argues Wayne Kern of the North Dakota department of health, "the industries that are common sources of dioxin just do not exist in North Dakota...
Water agencies want the revised Safe Water Act to make the EPA take such calculations into account when imposing rules, and to forbid the U.S. government to issue standards without supplying the money it takes to meet them -- a position the National Governors' Association has seconded. A 1991 study showed that the cost of meeting environmental mandates will eat up more than 23% of the budget of Columbus, Ohio, by the year 2000 -- and that assumes no new regulations between now and then. In many cities, the costs of environmental laws will soon exceed those of police and fire protection...
...several ideas have already surfaced. One is that Congress could finally start offering financial assistance to the small water companies that need it most. Another is to encourage small systems to merge and share costs, an approach that has made headway in South Dakota. The role of the EPA will be crucial. Administrator Carol Browner says she is willing to reconsider the water law's simplistic "one size fits all" approach; she is looking at a strategy that would allow local governments to deal with local problems in their own way without sacrificing national safety standards. Browner also supports...