Word: safely
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...safe as most Americans think...
Maybe they should. Overall, the U.S. still has one of the cleanest water - supplies in the world, but that doesn't mean it's safe in all places at all times. This year's headlines have destroyed any illusions about the purity of water coming from spigots in town and country...
...week goes by, in fact, without reports about contaminated water somewhere in the nation, and the incidents that make news are only a tiny part of the problem. According to a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, there were some 250,000 violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act in 1991 and 1992 alone, affecting more than 120 million people. Americans are ingesting such noxious pollutants as bacteria, viruses, lead, gasoline, radioactive gases and carcinogenic industrial compounds. "Like so many other problems that we have swept under the rug during the past decade and more," says David...
Fortunately, it doesn't have to be. The Senate has begun hearings that will ultimately lead to the reauthorization, and possible strengthening, of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act. But the debate will be long and difficult. Environmental groups such as the N.R.D.C. want stricter enforcement of the existing rules, along with new or tougher standards on contaminants like radioactive radon gas and arsenic. Lined up on the other side are state and local governments and water utilities, which insist they don't have enough money to comply with the law as it is, let alone additional rules. The regulations...
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...