Tag Archives: contamination

Infrastructure

Is Your Water System Contaminated?

160628084826-map-nrdc-water-quality-report-01-exlarge-169You finally planted that garden you’ve always wanted and your first crop has made it to your family’s table. Now you learn that your public water system is contaminated – and has been for years. Your beautiful tomatoes, green beans and peppers have been cultivated with contaminated water.

When we read that thousands of public water systems in the US, affecting millions of people, have unhealthy levels of lead and copper, we should be concerned about the laws in place that are supposed to protect and preserve the health and well-being of our nation’s citizens.

According to CNN, “More than 5,300 water systems in America are in violation of the EPA’s lead and copper rule, a federal regulation in place to safeguard America’s drinking water from its aging infrastructure.”

The story goes on to report, “Violations include failure to properly test water for lead, failure to report contamination to residents, and failure to treat water properly to avoid lead contamination. Yet, states took action in 817 cases; the EPA took action in just 88 cases, according to NRDC’s report.

What’s worse, the report reveals that the EPA is also aware that many utilities “game the system,” using flawed or questionable testing methods in order to avoid detecting high levels of lead. 

That means there could be many more communities violating the laws, exposing residents to dangerous levels of lead. And the public has no idea.”

The article reports that 18 million people currently reside in areas with water systems that don’t meet legal standards AND the EPA is not addressing these violations.

Is your water contaminated?

Environment, Infrastructure

Heavy Metals Spill into Colorado River

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People kayak in the Animas River near Durango, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in water colored from a mine waste spill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that a cleanup team was working with heavy equipment Wednesday to secure an entrance to the Gold King Mine. Workers instead released an estimated 1 million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River. (Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP)
People kayak in the Animas River near Durango, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in water colored from a mine waste spill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that a cleanup team was working with heavy equipment Wednesday to secure an entrance to the Gold King Mine. Workers instead released an estimated 1 million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River. (Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP)

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally dumped 1 million gallons of heavy metals from an inactive mine into the Cement Creek in Colorado. A tributary of the Animas River, the sludge, which turned the water an eerie orange color, could be seen snaking toward New Mexico on Wednesday.

The Denver Post reports EPA workers caused the spill while they were investigating acid discharge from Gold King and three other mines in the area. The paper also quotes Dave Ostrander, the EPA’s regional director of emergency preparedness assessment and response, as saying, “We are very sorry for what happened. This is a huge tragedy. It’s hard being on the other side of this. Typically we respond to emergencies; we don’t cause them. … It’s something we sincerely regret.”

According to the NY Times, “E.P.A. officials confirmed the leak contained heavy metals, including lead and arsenic, but said it was too early to know whether there was a health risk to humans or animals. The river was closed for recreational and other uses, but officials said water sources should be safe.”

Now this writer is no expert, but it’s difficult to imagine that wastewater in the river will not affect the river’s eco-system. Further questions arise as to how will this tragedy impact the plants, fish and wildlife that depend on the river to survive?

The EPA is evaluating the human health risk, but it is reported that at least two of the heavy metals in this spill can be “lethal for humans in long-term exposure. Arsenic at high levels can cause blindness, paralysis and cancer. Lead poisoning can create muscle and vision problems for adults, harm development in fetuses and lead to kidney disease, developmental problems and sometimes death in children”.

This is serious stuff. Residents along the river are being asked to “minimize water usage”.  At least seven water utilities shut down their intake valves ahead of the plume to keep it out of their systems and farmers also closed the gates on their irrigation ditches to protect crops.

With news of toxic algae stretching from California to Alaska, fracking chemicals contaminating wells in Pennsylvania and now heavy metals dumped into the Animas in Colorado, just how safe are our water supplies?