In many places across the country today, manmade pollution and natural contamination of drinking water poser serious threats to people's health. Polls show Americans want such problems solved, and for four decades, the two political parties worked together to protect public health. But now Republicans (and some Democrats) in both House and Senate are trying to pass bills that would end safe drinking water and most other environmental protections.
"WASHINGTON, DC -- This year, residents of Midland, Texas sued Dow Chemical for dangerous levels of hexavalent chromium in their drinking water. Chromium-6 is a cancer-causing chemical made infamous by Julia Roberts' film, "Erin Brockovich." There are currently no drinking water standards for chromium-6, and the chemical industry is delaying a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency assessment labeling it a potent carcinogen.
This is far from an isolated scenario, threats to the public drinking water supply are national in scope. From the 1950s to the 1980s, trichloroethylene, a carcinogenic metal degreaser, lurked, undetected, in the drinking water at North Carolina's Fort Lejeune - affecting up to one million marines and their families.
California's San Joaquin River and San Francisco Bay Delta are contaminated with selenium and mercury. ...
Ensuring that Americans have clean water has been an effort with strong bipartisan support for four decades. President Richard Nixon and Congress established the EPA in response to growing public demand for cleaner water, air and environment. The Clean Water Act followed in 1972, and the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974.
But today there is a deep disconnect between escalating public concern and government action. Numerous bills passed this year by the Republican-led House of Representatives bash well-established scientific evidence, attempting to dismantle or delay regulations that safeguard America's water, food, air and environment."
Sharon Guynup reports for Environment News Service December 8, 2011.
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