Busting the Clean Drinking Water Illusion - EPA Lagging Behind Polluters

Graphic courtesy of DestinationKnowlton.com.

Americans often worry about drinking water quality when visiting other countries. Well, it might be time to start worrying just as much about our own drinking water.

Yesterday, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson acknowledged in a speech that her agency is finding it difficult to keep up with new pollutants that are constantly entering our drinking water supplies. The speech was given at the annual conference of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.

“While we’ve cut the flow of many conventional pollutants into our tap water sources, we face challenges from other pollutants from less conventional sources. Not the visible oil slicks and industrial waste of the past, but the invisible pollutants that we’ve only recently had the science to detect.

“There are a range of chemicals that have become more prevalent in our products, our water, and our bodies in the last 50 years. We also face serious issues of deferred maintenance in our infrastructure,” said Ms. Jackson.

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