Senator Lautenberg Calls for More Protection From Contaminants In Nation's Drinking Water

N.J. Sen. Chairs Hearing on the Issue, Says Americans Are Right to Expect Drinking Water That Is Clean, Safe

April 15, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for more protection from all contaminants in the nation’s drinking water supply at a hearing he chaired of the Environmental and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security and Water Quality.

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Drinking fountain: Photo by Vicki (CC)

In March, the Associated Press published a far-reaching investigation on the nation’s water supply and found that the drinking supply of at least 41 million Americans contained trace amounts of various pharmaceutical drugs.

“People expect their drinking water to be clean and safe. EPA’s failure to regulate the hundreds of chemicals in our water supply raises serious concerns,” Sen. Lautenberg said. “Today’s hearing will show that EPA needs to do more to protect our nation’s water supply.”

During the hearing, Lautenberg called for increased regulation of the nation’s drinking water by the EPA, more research into the contaminants in our water and more funding for our water infrastructure.

Increased Oversight

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA has the authority to regulate chemicals in America’s drinking water. If a chemical is placed on the list of regulated contaminants, then the EPA can set standards for the level of a given contaminant in the water supply.

However, there are more than 140 chemicals in our drinking water that the EPA does not regulate, according to a study by the Environmental Working Group. This includes chemicals that are used in rocket fuel, gasoline additives and pesticides. These chemicals have proven negative effects on people’s health. For some of these chemicals, the federal government has no health information on record.

More Research

During the hearing, Lautenberg said far more research was needed to be conducted to examine this issue.

In 1996, The Safe Drinking Water Act was amended to require the EPA maintain a national drinking water contaminant database. EPA built the database but failed to require states to submit the necessary data. Instead, EPA relies on states to submit the data voluntarily, and so the database is largely incomplete. Without such a database, the EPA does not know the full range of contaminants in U.S. tap water or the potential health risks they pose.

Increased Funding

Lautenberg also called for increasing funding for our crumbling water infrastructure, including our wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities. The EPA estimates that there is $271 billion dollar gap between what our wastewater treatment plants need and what they receive.

Source: Senator Frank Lautenberg