A recent study from the National Academy of Sciences found that, since 1982, between 3 percent and 10 percent of the country’s water systems are in violation of the health standards outlined in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.
That may not sound like much, but it equates to around 21 million people per year being exposed to unsafe drinking water, or about 6 percent of the U.S population.
The cost of government inaction China has shown the need for government to get involved in minimizing water pollution to protect its populace.
One thing that Texas, Oklahoma and many other rural regions affected by poor water quality have in common is that they are staunch seats of the Republican Party.
However, for the people that work for these corporations, the regulations only offer a positive result of clean, safe drinking water.
But the fact is, in many small towns and rural areas, locals only seem able to see their hatred for the EPA and regulations because Fox News and the Republican Party has been fanning the flames of hate for decades.
In a statement, Howard A. Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, said: “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s rush to delay the Clean Water Rule will allow more pollution, threatening safe, clean drinking water in the Midwest.
We can’t afford to go backwards when it comes to reducing pollution of our community rivers, lakes and streams.” Helping people help themselves The issue of unsafe drinking water is worse in rural communities that don’t have the finances to improve their failing systems, and also because their small populations have little recourse to complain.
Health violations actually skyrocketed in rural areas in the 2000s after the EPA revised its stance on disinfectants, where the standard practice had always been to use chlorine and other disinfectants to remove pathogens from drinking water.
Which begs the question: How bad does the situation, and our people’s health, have to get before we finally decide to act?