Nearly 30 MILLION Americans are drinking dangerous contaminated tap water linked to cancer, birth defects and lead poisoning.
America may be facing a water crisis as a new report claims that nearly 30 million people have been drinking contaminated tap water.
A report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that 15 percent of those offenses were health-based contamination, including lead, copper, arsenic or cancer-causing poisons.
These pollutants can lead to liver and kidney damage, cancer and birth defects.
Erik Olson, the health program director at NRDC and a report co-author, said: ‘America is facing a nationwide drinking water crisis that goes well beyond lead contamination.
‘The problem is two-fold: there’s no cop on the beat enforcing our drinking water laws, and we’re living on borrowed time with our ancient, deteriorating water infrastructure.
‘We take it for granted that when we turn on our kitchen tap, the water will be safe and healthy, but we have a long way to go before that is reality across our country.’
Adults can be affected by cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure, decreased kidney function and reproductive problems, according to the EPA.
In 2015, 18 million people’s water supply had lead violations, according to the NRDC.
Consuming contaminated or unsafe water is dangerous for humans but the dirty water also poses a threat to crops and livestock.

Letter: Protect our water.
Protect our water To the editor: A coalition of environmental groups (including the Sierra Club, the Waterkeeper Alliance and Earth Justice), in collaboration with public heath advocacy groups filed suit May 3 in the District of Columbia’s Federal District Court alleging the EPA did not have the power to wipe out protections which have been in place for 35 years that clean up the toxins in water from the number-one source of water pollution in this country — the waste from coal power plants.
The lawsuit challenges the rollback of the long-standing EPA regulations that set limits on the amount of heavy metals like mercury, arsenic and lead that don’t degrade over time and end up in drinking water.
The heavy metal toxins in the waste from coal plants increase the risk of cancer, impact fish and wildlife — making fish unsafe to eat — and travel up the food chain, ending up in the bodies of children and adults.
Rolling back the protections will also increase the cost of municipal water due to the additional investments that will need to be made to ensure safer drinking water can be delivered to customers.
The guidelines have also made rivers safer for swimming and fishing.
One of the advocates for the suit noted that instead of keeping water protection regulations in place, the EPA and the Trump administration are turning back the clock to a time when rivers caught fire and polluters dumped toxins in waterways with impunity.
The advocates for the suit insist they will not stand idly by and will fight to ensure that common sense prevails and that the health of the waterways, wildlife and the public will not be regarded as less of a priority than greed on the part of the polluters.
Amelia Shea Wilton Peace Action Wilton

New Study Shows Diversified Crop Rotation System Could Be Adopted Widely Across Corn Belt And Increase Corn-Soy Yields While Slashing Soil Erosion and Water Pollution.
WASHINGTON (May 9, 2017)—A new study released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) found that modified three- and four-crop farming systems could be scaled up and adopted widely in Corn Belt states, generating benefits to farmers and taxpayers worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The analysis, “Rotating Crops, Turning Profits: How Diversified Farming Systems Can Help Farmers While Protecting Soil and Preventing Pollution,” builds on a long-term study at Iowa State University, known as the Marsden Farm study, which demonstrated that adding combinations of alfalfa, cover crops, and small grains such as oats to a typical corn-soy rotation can increase farmers’ yields and maintain profits while reducing herbicide and fertilizer use.
Over time, and with the expansion of markets for oats or other small grains in the rotation, the system could be scaled up to nearly 40 percent of Iowa’s current farmland without driving farmers back to predominantly corn-soy.
“In 2015 alone, we spent $1.5 million running our nitrate-removal system for a record 177 days in order to provide our customers with safe drinking water; these costs are directly passed on to our ratepayers.
We need a different set of farm policies that help farmers and also protect our natural resources.” The UCS report says federal farm policies can help farmers reap the benefits of diversified cropping system by funding additional research, education and technical assistance.
“Our farmers want to implement diverse crop rotations, but the way that financial markets and incentives work, they can’t profitably grow oats or other crops besides corn or soy,” said Sarah Carlson, director of the Practical Farmers of Iowa’s Midwest Cover Crop Project, an initiative that helps farmers adopt cover crops and works with food companies to change the market for small grain crops.
Stand up for science and stop the new administration from putting politics before science at the expense of our health and the environment.
To: President Donald Trump Subject: Stand Up for Science As you forge a new path forward for America, it is vitally important that science and a respect for the facts guide your decision making.
We, the undersigned, believe that: rigorous, independent science should inform government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices; people who are appointed to lead critical agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency should have demonstrated support for the agencies’ mission; America’s Founding Fathers understood the importance of science to building a strong nation and sustaining the prosperity, health, and security of its citizens; America should continue to be a global leader in science and innovation; we can strengthen American democracy by advancing the essential role of science, evidence-based decision making, and constructive debate as a means to improve the lives of all people; and all scientists should be free to conduct and speak out about their research without fear of retribution or censorship.

And all the while, during her 10 months in the post Lopez planted bamboo to clear the nation’s waters of pollution, and invested in environmental restoration projects that produced new jobs for indigenous communities.
“If we kill our land, our water, our air for whatever reason, you kill life.
Lopez was done as environment secretary.
President Duterte said as much when he suggested the vote against Lopez was secured by lawmakers who accepted “lobby money,” a Philippine term for bribes.
Lopez gained prominence as an environmentalist and social activist as the director of the ABS-CBN Foundation.
Duterte was especially vexed by the metal mining industry, which operated with uneven oversight and was tearing up the ground and polluting rivers around Davao City, on Mindanao island, where he’d served as mayor for 22 years.
“The mining people must shape up,” Duterte told a big crowd of supporters two weeks before his meeting with Lopez.
You have to stop.” Five years ago, the chairman of the country’s largest mining company publicly accused Lopez of lying about environmental damage from hard rock mining.
He met with mining executives before election day to issue a warning.
I told him give me one year, maybe two years.

Recent sanitation/WASH research.
Behavioral antecedents for handwashing in a low-income urban setting in Bangladesh: an exploratory study.
Provision versus promotion to develop a handwashing station: the effect on desired handwashing behavior.
We conducted a three-month pilot intervention to evaluate two options for setting up handwashing stations: i) provide a handwashing station, or ii) help the family to make their own from available materials.
Impact of Community Health Clubs on Diarrhea and Anthropometry in Western Rwanda: Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.
FASEB Jnl, May 2017.
Our results raise questions about the value of implementing this intervention at scale.
Diet Quality, Water and Toilets Remain a Lingering Challenge for Undernutrition in India.
(Abstract/order) – Teacher training and installation of water stations resulted in observed improvements in pupils’ hygiene, particularly when water stations were located Consistency of Use and Effectiveness of Household Water Treatment Among Indian Households Claiming to Treat Their Water.
Adding a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Intervention and a Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplement to an Integrated Agriculture and Nutrition Program Improved the Nutritional Status of Young Burkinabé Children.

Environmental Groups Are Suing New York Over Water Pollution Caused by Dairy Farms – Here’s Why.
The South Leads The Charge In Sales Of Promotional Products.TREVOSE, Pa., May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A new study published by Advantages® magazine reports businesses and organizations in the Southern region of the U.S. led the nation in money spent Serie oficial autorizada de la vida de Luis Miguel se estrenará por Telemundo.MIAMI, 4 de mayo de 2017 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises y Gato Grande, una nueva empresa conjunta entre MGM y los empresarios mexicanos Hydro One Limited Announces Voting Results from Annual Meeting of Shareholders.TORONTO, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Hydro One Limited, in accordance with Toronto Stock Exchange requirements, announced the voting results from its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held earlier Northern Dynasty: Pebble Partnership, EPA file Joint Motion to extend Stay of Proceedings.VANCOUVER, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (TSX: NDM; NYSE MKT: NAK) ("Northern Dynasty" or the "Company") announces that its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Alaska-based Pebble Grupo Simec Announces Results Of Operations For The Twelve Month Period Ended December 31, 2016.GUADALAJARA, Mexico, May 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Grupo Simec, S.A.B.
de C.V. (NYSE: SIM) ("Simec") announced today its results of operations for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2016 and

Surveying 16 stream catchments in the North York Moors National Park – historically one of the worst acid water pollution sites in the UK – researchers found a higher diversity of invertebrates than expected and faunas indicative of unpolluted waters. Previous water quality surveys have shown very acidic stream waters and high levels of toxins such as aluminium, especially in catchments that were forested after the Second World War. Little was previously known about how pollution might have affected invertebrates inhabiting these streams, which are the basis of the aquatic food chain. Surprising results Sam Jones, a graduate from the Department of Biology who conducted the sampling as part of his placement year at the National…

How does thermal pollution influence water quality?.
Organisms survive or thrive in a narrow band of temperatures.
As we are concerned about entire food chains, a more sensitive organism that fails may cause depletion of other organisms that had depended on it.
The solubility of oxygen in water decreases as temperature rises.
Again, organisms each have their individual optimum and tolerance for oxygen in their habitat.
A change in temperature can allow a change in the distribution of types of organisms, and as has frequently happened, an introduced species can suddenly thrive and overwhelm others.
We piped warm fresh water from our industry to a nearby salmon and steelhead hatchery.
The energy was used to heat separate supply streams so that the hatched eggs would grow faster and bigger.
The salmon fry, when released were 2 to 5 times bigger than their depleted wild cousins, and survived their epic life cycle to the ocean and back at a substantially higher rate.
Good fishing!

Increased awareness among farmers and lifestyle block owners about the risks of water contamination has resulted in a major boost in business for a Waipawa firm.
Q Labs managing director Raymond Burr said while his firm also carried out soil and herbage testing, there had been a significant increase in demand for testing for E.coli and other bacteria, mostly from farmers and lifestyle block owners who were relying on bores and rain water tanks for their domestic water consumption, as well as for livestock.
Q Labs’ head testing technician Rachel Coburn welcomed the greater awareness after the gastro crisis.
People come in, and even though they might be feeling ill, they don’t think they have a problem because they’ve always been on rain water.
But 90-95 per cent of the time, that first test will come back positive [for E.coli] and they are often surprised.
People don’t appreciate the risks [of water contamination]," she said.
So it happens really fast — it’s exponential growth.
Bores were less of a problem, she said, but if the bore heads were not secure they could be prone to contamination after heavy seasonal rains due to the volume of water moving around in the soil.
But people with water tanks needed to be vigilant all year round, she urged.
Contamination advice for owners of private bores and water tanks can also be found at healthed.govt.nz by searching for ‘water’.

Questions for: ‘America’s Tap Water: Too Much Contamination, Not Enough Reporting, Study Finds’.
Article: America’s Tap Water: Too Much Contamination, Not Enough Reporting, Study Finds Before Reading The 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act is the federal law that protects public drinking water supplies throughout the United States.
Under the law, the Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for drinking water quality, and implements various technical and financial programs to ensure drinking water safety.
website.
What questions do you have about the law?
If you live in the United States, what are the chances your drinking water is either unsafe to drink or has not been properly monitored for contaminants in accordance with federal law?
What did Ms. Wu say about the reason repercussions for violations are virtually nonexistent, and subject to no formal action?
Describe the E.P.A.’s recent priorities, and what Mr. Edwards has to say about the drinking water problem.
What more could be done to protect America’s drinking water?
And what more could be done to protect Americans from drinking contaminated water?