(MENAFN – UkrinForm) Every fifth resident of the occupied Crimea has no access to quality drinking water.
‘In fact, the occupation authorities recognize that almost 20% of Crimean residents today do not have access to quality water, that is, every fifth person living in the occupied territory has no access to quality water and cannot use it.
If we talk about air, then I want to remind you about the hysteria of the occupation authorities when an accident occurred on the Titan plant, Deputy Minister of Ukraine for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced persons Yusuf Kurkchi said at the 5th International Forum "Occupied Crimea: Five Years of Resistance," an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
He added that the Ministry would continue to make efforts for maintaining the links with Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea and providing quality administrative services.
"The occupation authorities are working very meticulously to ensure that no child has a desire to enroll at the Ukrainian universities.
The whole system starts to work with parents, putting pressure on them," Kurkchi added.
As reported, on the night of August 24, 2018, the emissions of unknown poisonous substance were released into the air in the town of Armyansk in the annexed Crimea, which led to sharp deterioration of health of local residents and especially children.
Harmful emissions into the atmosphere from the Crimean Titan plant could be caused either by a human factor and a corporate conflict or the saline groundwater used for production needs amid fresh water shortage.
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A sophisticated new analysis of conditions around hundreds of polluted wells in Wisconsin found that farming and animal manure pose far greater risks than other factors linked to two contaminants that have consistently posed serious health hazards in places with vulnerable drinking water sources.
The conclusions of the research led by U.S. Department of Agriculture microbiologist Mark Borchardt are bound to stir controversy because they raise questions about the adequacy of state regulations that are supposed to protect water from the hundreds of millions of gallons of dairy manure stored in lagoons and spread on the ground.
Tony Evers’ proposal to expand a state program that helps homeowners rebuild polluted wells.
In an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal before the conference, Borchardt said the study of Kewaunee County wells is applicable to all parts of eastern Wisconsin and other places in the Midwest with a porous bedrock formation called Silurian dolomite.
Borchardt’s research team analyzed conditions around each of hundreds of wells, including distance from farm fields, manure storage sites and septic fields, along with data on well construction, and the depth to bedrock and groundwater.
He said he was surprised to see that the highest risk for coliform bacteria was not how near a well was to farm land, but specifically the well’s proximity to a manure storage site.
The new study found the strongest statistical links by far were those linking coliform-polluted water with nearby manure storage.
Agricultural interests have opposed monitoring.
A few years ago, citizens demanded that a monitoring requirement be included in the permit of a large dairy feedlot, but the state resisted and eventually the case went to court.
The findings come on the heels of another study Borchardt was involved in that found 42 percent of wells in three southwest Wisconsin counties were contaminated.

Dedina highlighted several of the city’s accomplishments in 2018, including improved and safer streets, a growing tourism industry and a declining crime rate.
Imperial Beach is the safest beach town in San Diego County, Dedina said.
Dedina also reiterated his commitment to fighting for clean water in Imperial Beach.
"There’s been a broken sewer pipe in Tijuana for three months," Dedina said.
That broken pipe, with the help of a series of winter storms, is responsible for sending sewage, chemical waste and plastic pollution across the border, into the Tijuana River and into the ocean in Imperial Beach.
“I would love to see the city continue to dog Baja California and the international water authority to make sure we get that changed.
I mean these are waters that our children swim in," Imperial Beach resident Laura Wilkinson told FOX 5.
The City of San Diego is the latest to join in on the lawsuit.
“I’m really proud of what the city is doing and how the city is working with other entities in the county and across the border to get things done," Imperial Beach resident Bethany Case said.
I know supervisor Cox is working to get another 340 million out of Congress for the entire U.S. – Mexico Border.

COIMBATORE: While residents at several parts of the city have been struggling without proper water supply, residents of chetty street in Town Hall could not use the water even though it is supplied once in three days.
“Even though the color of the water has not changed to brown, it stinks of sewage.
Over 120 families were residing at the street.
He said that they have been receiving sewage mixed water for the past six months and they have complained about the issue to the corporation officials multiple times but it was not sorted out.
“Every time we complained, corporation officials would dig some random place across the street, check the pipelines and assure us that the problem was sorted out.
We believe them only to receive the stinking water during next supply.
He said that it has become a practice for them to wash all the buckets whenever water is supplied, collect water in one or two buckets, once the sewage smell gets strong throw the collected water and go home.
All the families including those who have obtained household water connection, have been collecting water from Kuppanan goundar street which is over 1.5 kilometers away or purchasing water, he explained.
Meanwhile, MLA Amman Arjunan who visited the spot to pacify the residents, had assured the residents to resolve the issue within four days and the residents had planned to escalate the issue if it is not resolved within the sought time.
We have started to check the pipelines at multiple points and the issue would be resolved, soon, they added.

Speaking at a one-day international conference at Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, the pope said better access to drinking water must be provided to people around the globe.
He said people dying from the lack of clean water "is an immense shame for humanity in the 21st century," according to ANSA.
Pope Francis added that "unfortunately, in many of the countries where the population does not have regular access to drinking water, there is no shortage of arms and ammunition, which continues to worsen the situation."
Pope Francis said that corruption and corporate interest are often put ahead of needs of people who need clean drinking water to live, according to the Vatican News.
He called on those attending the conference to express urgency in the matter.
He said that the Catholic Church is "committed to the access to clean water for all.
This commitment is manifested in many initiatives such as the creation of infrastructure, training, and advocacy …" During mass at Casa Santa Marta on Thursday, Pope Francis told the congregation that bearing the "witness" of Jesus Christ the best way to grow the church, even though it is the harder path.
"Bearing witness is breaking a habit, a way of being…
What is attractive [to people] is the witness.
Not the words, which help, yes; but witness is what is attractive, and what makes the Church grow."

British volunteers have given impoverished Indian children a chance of independence through education, a former victim of waterborne disease said.
Anitha R, 18, was brought up in a one-room house with a tin roof where the supply worked only intermittently.
Her family had to spend 20 minutes boiling pots to kill infections when they wanted a drink.
Two years ago swallowing dirty water left her feverish with potentially fatal typhoid and off school for weeks.
She said: “I had no energy, I was in hospital for one week, I could not eat anything except milk and bread.
I was 16 and I could not go to school.” Her parents cared for and about her.
“It is fantastic that our project in Bangalore is bringing together partners and our fans with young leaders to provide access to safe water and education through the power of football.” Volunteers employed hand tools and muscle to bolt together clean water towers using carbon-based filtration technology.
“We have easy access to clean water everywhere we go, we don’t have to rely on bottled water and coming out here and just seeing how people struggled to get clean access to water was really impacting and quite shocking.
“So the fact we have been able to build these water towers and give them that access I think is nothing short of phenomenal and I think the club have done wonders to arrange this with their partners.” One school where volunteers built a water tower taught a few hundred children in a village pockmarked by rubbish and full of stray dogs.
Football coaches from Manchester played basketball-like games with the children, reinforcing the importance of education and overcoming challenges.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed his first pieces of legislation into law on Wednesday, and he chose to sign them at a school where the water contains a carcinogen and kids can’t even use the drinking fountains.
Newsom opened his visit in a history classroom, introducing the bills to a room full of students at Riverview Elementary School in the Fresno County City of Parlier.
“Yes,” they shouted, raising their hands excitedly.
The laws pull $131 million out of the general fund for several projects, including emergency preparedness, as well as bottled water and other urgent needs for communities with unsafe drinking water.
“I cannot sleep well, and I know that’s a rote cliché thing,” he said, “but honestly, I don’t deserve to be your governor if I can’t figure out a way to get that done.” Newsom also heard from school administrators.
Head secretary Nelia Villasenor said parents come by all the time to drop off essentials their kids forgot: Lunchboxes, gym clothes, and most importantly, bottles of clean water.
“I’m feeling optimistic about it,” she said of his visit.
He’s “actually getting things done right now and not waiting till the end of the fiscal year.
Put another way, he said, by following through with this part of the project, he’s ensuring the Valley keeps its fair share of federal funding.
“That money will never come back to the Valley.

Democratic lawmakers are accusing the Trump administration of dragging its feet on plans to protect Americans from a key class of drinking water contaminants.
Lawmakers say the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to commit to quickly setting a maximum allowable level in drinking water for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances, which have been linked to cancer and other health problems.
“The PFAS Action Plan being trumpeted by EPA today is insufficiently protective, and it explains why Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler would not commit to setting a drinking water standard for PFAS during his nomination hearing last month,” Sen. Tom Carper (Del.
), the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a statement.
“While we applaud aspects of this plan that respond to demands by members who have been pushing to address dangerous PFAS contamination in their districts, ultimately this plan fails to meet the challenge our nation faces with this growing water contamination and health crisis,” the chairmen said.
“Without a commitment to develop enforceable drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, there’s no certainty that this strategy will sufficiently confront the challenges PFAS chemicals pose to states and affected communities,” she said, referring to two of the most common chemicals in the family.
“The Environmental Protection Agency’s PFAS plan is only a first step.
As I have said before, EPA must speak clearly about the risk that this class of chemicals poses to public health and the environment,” he said in a statement.
“The agency must be willing to take decisive action where it is warranted.” Other Republicans — even those who have been vocal on the need for more action on PFAS — welcomed the plan.
Rep. John Shimkus (Ill.), the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subcommittee, said he understood complaints that the EPA is kicking the can down the road, but he supports the plan as it was laid out.

Gov.
Forty percent of Wisconsin residents get their drinking water from private wells, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services.
Nitrates are one of the most common drinking water contaminants in private wells.
Nitrate contamination is caused by runoff from fertilizers, septic systems, and manure storage and spreading.
Infants are particularly sensitive to nitrates, which they ingest when contaminated water is used to reconstitute baby formula.
When consumed, nitrates can cause a potentially fatal disease in infants called methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, that limits red blood cells’ ability to carry oxygen throughout the body.
Some research also suggests that excess nitrates can cause gastrointestinal cancers in people and mice.
A 2017, La Crosse County Health Department survey found that 30 percent of the more than 540 wells they tested in Onalaska and Holland contained nitrates above the federal standard of 10 milligrams per liter.
The federal drinking water standards is 10 micrograms per liter for arsenic and 10 milligrams per liter for nitrates.
Evers will also put $75,000 toward the Southwest Wisconsin Groundwater and Geology study to better understand the interplay between geology and groundwater in Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette Counties, where 42 percent of wells tested above federal standards for nitrates in an initial survey.

The EPA has not actually taken action to regulate these today," said northern Kentucky attorney Rob Bilott.
The chemicals in question are called PFOS and PFOA.
You don’t want high levels of them in your drinking water.
Botkins has ulcerative colitis.
On Thursday, the EPA announced both a short-term and long-term action plan, helping localities clean up and potentially setting maximum PF chemical levels for water.
We found it in communities in their drinking water systems.
"It shouldn’t take 20, 30 years to regulate and set drinking water standards for a chemical in this country, in the United States.
That should not be the way things happen," he said.
Both Cincinnati and northern Kentucky water works say there are no detectable PF chemicals in local drinking water.
However, a scientific study found elevated levels of PFOA in a test group of northern Kentucky girls about a decade ago.