| ■ Safety Violations Common in U.S. Water Treatment Systems | 2009.12.10 |
| Since 2004, more than 20 percent of the United States' water treatment systems have violated major parts of the Safe Drinking Water Act, a New York Times investigation reveals. The analysis of federal data showed that over the past five years, more than 49 million Americans have received water with illegal concentrations of chemicals such as arsenic, radioactive substances like uranium and dangerous bacteria often found in sewage. Even though regulators were informed about each of these violations, fewer than 6 percent of the offending water systems were ever fined or punished by state or federal officials, the Times reported. In some cases, violations were single events that likely posed little risk to water users. However, illegal contamination continued for years at hundreds of water systems, the newspaper said. |