Contaminated water news:

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. What is it?

The New York Times published an extensive front-page expose on hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

Times reporter Ian Urbina culled his account from thousands of internal Environmental Protection Agency EPA documents leaked to the paper, together with similar material the Times obtained from state regulators and drillers.

The most frightening takeaway: Natural gas companies are dumping radioactive wastewater from fracking into rivers and streams that serve as the main drinking water supply for millions of people — and “dangers to the environment and health” arising from this practice are “greater than previously understood.

“The documents show that EPA scientists are alarmed over research showing that fracking wastewater contains high concentrations of radioactive components — information that hasnt been previously disclosed publicly. In many instance, Urbina reports, the wastewater is transported to “sewage plants not designed to treat it” — and from there, its “then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water.

“A never-disclosed EPA study on fracking also found that rivers and streams arent able to dilute the radioactive elements of drilling waste that water treatment plants discharge–contrary to claims advanced by some fracking proponents. Urbina also reports that in Pennsylvania, most drinking-water intake plants stopped testing for radioactivity in 2006, just before that states natural gas drilling boom commenced.

Among the higher-volume dump sites in Pennsylvania are the Monongahela and Delaware rivers, which together provide drinking water for roughly 16 million of the states residents. The two rivers also feed into waterways that supply drinking water to other states.Reports the Times:More than 1.3 billion gallons of wastewater was produced by Pennsylvania wells over the past three years, far more than has been previously disclosed.

Most of this water — enough to cover Manhattan in three inches — was sent to treatment plants not equipped to remove many of the toxic materials in drilling waste.At least 12 sewage treatment plants in three states accepted gas industry wastewater and discharged waste that was only partly treated into rivers, lakes and streams.Of more than 179 wells producing wastewater with high levels of radiation, at least 116 reported levels of radium or other radioactive materials 100 times as high as the levels set by federal drinking-water standards.

At least 15 wells produced wastewater carrying more than 1,000 times the amount of radioactive elements considered acceptable.Despite the troubling data thats surfaced in the Times report, the EPA has not intervened to enforce enhanced safety standards to protect public drinking water supplies. Instead, the agency recently commissioned a lengthy study to determine whether fracking poses any risks to public health. The study is projected to be complete in two years.

via Report: Radioactive fracking waste being dumped into waterways that feed drinking water supplies – Yahoo! News.

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Tribal Water Resource Directory

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Tribal Programs – Drinking Water

Tribal Programs – Drinking Water

On this page

• Information for Tribal Public Water Suppliers
• Rule Monitoring Placards
• Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification
• Tribal Drinking Water Compliance Information
• Drinking Water Training for Tribes and Tribal Operators
• Tribal Drinking Water Needs
• Funding Opportunities
• Regional Information
• Links
• Tribal PWSS & UIC Programs
• Tribal Source Water Protection Program

Information for Tribal Public Water Suppliers

Information for Tribal Public Water Suppliers

• Treatment in the Same Manner as a State for the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) Program
  • An Overview (PDF) (12 pp, 50K)
  • Factsheet (PDF) (3 pp, 39K)
  • Frequent Questions (PDF) (3 pp, 30K)
• Building Water System Capacity: A Guide for Tribal Administrators (PDF) (6 pp, 3MB) EPA 816-K-01-006, July 2001
• Preventive Maintenance Tasks for Tribal Drinking Water Systems (booklet) (PDF) (35 pp, 78K) EPA 816-F-01-017, June 2001
• Preventive Maintenance Tasks for Tribal Drinking Water Systems (log sheets) (PDF) (96 pp, 99K) EPA 816-F-01-017, June 2001

• You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s PDF page to learn more.

Rule Monitoring Placards

Rule Monitoring Placards – check to make sure you download the correct placard for your public water system type PDF

• Total Coliform Monitoring Requirements
  • Community Water Systems Serving 1,001 – 10,000 People (PDF) (1 pp, 56K)
    EPA 816-F-08-004, January 2008
  • Community Water Systems Serving 25 – 1,000 People (PDF) (1 pp, 53K)
    EPA 816-F-08-005, January 2008
  • Noncommunity Water Systems Serving 1,001 – 10,000 People (PDF) (1 pp, 54K)
    EPA 816-F-08-006, January 2008
  • Noncommunity Water Systems Serving 25 – 1,000 People (PDF) (1 pp, 53K)
    EPA 816-F-08-007, January 2008
• Surface Water Treatment Rules Monitoring Requirements (SWTR/LT1ESWTR):
  • Systems Serving Less than 10,000 People Using Conventional or Direct Filtration (PDF) (1 pp, 40K)
    EPA 816-F-08-001, January 2008
  • Systems Serving Less Than 10,000 People Using Slow Sand, Diatomaceous Earth, or Alternative Filtration (PDF) (1 pp, 40K)
    EPA 816-F-08-002, January 2008
  • Unfiltered Systems Serving Less than 10,000 people (PDF) (1 pp, 40K)
    EPA 816-F-08-003, January 2008
• Nitrate Monitoring Requirements:
  • Community and Noncommunity Water Systems (PDF) ( pp, K)
    EPA 816-F-08-008, January 2008

Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification

Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program

• Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Final Guidelines:
  • Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Final Guidelines (PDF) (15 pp, 121K)
    EPA 816-R-05, May 2005
  • Federal Register Notice: Notice of Availability: Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Final Guidelines
• Tribal Operator Certification Program Draft Guidelines: March 2000 Federal Register notice of availability of the draft guidelines | Public comment draft (PDF) (20 pp, 66K)
• Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program | PDF Version (1 pp, 46 K)
  This notice announces the program details of EPA’s voluntary Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program, effective October 1, 2010. The program enables qualified drinking water operators at public water systems in Indian country to be recognized as certified operators by EPA.

• Application (PDF) (15 pp, 149K)

Tribal Drinking Water Operator Certification Program Document (PDF) (26 pp, 198K)
EPA 816-B-09-002

Tribal Drinking Water Compliance Information

Tribal Drinking Water Compliance Information

Each compliance report discusses the violations at public water systems on Indian reservations; EPA’s enforcement and compliance assistance activities with respect to Tribal PWSs; and the financial assistance EPA has provided to facilitate the provision of safe drinking water to Tribes.

• EPA Annual Compliance Reports

Drinking Water Training for Tribes and Tribal Operators

Drinking Water Training for Tribes and Tribal Operators

• This website presents a list of training opportunities that may be of interest to Tribes and Tribal operators nationwide.

Tribal Drinking Water Needs

Tribal Drinking Water Needs

• >Final 2001 Report to Congress on Drinking Water Needs for American Indian and Alaska Native Village Water Systems (PDF) (47 pp, 1MB) February, 2001, EPA 816-R-01-006 excerpted from main report
• >Fact Sheet on 2001 American Indian and Alaska Native Village Water System Survey (PDF) (4 pp, 298K)
• 1997 Needs Survey Report (PDF) (7 pp, 495K)

Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunities

Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants Tribal Set-Aside (DWIG TSA) Program Guidance PDF (34 pp, 98K)

Links

Links

• The American Indian Environmental Office (AIEO) at EPA is responsible for overseeing many environmental programs that benefit Tribal populations.
• Native American Water Association
• The Indian Health Service also has programs that promote public health.

Tribal PWSS & UIC Programs

Tribal PWSS & UIC Programs

 

History of the Tribal PWSS and UIC Programs

In 1974 the United States Congress passed legislation, the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), designed to maintain and improve the quality of the nation’s drinking waters. Two major regulatory programs were created in the SDWA: the Public Water System Supervision (PWSS) and the Underground Injection Control (UIC) programs.

Congress authorized EPA to delegate responsibilities to states for implementing and enforcing national standards within their jurisdiction. States must apply to EPA if they want this “primacy” responsibility and must develop PWSS or UIC programs that meet national requirements. EPA is still responsible for developing national regulations, overseeing state primacy programs and implementing programs in states without primacy.

Because of their unique status, Indian tribes were not eligible to assume primacy in the original Act. Instead EPA regions were responsible for primary enforcement authority of PWSS and UIC programs on Tribal lands. This changed in 1986 when the Amendments to the SDWA added provisions that allow federally recognized tribes to assume primacy for the PWSS and UIC programs. Section 1451 (“Indian Tribes”) of SDWA authorizes the EPA to treat Indian tribes in a manner similar to states and to assign primary enforcement responsibility (primacy) to qualified tribes.

The PWSS and UIC programs are very complex and costly to operate. For many tribes (especially those that do not have a large number of public water systems or underground injection wells), the costs and resources required to achieve and maintain a regulatory program may far exceed the benefits from achieving primacy. Due to such difficulties, currently the only tribe that has sought and obtained primacy for the PWSS program is the Navajo Nation. There are a few tribes that are pursuing primacy in the PWSS and UIC programs.

Today´s Tribal Direct Implementation Program

States and tribes that do not obtain PWSS and UIC program delegation continue to be directly implemented by the EPA region in which the State or reservation is located. All EPA regions, excluding Region III (which has no federally recognized tribes), operate tribal PWSS and UIC programs to manage public water systems or underground injection wells on Indian lands.

EPA’s 1997 inventory shows that there are nearly 1000 public water systems (740 community water systems, 90 nontransient noncommunity water systems and 130 transient noncommunity water systems) that the EPA regional offices manage on Indian lands serving a population of nearly 500,000. There are also over 5,300 injection wells (one Class I well, 4,300 Class II wells, 0 Class III wells and 1,042 Class V wells) on tribal lands that are managed by regional UIC staff.

As the primary enforcement authority for tribal public water systems, EPA regions are responsible for enforcing against those systems that do not comply with federal drinking water regulations. A formal enforcement action is taken as a last measure. EPA regions dedicate a great deal of resources to provide tribes with technical assistance to help their systems or wells comply with federal standards. Regional staff visit reservations as often as possible to provide compliance assistance on site. Many Regions also fund circuit rider programs which enable other qualified persons the opportunity to provide technical assistance and training directly to tribes.

For more information on the Tribal PWSS and UIC programs, please contact your program representative.

Source water assessment and protection programs

Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996 required states to develop and implement source water assessment programs (SWAPs) to analyze existing and potential threats to the quality of the public drinking water throughout the state. Using these programs, most states have completed source water assessments for every public water system — from major metropolitan areas to the smallest towns. Even schools, restaurants, and other public facilities that have wells or surface water supplies have been assessed. A source water assessment is a study and report, unique to a water system, that provides basic information about the water used to provide drinking water. States are working with local communities and public water systems to identify protection measures to address potential threats to sources of drinking water.

• Source Water Assessment page
• Source Water Regional Contacts
  

EPA publications and resources

• Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs Final Guidance (PDF) (160 pp, 486K)
  Describes the elements of an EPA-approved state Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP), as well as EPA’s recommendations for what should be included in a state Source Water Protection (SWP) Program. The document also provides an overview of how source water assessment and protection integrates with other Safe Drinking Water Act programs and efforts and how other EPA and other federal programs can assist states in developing and implementing assessment and protection programs, and vice versa.
  EPA 816-R-97-009
• Office of Inspector General Report: Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs Show Initial Promise, But Obstacles Remain (PDF) (56 pp, 625K)
• Source Water Protection Training through the Drinking Water Academy
• Delineation tools
• Potential contaminant source inventory tools
• Susceptibility determination tools
• Protection tools

Wellhead protection program

Wellhead Protection Program

The Wellhead Protection Program (WHPP) is a pollution prevention and management program used to protect underground sources of drinking water. The national WHPP was established under section 1428 of the 1986 SDWA amendments. The law specified that certain program activities, such as delineation, contaminant source inventory, contingency planning and source management, be incorporated into state WHPPs, which are approved by EPA prior to implementation. All states have EPA-approved state WHPPs. Although section 1428 applies only to states, a number of tribes are implementing the program as well.

WHPPs provided the foundation for many of the state source water assessment programs required under the 1996 SDWA amendments. Most states also use the wellhead protection program as a foundation for assessing and protecting ground water systems. State WHPPs vary greatly. For example, some states require community water systems to develop management plans, while others rely on education and technical assistance to encourage voluntary action. Other states have mandatory requirements for wellhead protection at the local level. Guidance, publications and other resources are available on state source water web sites.

EPA publications and resources

• Citizen’s Guide To Ground Water Protection (PDF) (34 pp, 2M)
• 1995-1997 Wellhead Biennial Report (PDF) (111 pp, 231K)
• Private Wells
• Septic Systems and Source Water Protection
• Locate Wellhead Protection Case Studies from Across the Country
  

Non-EPA publications and resources

• Ground Water Foundation Workshop Guide:
  An Introduction to Drinking Water Source Assessment and Protection
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Home*A*Syst/Farm*A*Syst

State ground water protection program

State Ground Water Protection Programs

Many states have also developed programs that are focused specifically on ground water protection. Several states developed formal Comprehensive State Ground Water Protection Programs (CSGWPP), which were designed as a management tool for states to use to integrate all programs that affect ground water quality, thus allowing better decisions to be made. Although most states are no longer pursuing formal approval of a CSGW pp, virtually all states are pursuing at least some of the individual elements necessary for comprehensive ground water protection. Within EPA, the source water protection program is working with the underground storage tank program to address potential threats to ground water posed by leaking tanks.

Publications and resources

• Protecting the Nation’s Ground Water: EPA Strategy for the 1990s (PDF) (11 pp, 1M)
• State 305(b) reports
• National Water Quality Inventory, 1998 Report to Congress, Ground Water and Drinking Water Chapters
  Report that is the primary vehicle for informing Congress and the public about general water quality conditions in the Untied States.
  • Ground Water Protection Programs Chapter (PDF) (47 pp, 584K)
  • Complete Report (PDF) (99 pp, 2M)
  • Drinking Water Quality Programs Chapter (PDF) (11 pp, 196K)
  • Ground Water Quality Chapter (PDF) (35 pp, 730K)

Sole source aquifer protection program

Sole Source Aquifer Protection Program

A sole source aquifer supplies 50 percent or more of the drinking water for a given aquifer service area for which there are no reasonably available alternative sources, should the aquifer become contaminated. Designation as a sole source aquifer protects an area’s ground water resources by requiring EPA to review any proposed projects within the designated area that are receiving federal financial assistance.

• Sole Source Aquifer page

Watershed-based protection program

Watershed-Based Protection Program

The goal of source water protection is to protect the drinking water resource by protecting and preserving the environmental quality of the watershed above the intake (or the aquifer around the well). The assessment is the first step in the process to protect the resource. Once a watershed has been assessed to determine its current condition and the extent of the threats to the system, a watershed plan can be developed and implemented.

EPA’s Office of Water has numerous programs that focus on watershed protection under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Act includes programs such as the Nonpoint Source Program, National Estuary Program, the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program, and the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. Each of these programs encourage states to develop programs to promote watershed-based protection, and they have elements that support watershed-based planning and implementation. The federal programs are generally implemented at the state level.

• Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
• Nonpoint Source Pollution
• National Estuary Program
• Total Maximum Daily Loads
• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

EPA,Federal /non-governmental programs

EPA, Federal / Non-governmental Programs

There is no single federal program for implementing source water protection plans and activities. However, many federal, tribal, regional, and local programs have tools and resources that can be used to focus on protecting drinking water. Source water protection can benefit, and benefit from, other EPA programs, other federal programs and non-governmental programs:

• Other programs can use source water assessments and identified protection areas to set priorities for ongoing prevention efforts.
• Identifying source water protection areas increases federal, state and local managers’ awareness of other programs where participation might increase the protection of human health.
• Protecting sources of drinking water can help various federal programs, states, organizations and communities meet other environmental and social goals, such as green space conservation, stormwater planning, management of nonpoint source pollution and brownfields redevelopment.
• The benefits that EPA and other federal programs can provide to state and local source water assessment and protection efforts are potentially very large. These include information, technical and financial resources, and communication networks and enforcement authorities.

EPA program links

• EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water
• • Public Drinking Water Systems Programs
  • Underground Injection Control Program
    
• EPA’s Office of Water
• • Office of Wastewater Management
  • Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds
  • Office of Science and Technology
    
• Non-Water Program Links
• • American Indian Environmental Office
  • Office of Underground Storage Tanks: Source Water Areas and Underground storage tanks
  • Office of Pesticides
  • Office of Pollution Prevention
  • Environmental Finance Program
  • Office of Smart Growth
    
• EPA program and regional offices

Other Federal Programs and Non-Governmental Organizations

• Related links: Includes links to non-EPA organizations that are related to source water protection.
• • Federal government web sites
    
  • State drinking water web sites
  • Non-governmental web sites
  • Contacts for non-EPA organizations links
  • Publications by other organizations links

Tribal programs

Tribal Programs

EPA is firmly committed to helping tribes to assess the rivers, lakes, springs and aquifers that serve as tribal public water supplies and to implement measures to protect against contamination of these water resources.

• Protecting Drinking Water: A Workbook for Tribes
  The Water Education Foundation recently completed this national water quality publication using a grant from EPA. The Workbook includes background information on the importance of protecting source water from pollution and includes a step-by-step work plan for tribes interested in developing a plan for protecting their drinking water.
• Source water protection fact sheet and EPA regional contacts for tribes (PDF) (4 pp, 80K)
  Provides more information on source water protection, how to get started, and funding available.
• Tribal drinking water programs and UIC program
  
• Other water pollution control funding sources
  Provides information on drinking water, wastewater and watershed protection funding sources.
• Nonpoint source pollution control grants to tribes
  Describes opportunities to fund projects to control polluted runoff.
  

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UNITED NATIONS, July 30 (UPI)

Access to clean drinking water and sanitation is a basic human right.

…The U.N. General Assembly said in a symbolic resolution.

The U.N. General Assembly passed a measure with no opposition that puts clean drinking water and sanitation on the same footing as the right to live without racial discrimination.

The U.N. Environment Program estimates that more than 800 million people live without access to clean water. Another 2.5 billion lack access to clean sanitation facilities and more than 2 million people die each year because of illness linked to unsafe water.

“The lack of access to drinking water kills more children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined,” said Bolivian envoy to the United Nations Pablo Solon.

Of the 163 members of the United Nations, 122 voted in favor of the measure. German broke ranks with its industrialized partners by voting in favor of the resolution, the German news agency Deutsche Well reports.

“We consider access to safe drinking water and sanitation as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, recognized in Article 11 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” said German representative to the United Nations Peter Wittig.

The news service said that the United States, Great Britain and Canada lobbied against the measure going to a vote.

via Water a basic right, U.N. says – UPI.com.

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The Daily Times

News Journal • August 4, 2010 / delmarvanow.com

Contaminated drinking water news:

Newly released details from a state drinking water study show that prescription drugs and personal care chemicals have crept into water supplies used by every major water utility tested.

The results, provided in response to a request from The News Journal, show smatterings of medicines ranging from analgesics and antibiotics to anti-convulsives and hormones in water used both by public and private companies, including all three of New Castle County’s largest public utilities and major suppliers in Kent and Sussex counties.

None of the medications detected at water intakes and treatment plants is regulated, and none is targeted or routinely removed by current treatment methods. detection ranged from caffeine and analgesics in United Water Delaware’s big freshwater intake near Stanton to micro-bits of synthetic estrogen in a Seaford well.

The Division of Public Health released specific findings for each utility checked in response to a request by The News Journal, after issuing a summary earlier this year without naming individual suppliers. Agency officials conducted the scan of drinking water and farm supplies in late 2008 and early 2009.

The details included a finding that Brandywine Creek in Wilmington delivers traces of a common antibiotic cleanser to city drinking water, while a well serving a mobile home community near Lewes supplies tiny dregs of a common anticholesterol drug.

Among the other detection: a farm water source near Laurel yields up small amounts of anti-seizure medication, among other compounds; Georgetown’s treatment plant released tiny amounts of the analgesic ibuprofen; minuscule amounts of the hormones testosterone and progesterone can be found in Newark water.

Results were measured in parts-per-trillion — far below concentrations that could cause immediate problems. But concern about unexamined risks and cumulative effects from such pollutants is growing around the nation, and last month led to a formal petition by two environmental groups seeking greater federal and industry study and control.

via DELAWARE: Prescription drugs found in drinking water | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times.

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Isabel Mascarenas

Contaminated drinking water news:

Arsenic Tested In Well Water

Clearwater, Florida — Dozens of calls are coming into the Pinellas Health Department after an alert went out to homeowners in North County with private drinking water wells.

Environmental specialist Lisa Frazier says the department has received more than 70 calls so far in one day after random water samples showed high levels of arsenic.

Homeowner David Humphreys lives off Wyatt Street in Clearwater and depends on his private well 100 feet underground for his drinking water. “I drink it daily–hourly almost,” says Humphreys.

The health department took a water sample from Humphreys’ home. He hopes his 25-year-old water well turns up negative for arsenic.

“The maximum contaminant level is 10 micrograms per liter. The highest we found was 166 micrograms per liter,” says Frazier.

The Pinellas County Health Department has tested private drinking water wells in 25 homes in Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, Palm Harbor and Clearwater and 16 of those tested positive for arsenic. “Arsenic is a natural element, like rocks and soil. It can also occur in pesticides,” explains Frazier.

Health officials say prolonged exposure can cause cancer. Frazier adds, “It depends on the person, depends on the amount. Some people are not affected by it.”

Health Department officials say homeowners are responsible for having their private drinking water wells periodically checked. If arsenic is found, health officials say the Department of Environmental Protection will hook up the homeowner with either a filter or to a public water supply at no cost.

Health officials will test the water for free. Water samples are sent to the Health Department’s lab in Jacksonville. Test results are ready in two weeks.

The Department of Health’s website has more information on arsenic in the water and its health effects.

via Pinellas Health Department tests more wells for arsenic | Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Sarasota | WTSP.com.

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Drinking water news:

Clean water human right declaration.

New York, July 31 : A United Nations expert on Friday welcomed the General Assembly’s declaration this week that safe and clean drinking water is a human right, calling it a ‘landmark resolution’ that sends an important signal to the world.

Catarina de Albuquerque, the UN Independent Expert on human rights, water and sanitation, issued a statement in which she said the declaration augured well for the summit at UN Headquarters in New York in September, when world leaders are set to review progress towards the social and economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Studies indicate that an absence of clean water or sanitation exacts a huge human toll. About 1.5 million children under the age of five die each year and 443 million school days are lost because of water- and sanitation-related diseases.

“With almost a billion people suffering from lack of access to an improved water source, and 2.6 billion without access to improved sanitation, recognition of the human right to water and sanitation is a positive signal from the international community and shows its commitment to tackle these issues,” de Albuquerque said.

On Wednesday 122 members of the General Assembly voted in favour of the resolution declaring water and sanitation to be a human right. No countries voted against the text but 41 Member States abstained.
–IBNS

via Sanitation, clean water human right declaration lauded .:. newkerala.com Online News – United States 11156.
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Drinking water contamination news:

Treating stormwater management as regional issue.

By EVAN BRANDT / Journal Register News Service / Saturday, July 31, 2010

Many local officials are understandably worried about state requirements that they spend millions of dollars on keeping polluted run-off out of the state’s streams and drinking water sources.

But while townships from Montgomery, Chester, Berks and Delaware counties have joined together to make their voice heard in Harrisburg, few people are offering an alternative. One person who is, however, is state Sen. Edwin “Ted” Erickson, R-26th Dist.

Erickson has introduced a bill that would allow the formation of “stormwater management authorities,” which would manage stormwater on the scale they occur in nature — across municipal boundaries.

“Streams don’t stop when they get to the township line,” Erickson said. A former Delaware County executive director, Erickson is used to trying to address problems regionally within Pennsylvania’s fractured political landscape.

He said Thursday he has seen a creek that flows through Darby borough, “which seems fairly benevolent,” flood so badly during bad storms the water reaches the second story of homes nearby.

But it was not a problem that could be solved in Darby. “After all, so much of that run-off came from upstream,” he said. “The intent of the legislation is to set up these municipal stormwater management authorities and the municipalities within them would be required to join and they would be assessed — and therein lies the difficulty,” Erickson said.

The method of assessment would be left up to the authority members to determine, he said, but despite this element of self-determination, Erickson said all he had been able to garner in Harrisburg was some co-sponsors and he could not even get it out of committee.

“We have a special situation in the southeast because everything is built out, but the representatives from the rural areas, they’re not worried about stormwater because they don’t have a problem,” he said.

But one representative who is intrigued by the idea is state Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist. Quigley said he had never heard of the legislation before, but thought the concept deserved some exploration. He agreed Pennsylvania’s devotion to tiny “political sub-divisions” continues to make dealing with modern problems more and more difficult.

“The idea of watershed-level management might be more practical, it certainly makes a little more sense than what we’re doing now,” Quigley said. Quigley, who attended the April meeting of concerned municipal officials held in Pottstown Borough Hall, said he was also struck by a comment made by Lower Pottsgrove Township Manager Rod Hawthorne.

“He was noting that the levels of pollution they’re trying to get to with the water — to get to those levels you would have to go back to measuring the water when Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase,” Quigley said.

“I think we need to inject some reasonableness into some of those standards as well,” he said.

via Treating stormwater management as regional issue – News – The Phoenix.

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Contaminated drinking water news:

Volcano Ash Sparks Health Fears.

No sign of abating. The volcano in Iceland is spewing ash over Europe. Photo: AP

HEALTH authorities have warned that the fallout of volcanic ash over parts of Iceland could jeopardize the safety of its drinking water.

And a geophysicist said the eruption showed no signs of abating.
Halldor Runolfsson from the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority said there were concerns for human health but the greatest risk was to livestock.

”It is important to prevent the ash from reaching water supplies, both for public and animal health reasons and for safe milk production.”

His colleague Guthjon Gunnarsson said the agency was evaluating the quality of drinking water, which was mostly protected because it was sourced from under the ground.

Dr Runolfsson said the ash posed the greatest risk to livestock because it contained high levels of fluoride, which can cause problems in bones and teeth.

Since the eruption began on Wednesday, it has been spewing a six-kilometre plume of ash into the sky, sending a giant cloud of it towards Europe and prompting the continent’s biggest air travel shutdown since World War II.

The question for scientists is how long the eruption might continue, particularly at its current strength. Geophysicist Pall Einarsson, from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland, said that question could not yet be answered.

Iceland had many volcanoes, and their eruptions often followed a pattern, Professor Einarsson said. ”Usually they are most vigorous in the beginning. But this volcano is very different from that.”

Researchers were monitoring the volcano for indications that the eruption was tapering off.

One complication was the eruption’s location, under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. The underside of the ice has melted, causing flooding, forcing evacuations and destroying bridges and roads. The rest of Europe is concerned about how the meltwater might affect the volcano and the ash it generates.

Jennie Gilbert, from the University of Lancaster in Britain, said the presence of water could affect the characteristics of the sandlike ash produced by the volcano. As the molten rock hits the cold water, it is fused into a glassy material. When the pressure builds up and the volcano explodes, this material breaks up into fine particles. In Britain, the Health Protection Agency said some particles might settle to the ground but may not be visible.

It advised people – particularly those with respiratory problems – to have medicines on hand and to limit outdoor activities.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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Contaminated drinking water news:

PCBs Found in Rio Grande Runoff.

By: The Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – The New Mexico Environment Department has concluded pollution in the Rio Grande coming from Los Alamos National Laboratory remains below standards for drinking water.

The department says concentrations fell below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standard for PCBs in drinking water and are not a threat to Albuquerque’s drinking water supply.

The results released this week come from a 2009 study on water quality in the river near Santa Fe’s Buckman diversion project and during storm flows in Albuquerque.

The study found, however, storm runoff in the Albuquerque area potentially could carry concentrations of PCBs into the Rio Grande, which could hurt wildlife and people eating PCB-contaminated fish.

Regular testing of Albuquerque’s water supply has not found PCBs, which have been linked to cancer.

PCBs were banned in 1979.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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