Clean Water Action Statement on Water Contamination and U.S. Senate Hearings

Tuesday December 8, 2009 - Today the U.S. Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee held an oversight hearing on federal drinking water protection, against a backdrop of growing public concern and awareness. Recent news such as the New York Times' "Toxic Water" series and reports from the Washington Post and others on "gender-bending" fish in the Potomac River have helped to expose the seriousness of the problem.

These problems are symptomatic of the nation's faltering commitment to clean and safe water. Anemic enforcement efforts and failure to maintain and modernize water infrastructure and treatment plants have had predictable consequences. But tough enforcement and more funding alone are not enough to protect the public's health and deliver the clean water Americans have come to expect. Federal drinking water standards have yet to be developed for several dangerous and ubiquitous contaminants, including perchlorate and hexavalent chromium. The key to protecting drinking water and preventing harmful health impacts is to stop pollution "upstream" before it even has a chance to enter our water. The alternative is costly end-of-pipe measures that leave consumers, water systems and governments mired in a no-win cycle of costly regulation, testing, treatment and cleanup, after the fact.

Clean Water Action is encouraged by Congressional interest in drinking water and by testimony at today's hearing on the importance of tackling pollution causes at the source. Passing legislation to reverse the Bush-era policies which stripped federal protections from more than half the nation's waters and wetlands is an important first step.

Reforming our nation's chemical policy laws, which allow thousands of inadequately tested chemicals onto the market is another. With water resources stressed by a changing climate and by unsustainable use and management practices, now is the time for innovation. Clean Water Action also encourages governments at every level to consider smarter investments in new approaches that will ensure adequate water quantity and better water quality.

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