In December 2010, the EPA attempted to act via emergency order under the Safe Drinking Water Act against oil companies that they claimed were polluting the water supply of a small Montana town. Their attempt was appealed by these companies, and finally referred by a federal judge to mediation. However, as of last week, the [...]
Archive for the ‘Drinking Water’ Category
17 May
Let’s Hope This Sunlight Can Kill Coliform, Arsenic, and Bad User Interfaces
In the name of transparency, the EPA announced yesterday the release of several improvements to the availability and usability of drinking water data in the Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) tool. The updated Safe Drinking Water Act search page can ostensibly used to pinpoint violations of drinking water standards in any given individual’s community. [...]
13 May
Duke University Study Finds Methane Contamination in Drinking Water Near Fracking Sites
Last month it was Cornell, and this month it’s Duke, but all these universities are telling us the same thing: hydraulic fracturing comes with environmental risks. While the study from Cornell focused on the global warming effects of methane that escapes from natural gas fracking, a recent study from Duke University found that escaped methane [...]
12 Apr
To Frack or Not To Frack?
Hydraulic fracturing has received a lot of press since we originally reported on it (here and here), but probably nothing compared to the debate going forward. On Sunday, April 10th, The Hill’s E2-Wire released a pre-publication version of a study from Cornell University concluding that natural gas obtained via “fracking” could be even worse for [...]
8 Apr
High Levels of Lead, Low Levels of Communication
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) got a public lesson in post-publication clarification when the GAO’s report “CDC Public Health Communications Need Improvement” was published earlier this week. The GAO report takes us back to Washington, D.C., in the year 2001, when the District’s Water and Sewer Authority became aware of lead levels in [...]
