Safe
Water Drinking Act to be taken up by the RI General Assembly, again
By
UpriseRI
“Toxic
PFAS have no place in our bodies or our drinking water,” said Amy
Moses, vice president and director of Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island.
“The federal government is ignoring its responsibility to protect the public
from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to protect the public
from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to safeguard our water,
and this bill is a great step in that direction.”
Representatives June Speakman (Democrat, District 68, Warren, Bristol) and Terri Cortvriend (Democrat, District 72, Portsmouth, Middletown) plan to introduce legislation in the upcoming 2020 legislative session to push the state to take action to protect drinking water from known toxins.
The Safe
Drinking Water Act, which the two lawmakers also introduced last year (2019-H6064), will be introduced in
partnership with the Conservation Law Foundation, Future Now and
the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The bill – being introduced in state legislatures around the country – provides for state-level standards for drinking water to limit known toxics and protect residents from harm.
The bill – being introduced in state legislatures around the country – provides for state-level standards for drinking water to limit known toxics and protect residents from harm.
The
federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has resisted calls by
public health groups and environmentalists to regulate man made contaminants,
including PFOA, PFOS and related compounds linked to
cancer, Chromium-6 (the Erin Brockovich chemical) and 1,4
dioxane, which can be found in the drinking water of millions of people.
The Safe Drinking Water Act allows the state to step up and take action, setting standards for drinking water to protect residents from known toxins.
The Safe Drinking Water Act allows the state to step up and take action, setting standards for drinking water to protect residents from known toxins.
“There are a lot of things we don’t know about many of the chemicals that wind up in drinking water from manufacturing and other industries, but we do know that many are dangerous to public health and cause a variety of health problems,” said Representative Speakman.
“While we gather more information, I firmly believe we should be erring on the side of protecting the public rather than on the side of polluters. It is absolutely critical that public drinking water supplies are safe. From Flint, Michigan, to our own Burrillville, we have seen instances of public drinking water made unsafe by contaminants, and government not always being swift to step in. Instead, we should be proactive and give priority to public health.”
“Rhode
Island doesn’t have to sit idle while the federal government looks the other
way from the pollution that is harming public health. In fact, it’s our duty to
take the action necessary to protect our drinking water,” said Representative
Cortvriend.
“Safe drinking water is a necessity and a human right, and Rhode Islanders deserve to have that right protected. We look forward to addressing this issue in the 2020 legislative session.”
“Safe drinking water is a necessity and a human right, and Rhode Islanders deserve to have that right protected. We look forward to addressing this issue in the 2020 legislative session.”
Although
the legislators are still working with advocates to establish the details in
Rhode Island’s legislation, it is expected to:
- Establish state-wide maximum contaminant levels for PFOS, PFOA, other PFAS compounds, chromium-6 and 1,4 dioxane in public drinking water systems;
- Direct the state to consider limits on other pollutants in drinking water systems when two or more other states have set limits or issued guidance on a given pollutant;
- Provide for review of the best available scientific evidence in setting maximum contaminant limits;
- Ensure contaminant limits sufficient to protect vulnerable people, including pregnant and nursing mothers, infants, and children.
States
including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont have
already taken state-level action and are leading the way in protecting their
residents from these dangerous chemicals.
PFAs – per-
and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are man made chemicals linked to cancer,
developmental delays and other health problems. They are commonly used in
nonstick and stain-repellent coatings, as well as firefighting foam and
thousands of other applications.
The
federal EPA has agreed only to a “recommendation” that that drinking water not
contain more than 70 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFOA and PFOS, two of the more
extensively studied chemicals in the PFA group.
The
2019 version of the bill would have required the Rhode Island Department
of Health to establish maximum contaminate levels of PFAs in public drinking
water supplies and set an interim standard of 20 ppt, which is the level
recently adopted in Vermont.
The
bill is also supported by the Conservation Law Foundation, which earlier this
year petitioned the Department of Health to impose a 20 ppt limit on public
water supplies. The department denied the request, saying it needs more
research and EPA regulations.
“Toxic
PFAS have no place in our bodies or our drinking water,” said Amy Moses,
vice president and director of Conservation Law Foundation Rhode Island.
“The federal government is ignoring its responsibility to protect the public from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to protect the public from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to safeguard our water, and this bill is a great step in that direction.”
“The federal government is ignoring its responsibility to protect the public from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to protect the public from these dangerous chemicals. It’s up to the states to safeguard our water, and this bill is a great step in that direction.”
The
EPA did require public water systems that serve 10,000 or more to test for the
substances between 2013 and 2015, and while systems in Cumberland and Westerly had
some contamination, their levels were below the advisory levels at that time
and have since dropped.
However,
following news about serious contaminations in New Hampshire and
Vermont, in 2017, DEM conducted testing on smaller water systems and vulnerable
sites near potential contamination sites. The results showed contamination in
eight places around the state, including a small public water system in the
Oakland neighborhood in Burrillville that significantly exceeded the EPA’s
advisory level.
That system, as well as six other private wells in the neighborhood, were found to be contaminated by firefighting foam used by the nearby Oakland-Mapleville Fire District. System users were instructed to stop consuming the water, and have had to rely on bottled water until a connection to the nearby Harrisville water system was completed this summer.
That system, as well as six other private wells in the neighborhood, were found to be contaminated by firefighting foam used by the nearby Oakland-Mapleville Fire District. System users were instructed to stop consuming the water, and have had to rely on bottled water until a connection to the nearby Harrisville water system was completed this summer.
The
issue is receiving greater public attention as a result of actor and environmental
activist Mark Ruffalo’s new legal thriller, Dark Waters, which
tells the true story of a lawyer taking on a major corporation after it caused
staggering PFOA contamination of water that devastated communities.
This chemical that the movie is centered around, PFOA, is a key contaminant lawmakers across the nation are fighting against through the Safe Drinking Water Act.
This chemical that the movie is centered around, PFOA, is a key contaminant lawmakers across the nation are fighting against through the Safe Drinking Water Act.