From failing to properly test water for lead all the way to failing to tell communities about contaminations, there are more than 5,300 water systems in the United States in violation of basic federal regulations of water management.
Eighteen million Americans live in communities where the water systems are in violation of the law. Moreover, the federal agency in charge of making sure those systems are safe not only knows the issues exist, but it's done very little to stop them, according to a new report and information provided to CNN by multiple sources and water experts.
"Imagine a cop sitting, watching people run stop signs, and speed at 90 miles per hour in small communities and still doing absolutely nothing about it -- knowing the people who are violating the law. And doing nothing. That's unfortunately what we have now," said Erik Olson, health program director at Natural Resources Defense Council, which analyzed the EPA's data for its report.
And while it is pointed out that the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) list includes many drinking water systems that have recently been resolved, there are potentially tons of water systems in violation that are not on the list at all.
What's worse, the report reveals that the EPA is also aware that many utilities "game the system," using flawed or questionable testing methods in order to avoid detecting high levels of lead.
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Among the bad practices adopted by water utilities: selectively testing homes that are unlikely to have high levels of lead, asking residents to "pre-flush" their taps, and taking water samples "slowly," which reduces lead levels.
Flint, Michigan is not on the list for a similar reason and we all know that Flint, Michigan should be on all of the lists. Unfortunately, besides there being uncomfortable relationships between EPA officials and companies that are frequently in violation of EPA regulations, the EPA itself is under constant threat of losing what funding it has. Since the EPA “regulations” are unenforceable by the federal government, it is up to state and municipalities to do right by their citizens. Like in Philadelphia:
Philadelphia's water passed its last round of lead testing with flying colors, but documents obtained by NBC News show those results may offer a misleading picture of the lead flowing from Philly taps.
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Experts say the choice of houses, coupled with other flaws in the city's testing methods, may be offering Philly's residents false comfort about the quality of their water - and are a symptom of nationwide testing failures that may have masked lead problems in cities across the country, including Flint. Compared to some other U.S. utilities, Philadelphia Water has a reputation for being well-run and resourced.
"I have the utmost respect for the folks in Philadelphia, and if this is what's going on in Philadelphia I shudder to think what's going on in the rest of the country," said Dr. Marc Edwards, a Virginia Tech researcher who was key to exposing the Flint lead crisis.
For more on lead poisoning in water you can check out the CDC’s website here.