=======================Electronic Edition========================
RACHEL’S HAZARDOUS WASTE NEWS #69
—March 21, 1988—
News and resources for environmental justice.
——
Environmental Research Foundation
P.O. Box 5036, Annapolis, MD 21403
Fax (410) 263-8944; Internet: erf@igc.apc.org
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STATE REGULATIONS TO PROTECT GROUNDWATER ARE NOT CONSISTENT.
Water can be divided into two types-groundwater and surface
water. Surface water is the kind you can see–brooks, streams,
rivers and lakes. Groundwater is a large underground body of
water (on average, 30 feet below the surface of the earth).
Half of all Americans take their daily water supply from
groundwater. Unfortunately, groundwater is more subject to
contamination than surface water. Many biological processes
operate in surface water, destroying contaminants. However,
groundwater is different. Groundwater resides in a cool, dark
region where few, if any, biological processes are active. Once
groundwater is contaminated, it is difficult or impossible to
clean up.
“There is considerable uncertainty about the extent to which
groundwater is being protected,” says a new report from the
General Accounting Office: GROUNDWATER QUALITY: STATE ACTIVITIES
TO GUARD AGAINST CONTAMINENTS. The 57 U.S. states and
territories lack “uniform and consistent” groundwater quality
protection policies and regulations. Twenty-six states have
numeric standards to protect groundwater (an example: one state
or another may allow 0.01 ppb of trichloroethylene); 38 states
have narrative standards generally prohibiting the discharge of
contaminants that might threaten groundwater; 23 states have both
kinds of standards; 16 states (30%) have neither kind of
standard. For a free copy of report GAO/PEMD-88-5, write GAO,
P.O. Box 6015, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; phone (202) 275-6241.
If you want to help, or get help from, an environmental group
doing important work on groundwater protection, contact Velma
Smith at Environmental Policy Institute, 218 D St., SE,
Washington, DC 20003; phone (202) 544-2600.
–Peter Montague, Ph.D.
Descriptor terms: groundwater; regulations; surface water; water
pollution; drinking water; regulations; water quality;
environmental policy institute; gao; epa;