THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 40 lines
The motto of America is in danger of becoming: Water, water everywhere, but is it safe to drink? Washington, D.C., recently had a water-quality problem more typical of a Third World outpost than a world capital. In the Midwest, an outbreak of cryptosporidium sickened thousands.
Legislation to keep the nation's water fit to drink has to be reauthorized and updated periodically. Both the House and Senate have passed versions by wide margins, but a conference committee has failed to reconcile the two.
The House alternative, which Virginia Rep. Thomas Bliley helped push through, is better in several ways. Bliley and Sen. John Warner are both on the conference committee and ought to exert themselves to enact the House version.
It contains a right to know provision that would require water utilities to tell citizens in plain language once a year which of 83 contaminants their drinking water contains and in what concentrations.
Some critics have claimed the required testing and reporting works a hardship on small, rural water systems. But they are most likely to violate the law and put their customers at risk. The House bill permits waivers for systems serving 3,300 customers or less. The Senate bill would permit many more systems to opt out. Too many.
The House version is also superior in requiring the operators of water systems to meet minimum training standards to be certified.
Virginia alone has 1,529 community water systems. In 1994-95, 254 of them - or 16 percent - violated at least one EPA health standard. Almost all the violating systems were small, but 452,000 Virginians were still affected. If the bill is approved by Aug. 1, $17.7 million will be available to help ungrade Virginia's water-treatment facilities.
Over the next seven years, the legislation would allocate $7.6 billion in federal dollars for state-administered loan funds to be used to help communities meet safe drinking-water standards. This is needed legislation. Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly agree. So does the public. The committee should act. by CNB