This week's NEWS

Quick reaction to elevated lead findings in Rhode Island. The safe water/safe food nexus: Who gets hit the hardest when a Boil Water Advisory goes forth? Proposed Canadian source water law: A delayed reaction to Walkerton? Reactions to utility public notifications vary: Turbidity and uranium. This list probably won't make it to the Letterman show: Top 10 reasons NOT to fluoridate drinking water...

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Federal Update

• USEPA is looking for applicants for $19 million for Targeted Watersheds Grants (USEPA news release, August 16)
• USGS releases findings of assessment of chemical quality of private (household) wells; the complete report (PDF file, 643 K)

State Updates

• Alaska proposes changes in operator certification regulations; comments due September 20
• News from Hawaii:
  • Hawaii's August issue of Water Spot (PDF file, 88.2 K) 
  • Groundwater contamination maps from 2002-2005 (PDF file, 522 K)
  • State's Intended Use Plan for DWSRF is out for public review
• Minnesota's Fall issue of Waterline (PDF file, 736 K)

Water Security

• San Francisco joins New York City in use of fish to monitor for water terrorism (CBS 5, August 22)

Source Water Protection

• Canadian province proposes sweeping source water protection legislation (London Free Press, August 22); Ontario Bill 43 (PDF file, 2.11 MB)
• Colorado city council pressured to pass watershed ordinance (Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, August 18) 
  Commentary: Proposed oil and gas drilling is the trigger for concern by citizens and council members, but the caution is issued that a city ordinance cannot stop the drilling. ("The wrench is too small to fit the bolt.")

Perchlorate

• Low levels of perchlorate and NDMA found in private wells near former military facilities in Eastern Washington (Spokesman Review, August 17)
• Massachusetts high school finally finds solution to perchlorate problem: New wells! (North Adams Transcript, August 19)
• California regulatory board appointees are grilled about alleged slow perchlorate cleanup; now they can get to work (San Bernardino County Sun, August 22)
• More on perchlorate and threespined sticklebacks (Science News, August 12)

Disinfection Byproducts

• New York's information fact sheet on bromate

Arsenic

• Source of elevated arsenic in Massachusetts city's supply not found (Boston Globe, August 20)

Microbiological

• Food establishments hit hardest as North Carolina city boils water following E. coli detection (Raleigh News Observer, August 20); order to boil water lifted (Charlotte Observer, August 21); city thinks they may know the source of the problem? (WRAL, August 22); E. coli  finding in nearby town is "mere coincidence" (Raleigh News Observer, August 20)
  Commentary: Another example of the havoc that "one little old bug" can cause. The video available at the WRAL link above brings home the impacts: Think about those little water misters that keep the produce fresh in the market! Trying to find the source of a single positive sample in a large water system is like the proverbial needle-in-the-haystack. To trace it to a single residential household would be taking a page from CSI.

Lead

• Providence, RI, responds quickly to slightly elevated lead levels with PE program (Providence Journal, August 18); State provides a FAQ on lead problems and a list of certified labs to do lead analysis
• Rooftop rainwater-collection system is the source of high lead levels in Australian government building (Canberra Times, August 18); officials and union reps have different spin on significance of exposure (Canberra Times, August 19)
• Schools in Durham, NC, test drinking fountains for lead after concerns raised about city water (Raleigh News Observer, August 19)

Public Notification

• Ann Arbor, MI, notifies of high turbidity incident; some residents don't like the timeline for notice, which is well within regulatory requirements (Ann Arbor News, August 18)

Chromium

• The fallout from the Erin Brockovich era in Hinkley, CA: Horse owner doesn't believe PG&E! (Desert Dispatch, August 20)

NEWS CONTINUES BELOW

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MTBE

• "Outside" expert affirms Maine DEP's handling of MTBE in well owned by the governor's "close friends" (Bangor Daily News, August 22)

Salt

• Road salt is apparent source of Massachusetts family's water quality problems (Westborough News, August 18)

Radiological

• Uranium notice by New York town is minimized (Middletown Times Herald Record, August 19)
• Tritium at nuclear power plants:
  • Ground water under dismantled reactor at Southern California plant contains elevated tritium (Los Angeles Times, August 18; free registration required); city well in vicinity shut down as precaution until test results come in (Orange County Register, August 18)
  • Tritium found at Kewaunee, WI, nuclear plant (Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter, August 18)

Aesthetics

• Algae leads to discolored water in Florida county system (Bradenton Herald, August 18)

Nitrate

• California water district's citation from state for nitrate-reporting problem blamed on miscommunication (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, August 16)

Fluoridation

• Harvard professor cleared by university panel in flap over fluoride study (San Francisco Chronicle, August 17)
• City council, not voters, will decide on Corning, NY's fluoridation (Elmira Star Gazette, August 18)
• A lighter look: The top 10 reasons that fluoride should not be added to our water (The Acorn, August 17)

Bottled Water

• Canadian church urges parishioners to stop buying bottled water (Ottawa Citizen, August 20)

Private Wells

• New York county health board doesn't like its attorney's opinion on authority to initiate private well restrictions (Poughkeepsie Journal, August 18)
• Florida county provides funds to extend water lines for a community with private well contamination (Lakeland Ledger, August 19)
• Thousands in New Zealand urged to test their wells after heavy rains and reports of high nitrates (TVNZ, August 20)

International

• China will spend billions (of yuan) on 15-year study of water quality issues (China Daily, August 21)

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