New state regulations require water utilities to speed up notification to their customers when drinking water supplies are contaminated with especially dangerous pathogens that pose a grave risk to public health.
But those same regulations give the water companies more time to report contamination by other pollutants -- such as arsenic, pesticides and dioxins.
And that, say more than 60 environmental and health groups, just doesn't hold water.
The regulations approved by the Environmental Quality Board in Harrisburg last week reduce the public notification time for water supplies with "Tier 1" contamination from 72 to 24 hours to comply with new federal rules. But the notification time for "Tier 2" contaminants increased, from seven to 30 days.
The new state regulations also keep in place an existing state requirement that public water suppliers report the most serious water quality violations to the state Department of Environmental Protection within one hour of discovery -- a requirement not contained in federal rules.
"Where we feel it necessary to properly protect the public health and safety, Pennsylvania will go above and beyond federal requirements concerning safe drinking water," said David Hess, DEP secretary. "By focusing public notification on instances where the public's health is imminently threatened, we believe the public will take such warnings seriously and take the needed precautions."
But Robert Wendelgass, Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action, said all unsafe levels of toxic chemicals in drinking water should be disclosed to the public as soon as possible.
"These contaminants can have especially serious effects on pregnant women, infants and people with compromised immune systems. We're disappointed that the EQB didn't agree and that consumers could now be forced to drink unsafe water for up to 30 days without knowing it."
The longer notification requirement for Tier 2 contamination was opposed by citizens groups representing environmental, health, senior citizens and AIDs constituencies.
Last year, according to the DEP, there were 218 Tier 1 violations and 519 Tier 2 violations reported by the more than 10,000 public water systems in Pennsylvania. Most of the violations occurred in smaller water systems.
Automatic Tier 1 violations occur when fecal coliform, E. coli, nitrate, nitrite, chlorine dioxide, and some cases of turbidity exceed federal maximum contaminant levels.
Tier 2 violations involve excessive levels of "chronic risk contaminants" -- substances like arsenic, inorganic mercury, heavy metals and volatile organic chemicals like benzene, toluene and vinyl chloride -- that the state and federal regulators say will cause health problems only after prolonged exposure.
State Rep. Camille "Bud" George, Democratic chairman of the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, said the EQB's regulatory approval sends the wrong message at a time of heightened national security and environmental threats.
"Lowering our guard now on public notification of water contaminants flies in the face of efforts, including those on the federal level, to bolster protections against bioterrorism," said George.
The board rejected George's amendment that would have required 24-hour notification to the media when contaminants with potential long-term health effects -- Tier 2 contaminants -- are found in public water supplies. He said he will draft new legislation to require faster notification on Tier 2 contaminants.
A second amendment, proposed by Brian Hill, an EQB member, that would have required public notification through the media within 24 hours of a Tier 1 event -- a pollutant capable of causing immediate public harm -- was also defeated by the board.
"We were flabbergasted," said Myron Arnowitt, Western Pennsylvania director for Clean Water Action. "We don't see how notifying the public and giving them the information they need to protect their health is a bad idea, especially since notifying the media doesn't cost the utility involved any money."
The DEP opposed both amendments, saying it supported letting the public know about problems with its drinking water but that such notification should be appropriate to the size and type of water system and the risk posed by the contaminants.
Kristen Wolf, a DEP spokeswoman, said the department also relied on a federal General Accounting Office study that found the public notification process would be more effective if it focused more on the most serious situations.
"Regardless of that, the DEP still maintains final decision-making on when the public should be notified and by what means," Wolf said, "and we can upgrade any contamination to a Tier 1 rating on a case-by-case basis."
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