In some States, like Texas, the State covers up findings to pass EPA muster. It isn’t so much from man caused pollution as much as it is naturally occurring arsenic and radiation. The State was caught rounding numbers down.
One of the issues we’ve seen is regulation fostering an environment of lies. Regulations are not an effective method when they are written by politicians who care less about science and more about politics.
in other cases it fosters corruption like when Bush era Oil and Gas regulators were being bought off by industry. My fiance worked with a manager that was involved and had to testify in court over the parties, stripper, orgies, and gifts being lavished on inspectors who looked the other way.
The best system involves smart regulations with input from both industry, citizens, and politicians with a focus on common sense and accountability by all parties. Our current system has no middle ground which is why smart regulation seems like a fantasy. The media is one sided, gov is one sided, business has little ethics, and the citizens get caught in the middle. Either way we continue to lose. Dirty water or less freedom...
I look at the Monsanto case where they essentially poisoned the earth with plastic byproducts then covered it up. How do we encourage business to be honest? Reward them? Shame them with imprisonment and fines? What if the groups that are supposed to hold them accountable are just as crooked?