Albuquerque Battles to Leave Arsenic in the Water

LA Times ^ | 3/18/02 | ELIZABETH SHOGREN

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

In this desert metropolis, where it is glaringly apparent that well water brings life, most townspeople refuse to believe that the arsenic in it can also bring death.

"I'm born and raised here, and I'm still here," said Mayor Martin Chavez, echoing the sentiments of many of his constituents. "My grandparents lived long lives here. We've been here for several hundred years, and we're just fine, thank you."

Just the same, the Environmental Protection Agency has given the city four years to slash its elevated arsenic levels and adhere to the new federal standard.

[Clemenza]

As Burt Lancaster would say...

I hate to take a bite out of you Albuquerque. You're a cooke full of arsenic.

[widowithfoursons]

Having lived in NM, it is obvious that the money needed to comply with this directive will be a huge financial blow to the state. They should fight it for sure.

[dead]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm… arsenic…..

[toenail]

ping

[hattend]

Most drinking water nationwide contains little or no arsenic. But about 4,000 water systems, mostly small ones in the arid West, deliver drinking water exceeding the standard to their 12 million customers, according to the EPA...

Then why all the lefty hand-wringing when GW canceled inplementation of a Clintonista era EPA arsenic level decrease until more studies were done? Obviously this was a last minute Clintonian ambush of the Bush administration.

I hope New Mexico manages to tell the EPA to go screw themselves.

[GoreIsLove]

The agency says the new limit of 10 parts per billion will cut residents' risk for certain forms of cancer by more than half.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the amount of cancer cases caused by the elevated arsenci levels less than 20 a year?

[Carry_Okie]

My understanding is that the purpose of this EO was to kill domestic gold mining.

[Sloth]

A little late to fight it... the proposed rule has been out there for some time now.

[El Sordo]

Ahhh, the stench of stupidity....

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Your real question should be what are the number of deaths which can be attributed to cancer as a result of whatever level the Rats are whining about. My guess is very very few.

[PhilDragoo]

Spotted owls and lynxes are threatened by arsenic.

[Eva]

The problem is that New Mexico has one of the lowest rates in the country for the types of cancer thought to be caused by arsenic. My guess is that they also have sufficient selenium in the water to balance the arsenic.

[hattend]

Well, how interesting.

Clinton = Anti-American/Anti-Capitalism/Anti-Self Sufficiency/A$$hole

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

The new requirements aren't possible. Rational thinking people understand what the PPB levels wil and won't accomplish, what's the difference between 10 and 5? Would we be twice as safe? Why kill 50% more people? Hell, let's get it down to 1 PPB and be 10 times safer...

Someone must know what the number of the handful of people is which are affected by this.

[gridlock]

Maybe Albuquerque can do an honest assessment of the cost/benefit relationship of this regulation. That was supposed to be done before, but when was the last time a Clintonista did anything honest?

[Revel]

The level of allowable Arsenic in water was just lowered by a factor of 50 This is not the only thing being done to increase the control of the federal government over water systems. They are really getting into it now. Right down to making the littlest guys go through thousands of dollars of tests, and senseless(And worthless) non stop training. Imagine you own a small restaurant or a tiny trailer park(With as few as 3 homes). Now you have to pay hundreds of dollars and undergo 3 days of instructions in order to receive a Grade C operators license. Every 3 years you have to do that again or else acquire credits before hand by taking other courses. What do you learn in these courses? You learn how to install fire hydrants on City water systems. You learn about software to flush the water system of the City of Boston. You learn how to find leaks in 12" water mains. And you pay for all of these too. Otherwise you can't operate. No business. On top of this you have to test your water on a continual bases for anything and everything you could think of. Some of these tests may cost a 1000 dollars or more(requred less frequently). And they are getting more and more picky about what amount of what can be in the water. Of course people have been drinking this water for years and no one has gotten sick from it. But people just love the idea that they think they are being protected from something and will surrender any freedom for the frivolous privilege. And they can't understand why everything costs so much?

One of the most common things that the fed's are going after(via there stong arm over state and county health departments) is Nitrate which is very common in water. And places that never had a real problem with it suddenly are having a problem. You know why? Because the EPA will no longer let the farmers store there manure and let it breakdown. Now the farmer must dump Nitrate in LIQUID form on a regular bases on their fields. This has caused Increased Nitrate levels even in drilled wells. So in effect the government is creating the problem and then blaming everyone but them selfs in a scheme that is sure to put more and more business's with small water systems out of business. Of course this is the power that big brother craves. And there new global order depends on that power. And moving people out of rual areas. Somehow I don't think that all of this senselessness is caused from ignorance.

[chainsaw]

the Environmental Protection Agency has given the city four years to slash its elevated arsenic levels

And if they don't, what is the EPA going to do about it? Shut their water off?

Or take over the city and turn it over to the UN to run it as if they had been elected to do so?

---

The agency says the new limit of 10 parts per billion will cut residents' risk for certain forms of cancer by more than half.

I would like to see the study that the EPA is using that predicts this result. They always come up with figures like this but never document anything. Then they make a law that a lazy congress gave them the authority to do.

[Revel]

A few notes: Chlorine is forced for even very small water systems.(3+ family's). You must inject it into such water systems to kill the biologicals that might get in there every couple of hundred years per any given system. Only Chlorine is a very bad Carcinogen. No matter because Chlorination is the main bases for which the government has power over your water system. Well you must be Qualified to do that right?

As far as levels are concerned. The maximum level of Nitrated in water is 10.00 PPM. 10 is technically OK. 10.00001 and you are screwed. Time to start posting notices that your water is dangerous. You will have the health departments breathing down your neck and telling you that this must be solved or else they will shut you down. You see the states no longer have any say. Your local health department is simply the long arm of the federal government. Oh the beauty of it all.

see my post above also.

[Carry_Okie]

Oh there's ignorance all righty, but it's in the consequences to all this regulation. If you want a representative story about how Nitrate TMDLs were implemented in Califonrnia (and how ignorant these control freaks really are), it's in my book.