Maryland Drinking Water Among Nation's Least Safe: Report

BALTIMORE, MD — Maryland's drinking water is among the least safe in the United States, according to a new report by the National Resources Defense Council.

According to the report, Maryland had the nation's 12th-most violations of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act in 2015, the year that was analyzed in the study. The rankings are adjusted for population.

In all, the environmental group's report found nearly 80,000 violations impacting drinking water systems in every state. Very small systems found in rural or sparsely populated areas account for more than half of all health-based violations and nearly 70 percent of the total violations found.

Nearly 77 million people were served by the more than 18,000 systems with violations in 2015.

In Maryland, the group found most violations were reported in smaller water systems and were related to the use and handling of disinfectants typically used in water utilities. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which provides drinking water to nearly 2 million residents in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, was not cited in the NRDC report. The utility said in its 2016 annual report that WSSC has never had a drinking-water violation in 98 years of existence.

In response to the NRDC's report, Jay Apperson of the Maryland Department of the Environment, told WTOP: "The vast majority of Safe Drinking Water Act violations are corrected immediately or following the issuance of a notice of violation. Safe drinking water is such a critical public health issue that the department takes every step it can to resolve any issues long before they reach the point where a financial penalty would be in order. The department’s activities help to ensure safe drinking water for more than 5.7 million Marylanders."

Based on population, Texas had the most violations in the U.S., followed by Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The data was collected from the Environmental Protection Agency's Safe Drinking Water Information System.

The Safe Drinking Water Act is considered a bedrock environmental law, consisting of rules that regulate about 100 contaminants found in drinking water. The rules are intended to protect against about 100 contaminants, such as toxic chemicals, bacteria and metals, like lead, that can cause health impacts like cancer, birth defects and cognitive impairments.

The offenses found nationwide in the study ranged from arsenic to nitrate contamination and included failures to test or report contamination levels.

"America is facing a nationwide drinking water crisis that goes well beyond lead contamination," said Erik Olson, Health Program director at NRDC and a co-author of the report. "The problem is two-fold: there’s no cop on the beat enforcing our drinking water laws, and we’re living on borrowed time with our ancient, deteriorating water infrastructure.

"We take it for granted that when we turn on our kitchen tap, the water will be safe and healthy, but we have a long way to go before that is reality across our country."

The report found that nearly nine in 10 violations were subject to no formal action, and even fewer — just 3.3 percent — led to financial penalties.

The Natural Resource Defense Council argues that water safety issues could get even worse, particularly in rural areas, if cuts proposed to the Environmental Protection Agency by President Donald Trump become law.

Trump's budget proposal included a 31 percent cut to the agency's funding.

"Americans have a right to safe, clean drinking water, but President Trump is killing that right with a meat axe," said Jamie Consuegra, a legislative director with NRDC. "Our tap water should not poison us or make us sick. We can’t play politics with our health or our children’s future."

To help make drinking water safer in the United States, the NRDC proposes:

• Improving water infrastructure and modernizing drinking water treatment plants. This includes removing the 6 million-10 million lead service lines across the country.
• Increasing congressional funding for water infrastructure to protect health and create jobs.
• Strengthen and enforce existing regulations, and establish new ones. Some contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and some industrial chemicals, aren't covered under current laws, the NRDC says.
• Developing a more robust testing system for drinking water contaminants.

To read the full NRDC report, click here.

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