 |
|
|
Central Texas School Districts Among Those That Violated Water Standards
Three Central Texas School districts that have their own water supplies are among about 100 nationwide that have violated federal water quality standards, according to an EPA violations database that goes back to 1993.
|
|
3 Comments 
(SEPTEMBER 25, 2009)--Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools AND about 100 school districts across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins.
An Associated Press investigation found that contaminants have surfaced at public and private schools in all 50 states including three districts in Central Texas that have their own water supplies.
According to the EPA database, violations have been reported in the Mullin and Star ISDs in Mills County and in the Cherokee ISD in San Saba County.
The Cherokee ISD said in a letter to KWTX that it hasn’t failed a water test since 2007, which EPA records support, and that the health of faculty and students was never endangered.
The notices the district did receive according to the EPA Web site were for violations involving total coliforms, which agency says are bacteria that occur naturally, but that are used as an indicator that potentially harmful bacteria may be present.
Four other schools and school districts in the region with their own water supplies show no violations including t Speegleville Elementary School in the Midway ISD, Valley Mills High School, the Rosebud-Lott ISD in Falls County and the Kopperl ISD in Bosque County.
The contamination is most apparent at schools with wells, which represent 8 to 11 percent of the nation's 132,000 schools, AP reported.
About one of every five of those schools violated the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, according to the AP analysis.
The EPA says the number of violations has spiked largely because the government has gradually adopted stricter standards for contaminants.
AP analysis of database that shows federal drinking water violations found that the water in about 100 school districts and 2,250 schools violated federal safety standards.
The schools and districts have a total of more than 5,500 separate violations, the AP reported.
California had the largest number of violations, followed by Ohio, Maine, Connecticut and Indiana.
Latest Comments
What you all have failed to post on this site is the solution tthat the Mullin I.S.D. has implimented to be able to provide as good as WACO or any other WATER DEPT. is they have a REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM. You may want to go back and televise the truth or maybe even do a little more invetgating before you start airing broadcast before you'll have the facts.I'll be looking foreward to seeing you next bit of news air on this subject. Thanks from a resident of MULLIN TEXAS.
[ Report Abuse ]
Shirley, you are correct on most of your points. We are lucky enough to have four deep Natural Water Wells in the Speegleville area, that are in the Aqua-Source Company, and they do an annual check/test, with notification to 'every' Customer by mail. So We know 'exactly' what is in our naturally filtered water, that We drink out here and in Speegleville Elementary school. They can 'not' say the same thing in Waco/Woodway/Hewitt/McGregor, or some of the other Towns around here!!! People have to know/understand their water supply system, before they can appreciate an 'exceptionally good' water supply/system!!!! Otherwise we are poisoning/killing our children/citizens! PERIOD!!!!! Stop wasting water on yards and washing cars/pick-ups!!!
[ Report Abuse ]
Why is it that it took a decade? Why is it that the very water we are drinking has been ignored for so long? There are standards, but enforcement was woefully negligent if it took analyzing a database containing 10 years of data to find this problem. The only method to ensure the purest quality of drinking water is reverse osmosis at point of use. That might be expensive, but it is the best method of obtaining water that doesn't have those contaminants. Especially since we MUST have water to live!! How have we arrived to a point where our water isn't the most important topic for humans? Isn't it what allows us to have life? Instead, we're talking about healthcare provided by the government, the same one that took a decade to discover there was something wrong with the water? Even when children were getting sick? These are lives that are being put at risk! Too many questions and not enough good answers.
[ Report Abuse ]
| AP Video |
|
|
