Environmental Matters in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

As the Associated Press documented in a five-month investigation, public drinking water provided to at least 41 million people living in 24 major metropolitan areas has tested positive for trace amounts of pharmaceutical wastes.  The public probably think they have a good idea of what is contained in their public drinking water supply.  However, that is not truly the case.  Federal law requires water providers to distribute annual “consumer confidence reports” that reveal levels of “regulated” contaminants.  Regulated contaminants are those found on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list.  Not all contaminants are listed by U.S. EPA.  Indeed, no pharmaceutical wastes appear on a EPA list for drinking water.  Thus, public drinking water providers have no legal obligation to disclose the presence of known contaminants to the public, if the wastes are not listed by EPA.  Instead, drinking water providers normally disclose only those contaminants that are listed by EPA.  An interesting story on this issue is found at http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19795.