North Carolina, Stop Putting Citizens at Risk of Contaminated Water
- by: Susan V
- recipient: NC Department of Environment and Natural Resourses, Division of Water Resources
North Carolina’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources admitted today it made an “honest mistake” in under-reporting the level of arsenic contamination from the Dan River coal ash spill.
But was it honest of DENR to take samples two miles downstream or put someone in charge who didn’t know what she was doing?
Based on samples she took earlier in the week, DENR section chief Dianne Reid publicly reported safe arsenic levels for humans. But later “it was brought to her attention” that she had erroneously compared her readings to the safety levels for fish - not humans. She then admitted that arsenic in the samples exceeded human safety levels by four times - levels that agree with environmental groups' testing.
Honest or not, it was a mistake that potentially put tens of thousands of people at risk.
DENR’s questionable actions in this and other coal ash issues - not to mention that it’s done next to nothing (if that much) to prevent these environmental disasters - doesn’t make its claims of effectively filtering downstream Danville’s drinking water at all reassuring.
Just how many “honest” water quality mistakes is DENR allowed before it starts looking really fishy? Confidence in this NC agency has clearly eroded, and DENR has got to change. Tell DENR to review its testing procedures to prevent any more “honest” mistakes over water contamination.
We, the undersigned, say DENR has to make changes not only to make sure water testing is done properly but that North Carolina waters are not contaminated with hazardous chemicals and heavy metals in the first place.
Reports say that a “section chief” of DENR’s Water Resources division made an error by comparing her test results to the limit for fish rather than for humans. The 40 micrograms per liter of arsenic is 10 micrograms below the limit for fish. However, she told news sources, it was brought to her attention later that the standard for human health is 10 micrograms, meaning the arsenic exceeded safety levels by four times.
Reid’s “honest error” makes one wonder why DENR would have someone who doesn’t even know what levels are safe do the testing and why an agent at the level of section chief would have to be told what the standards are.
But arsenic is not the only contaminant in these waters, and no one is talking about synergistic effects of all the chemicals and heavy metals combined.
Of further concern is that the news release that finally corrected Reid’s error didn’t disclose how the mistake had occurred, indicating further cover up.
DENR’s Water Resources division says its mission is to “protect, enhance and manage” the state’s water resources “for the health and welfare” of its citizens “and the economic-well-being of the state.” But its actions are showing it’s focused most on protecting Duke Energy - not the taxpayers its supposed to be working for.
Frank Holleman of the Southern Environmental Law Center says DENR knew about Duke Energy’s violations that could lead to disaster, and yet it “took no action until after the spill. The law center had tried to sue Duke Energy to make it clean up all its coal-ash containment basins, but its lawsuit was blocked by DENR, which did a token suit of its own that only protected Duke’s interests.
It’s way past time for DENR to start doing its job and protecting North Carolina’s water quality, its wildlife and its citizens. For starters, it must do a better job of water quality testing.
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