An analysis of industrial water pollution in the United States: Why policy level change is needed

Toxic chemicals are increasingly detected in our drinking water supplies, and the current water treatment technologies cannot remove them. This issue is a growing public health concern. As mandated under the Emergency Planning and Community Right- to- Know Act, industrial facilities must report the chemicals they use, store and release into the environment. The EPA takes facility reports on the pounds of chemicals they release into the environment, the Toxics Release Inventory, and uses a model called the Risk Screening Environmental Indicators, to factor in the fate and transport of the chemicals, their relative toxicity, and the number of people that live in the affected area. Each facility is given a RSEI score and the information is available to the public. This study used industry reports to match each facility with its corporate owner. The RSEI scores were aggregated to identify the top 100 water polluting corporations--those emitting the most toxic chemicals into waterways that affect the most people. Less than 20 percent of the 500 chemicals in the RSEI database have maximum contamination levels that limit the allowable concentrations in drinking water. This study suggests policy level changes are needed to safeguard the nation's drinking water supply. The EPA should update the Safe Drinking Water Act and require the regulation of unregulated chemicals entering our water supplies. Furthermore, federal policies need to be enacted to restrict the use of these chemicals by the most polluting industries and to prevent toxic chemicals from entering the drinking water supplies.