Contaminants Found In Plainview's Tap Water: Report

PLAINVIEW, NY — Most Americans don’t think twice about drinking a glass of water. A report released Wednesday, though, found more than 270 harmful contaminants in local drinking water across the nation, including in Plainview. The substances are linked to cancer, damage to the brain and nervous system, hormonal disruption, problems in pregnancy and other serious health conditions.

The nonprofit Environmental Working Group, collaborating with outside scientists, aggregated and analyzed data from almost 50,000 local water utilities in all 50 states.

Read more on the Environmental Working Group’s data sources and methodology.

The organization found a troubling discrepancy between the current legal limits for contaminants and the most recent authoritative studies of what is safe to consume.

"Legal does not necessarily equal safe," Sydney Evans, a science analyst at the environmental group, told Patch.

"A lot of these legal limits are outdated and not necessarily the safe level, and the EWG really wants to fill that gap," Evans said. "The federal government has not been able to, or is not willing to, set those new regulations to protect public health. We’re trying to fill the gap to let people know, based on the latest science, what the safe levels of contaminants in water are."

In Plainview, the group found 31 contaminants in the Plainview Water District supply from 2012 to 2017, eight of which exceeded the environmental group's health guidelines. The district serves 35,000 people.

The following contaminants were detected above the environmental group's recommended health guidelines:

1,4-Dioxane

• Cancerous
• 5.6 times above suggested EWG guideline
• 1.98 ppb: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.35: EWG Health guideline
• Legal limit: none

Chromium (hexavalent)

• Cancerous
• 5.2 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 0.104 ppb: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.02 ppb: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: none

Nitrate

• Cancerous
• 30 times above suggested EWG guideline
• 4.21 ppm: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.14 ppm: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: 10 ppm

Nitrate and Nitrite

• Cancerous
• 32 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 4.42 ppm: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.14 ppm: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: 10 ppm

Perchlorate

• Cancerous
• 2.9 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 2.90 ppm: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 1 ppm: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: None

Radium, combined (-226 & -228)

• Cancerous
• 31 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 1.53 pCi/L: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.05 pCi/L: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: 5 pCi/L

Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs)

• Cancerous
• 2.3 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 0.341 ppb: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.15 ppb: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: 80 ppb

Uranium

• Cancerous
• 8.2 times above suggested EWG guideline.
• 3.52 pCi/L: Rate at which this contaminant appears in utility's water.
• 0.43 pCi/L: EWG health guideline
• Legal limit: 20 pCi/L

In the case of polyfluorinated substances, or PFAs, the environmental group estimated up to 110 million Americans could have the potentially cancer-causing, immune-system damaging contaminant in their drinking water. Yet the EPA requires drinking water utilities across the country to test for only six of 14 known substances in the category.

A variety of other contaminants often found in the water of millions of Americans can profoundly impact health. They include lead, which has been linked to brain damage in small children; arsenic, which can cause cancer; and copper, which can be harmful to infants.

The EPA did not respond to numerous requests by Patch seeking comment on the findings of the study, but the New York Department of Health took issue with the study.

"Unlike maximum contaminant levels, EWG's guidelines are not enforceable standards protective of public health as established through a scientific process that evaluates the health impacts of the contaminant and the technology and cost required for prevention, monitoring, and/or treatment," Erin Silk, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department, told Patch in a statement.

She said the state is poised to adopt one of the nation's most protective maximum contaminant levels for PFOA, PFOS and 1,4 dioxane.

"New York State agencies are also undertaking what is arguably the nation's most comprehensive investigation of potential sources of contamination by these chemicals," Silk said.

The Plainview Water District's Board of Commissioners told Patch in a statement Thursday that its drinking water is regulated by the EPA, as well as the state and county health departments.

"These agencies' knowledge, expertise and experience far outweighs those at the EWG and we caution our residents from becoming unnecessarily alarmed due to their misleading reporting," the commissioners said.

There is no human-ingested substance more closely regulated — and tested — for quality than Long Island's tap water, the commissioners added.

"With regards to emerging contaminants such as1,4-dioxane, the District is investing tens of millions of dollars to install state-of-the-art treatment systems even though there is currently no established standard for this particular contaminant," the statement said.

The district also urged residents with questions about their water quality to reach out to them at 516-931-6469.

Ty Fuller, chairman of the Long Island Water Conference, told Patch in a statement that the EWG's conclusions were both inaccurate and a "deliberate attempt to instill fear" in residents with the sole goal of making money on unnecessary water filter sales.

"We are suspect of the lack of science behind their recommendations as well as their questionable credentials to make them," Fuller said.

The EPA, state and local health departments rely on "comprehensive science and very conservative risk assessments" when determining drinking water standards, he added. There is no such thing as pure water, he said, and all water contains minerals and other naturally-occurring substances. And when the EPA doesn't move fast enough, New York health officials have sufficiently stepped in to set safe thresholds, such as with perchlorates, 1,4-dioxane and PFAS.

"The EWG's report focuses solely on the standards set at the federal level and neglects the several additional layers of oversight and guidelines set at the state and local level," Fuller said. "Due to this fact, residents should be cautious when drawing conclusions from this report."

According to the environmental group, many of the 270-plus contaminants detected through water sampling are at levels deemed legal under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, yet are above levels that recent studies have found to pose possible health risks.

Visit the environmental group’s web page for Plainview to see the recommended ways to combat the specific substances in your drinking water and the risks that they pose.

The environmental group has a clear opinion on the federal government’s handling of water safety.

"The regulatory system meant to ensure the safety of America’s drinking water is broken. The inexcusable failure of the federal government’s responsibility to protect public health means there are no legal limits for more than 160 unregulated contaminants in U.S. tap water," Environmental Working Group researchers stated in its "State of American Drinking Water."

A focal point of the organization’s concern is the Environmental Protection Agency’s refusal to add a single new contaminant to the toxic chemicals list covered by the Safe Drinking Water Act in almost 20 years.

Independent experts agree.

"With the science on what we call 'emerging contaminants' continuing to grow, it is clear that there are components of our tap water that can be improved," Kristin Strock, professor of Environmental Science at Dickinson College, told Patch.

Strock, who is not affiliated with the environmental group, also emphasized the challenges in the process of federally regulating harmful contaminants, suggesting the current system is somewhat backward.

"The road to regulating harmful contaminants is difficult, as our current construct for ensuring clean water is based on 'proving' that something is harmful before it is regulated as opposed to assuming contaminants could be harmful and 'proving' them safe before allowing them to go into industrial production and, as a result, our environment," she said. "The EPA has been working on identifying safe limits for a number of these emerging contaminants and continues to work on the problem."

The Environmental Working Group also noted that the every-day person is frustratingly helpless to the chemicals going into their water supply, and the subsequent costs associated with different water filtering techniques.

Olga Naidenko, vice president of science investigation at the group, further explained: "Industries and companies that released PFAS into the environment and drinking water sources — should be responsible to covering such costs, as it is unfair for homeowners to be saddled with costs for pollution they did not create."

The water group does offer information, though, on filtering technologies that you can use to dramatically reduce water contamination. Filtering technology will help. Carbon filters, for example, will reduce many, but not all, contaminants.

How to Check Contaminants In Your Water:

The environmental group’s public database catalogues contaminants in every water system in the country — the first such database of its kind. First, select the state where you live, and you’ll see state-level data. For more local information, enter your ZIP code.

After you enter your ZIP code, you’ll be directed to a page showing the name of your water utility system. Select "View Utility" to see which contaminants were identified in your area.

What You Can Do

For those with concerns, the environmental group provides a guide to buying water filters. If you find your local water supply has a particularly high level of a dangerous chemical, you can search for a filter that best blocks the specific substance.

While water filters are important, the group also acknowledges they are more of a Band-Aid solution than an actual fix.

"We really want to iterate that's a first-line, temporary measure," Evans told Patch. "It's what you can do today to protect yourself, but really we want long-term permanent change, and that’s going to happen at the community level."

Subsequently, the environmental group has created a set of seven questions to ask your elected officials about tap water.

The organization strongly believes that everyone can help in the battle to improve tap water safety.

"We absolutely believe in the power of personal advocacy — for individuals to reach out to their local elected officials of all levels. The power of people can come into play," Naidenko said.

Environmental Working Group Funding

The majority of the group's funding comes from private charitable foundations, here's a partial list of the organization’s largest backers.

• 11th Hour Project
• Civil Society Institute
• Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• The McKnight Foundation
• Popplestone Foundation
• Park Foundation
• The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Barbra Streisand Foundation
• Turner Foundation
• Wallace Genetic Foundation
• The Walton Foundation
• Winslow Foundation

More detailed information on the organization’s funding and annual reports are available on its website.

Patch reporter Gus Saltonstall contributed reporting.