Government Report Shows EPA Is Failing Small Water Systems

Federal regulators should be doing more to ensure that small community water systems are following safe drinking water rules, according to a new report from government investigators.

The U.S. EPA “can better protect the public from contaminated drinking water,” said the report, released last month, from the agency’s own inspector general office.

The study focused on year-round water systems that service fewer than 3,300 people. There are about 42,200 such systems in the country, the report said. They make up more than 82 percent of the community water systems in the U.S.

The findings revealed shortcomings in EPA operations. The inspectors found that “three-quarters of small community water systems across the nation with the most serious health-related violations of federal safe drinking-water regulations still were violating those rules three years later,” USA Today reported.

“Almost half of the 193 most serious violators were in Kansas, Texas and Puerto Rico, so the inspector general focused on them in the report. Of those 84 systems, 86 percent remained out of compliance as of April 2015,” USA Today reported.

The report noted “inconsistencies” in how the EPA enforces its rules.

“We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance require regions to provide annual justification for the lack of formal enforcement action as appropriate, and to establish a coordinated Action Plan for achieving workgroup goals that draws on expertise and tools across the agency, including inviting other federal agencies,” the government report said.

It added: “The agency agreed with all of our recommendations and proposed adequate corrective actions.”

EPA spokeswoman Monica Lee offered a comment on the report, per USA Today:  “All of the report’s recommendations are resolved. The IG’s recommendations will be added to our ongoing efforts to address noncompliance of small drinking-water systems nationally. Each EPA office has outlined its plan of action.”

In addition, the findings highlighted compliance difficulties at small community water systems. Top challenges include finances and a lack of managerial expertise to ensure safe drinking water for customers, the government reported.

“In Kansas, the inspector general pointed to technical and financial challenges in explaining why 12 of 17 small community water systems designated as serious violators in October 2011 hadn’t returned to compliance as of April. It said neither the regional EPA office or the Kansas Department of Health and Environment followed the enforcement policy for the systems in the sample,” USA Today reported.

The water industry is facing tough conditions. Between regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and reduced revenue due to conservation, "you have a cesspool of financial worries" for water utilities, The Kansas City Star reported, citing a research paper by the consulting firm Black & Veatch.

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