AWWA Claims Arsenic Lawsuit Does Not Serve Public Health

The American Water Works Association has said litigation filed against U.S. government regulators by an environmental group will only hurt efforts to reduce arsenic levels in drinking water.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) followed through on its threat to sue the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in relation to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed rule on arsenic in drinking water. The lawsuit alleges that OMB has illegally delayed the issuance of a proposed arsenic rule, which was due Jan. 1, 2000.

"Suing OMB will not reduce arsenic levels in drinking water or advance public health," said AWWA Executive Director Jack Hoffbuhr. "Unfortunately, this lawsuit could hamper efforts to make the timely, responsible reductions to the federal standard that the National Research Council, USEPA and the drinking water profession all support."

Arsenic is a naturally existing element found in rocks, vegetables and the human body. At high levels of concentration, arsenic has been linked to increased human cancer rates. In March of 1999, the National Research Council (NRC) recommended reducing the existing U.S. standard for arsenic in tap water of 50 parts per billion (ppb). AWWA strongly endorsed the NRC's findings and has supported reducing the arsenic level to 10 ppb, the same level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

OMB reviews all proposed EPA regulations to ensure that the health benefits expected to accrue are realistic and financially feasible. A new report produced by the American Water Works Research Foundation and the Association of California Water Agencies suggests an arsenic standard of 10 ppb would cost $600 million a year with capital costs of $5 million. A standard of 5 ppb would cost $1.4 billion a year with a capital cost of $14 million, and a standard of 3 ppb would cost $2.8 billion a year with a capital cost of $28 million.

According to a survey of almost 19,000 American water utilities, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) determined less than 10 percent of utilities currently distribute water with arsenic levels above the WHO's sanctioned level of 10 ppb, and only 13 percent of those utilities surveyed exceeded 5 ppb. These findings undermine NRDC's claims that 56 million Americans currently use water supplies containing "unsafe" levels of arsenic.

"The drinking water profession strongly encourages OMB to evaluate the proposed arsenic rule using the best data available," added Hoffbuhr. "This information comes from the National Research Council and the U.S. Geological Survey, not lawyers from special interest groups."