Water woes

It doesn't take much imagination to connect the dots between America's chronic health risks and our collective consumption of poisons and contaminants from the water we drink.

An analysis of E.P.A. data shows that Safe Drinking Water Act violations have occurred in parts of every state. In the prosperous town of Ramsey, N.J., for instance, drinking water tests since 2004 have detected illegal concentrations of arsenic, a carcinogen, and the dry cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene, which has also been linked to cancer.

In New York state, 205 water systems have broken the law by delivering tap water that contained illegal amounts of bacteria since 2004.

However, almost none of those systems were ever punished. Ramsey was not fined for its water violations, for example, though a Ramsey official said that filtration systems have been installed since then. In New York, only three water systems were penalized for bacteria violations, according to federal data.

This is another part of the sad legacy of George W. Bush in general, and the Republican desire to privatize water resources in particular. It's part of the master plan to make sure there are plenty of poor, sick and weak people to do all the shit work.