Dear EarthTalk: Bottled water companies would have us all believe that tap water is unsafe to drink. But I’ve heard that most tap water is actually pretty safe. Is this true?
– Sam Tsiryulnikov, Los Angeles, CA
Tap water is not without its problems. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) in 2005 tested municipal water in 42 states and detected some 260 contaminants in public water supplies, 140 of which were unregulated chemicals, that is, chemicals for which public health officials have no safety standards for, much less methods for removing them.
EWG did find over 90 percent compliance on the part of water utilities in applying and enforcing standards that exist, but faults the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to establish standards on so many of the contaminants—from industry, agriculture and urban runoff—that do end up in our water.
Despite these seemingly alarming stats, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has also conducted extensive municipal as well as bottled water tests, says: “In the short term, if you are an adult with no special health conditions, and you are not pregnant, then you can drink most cities’ tap water without having to worry.” This is because most of the contaminants in public water supplies exist at such small concentrations that very large quantities would need to be ingested for health problems to occur.
NRDC does caution, however, that pregnant women, young children, the elderly, people with chronic illnesses and those with weakened immune systems can be especially vulnerable to the risks posed by contaminated water.” The group suggests that anyone at risk obtain a copy of their city’s annual water quality report (they are mandated by law) and review it with their physician.
As for bottled water, it is first important to know that 25 to 30 percent of it comes straight from municipal tap water systems, despite the pretty nature scenes on the bottles that imply otherwise. Some of that water goes through additional filtering, but some does not. NRDC has researched bottled water extensively and has found that it is “subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water.” Bottled water is required to be tested less frequently than tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration bottled water rules allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform, contrary to EPA tap water rules which prohibit any such contamination.
Similarly, NRDC found that there are no requirements for bottled water to be disinfected or tested for parasites such as cryptosporidium or giardia, unlike more stringent EPA rules regulating tap water. This leaves open the possibility, says NRDC, that some bottled water may present similar health threats to those with weakened immune systems, the elderly and others they caution about drinking tap water.
The bottom line is that we have invested considerably in highly-efficient municipal water delivery systems that bring this precious liquid straight to our kitchen faucets anytime we need it. Instead of taking that for granted and relying on bottled water instead, we need to make sure our tap water is clean and safe for all.
CONTACTS: Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org/tapwater/findings.php; EPA Local Drinking Water Information, www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm; NRDC, www.nrdc.org/water.
Dear EarthTalk: What alternatives are there to traditional fertilizers and other chemicals typically used on golf courses? What other actions can be taken to make golf courses kinder to the environment? –Kathy McGuire, PGA National Resort, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Although golf courses are large areas of open space, certainly more desirable ecologically than equivalent amounts of paved highway or polluting industrial operations, they are less “green” than they appear. Golf maintenance operations use significant amounts of synthetic fertilizer and pesticides (more, acre-for-acre than farms in some cases), which can contaminate nearby lakes and streams as well as local groundwater.
A typical golf course uses about a half ton of chemical pesticides each year, at least some of which runs off into nearby groundwater sources. With nearly 20,000 courses now in operation across the United States and Canada, such problems affect just about every community from coast-to-coast. Luckily several institutions and organizations have been working to minimize the environmental impacts of golf courses.
According to researchers at New York’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), there are many ways to create and maintain golf courses that remain attractive to golfers without excessive use of toxic chemicals. Examples include: selecting turf grasses that match local environmental conditions so as to reduce susceptibility to pests; mowing less often as longer grass increases natural pest resistance; using slow-release and natural organic fertilizers; taking into account pest forecasts to be better prepared for potential infestations; and introducing the natural enemies of problem pests and natural bacteria-based fungicides.
More information and tips are available for free via the website of the Environmental Institute for Golf, which publishes an informative series of best management practices for golf course managers looking to improve their facilities’ eco-footprint. Some tips include: planting vegetative buffers around golf course water bodies to prevent the transmission of fertilizers and pesticides into the water; leaving grass clippings and leaves on the ground where possible to serve as natural compost in low-maintenance areas; and timing the application of fertilizer to minimize loss from rainfall and maximize uptake by grasses.
One of the nation’s leaders in green golf course management is San Francisco’s Harding Park, where course managers eschew conventional pesticides and fertilizers in favor of microbes to kill pests and soap to get rid of weeds. They also hand-pluck weeds, flush out moles with hoses, use traps to catch harmful insects, and choose native plants wherever possible. Beneficial insects such as ground beetles, ladybugs, fireflies, praying mantis, spiders and wasps help keep harmful insects at bay and also pollinate plants and decompose organic matter that serves as natural fertilizer. These and other alternative management methods make the course one of the greenest stops on the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tour.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is also taking steps. EPA’s Wetlands Division consulted with several leading nonprofits and golf institutions on the creation of a booklet, “The Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States,” outlining the environmental responsibilities of golf courses. It is posted at the website of the United States Golf Association (USGA).
CONTACTS: Environmental Institute for Golf, www.eifg.org; Environmental Principles for Golf Courses in the United States, www.usga.org/turf/articles/environment/general/environmental_principles.html.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.
One Response to “EarthTalk: Tap Water? Golf Courses?”
Got something to say?
New readers
Welcome to Blast! Read about who we are here! |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Share this article
Advertisement
Subscribe
Log in. New users click here!Related Articles:
Most Popular Posts
- 2008 Penthouse Pet of the Year
- Miller's 64-calorie beer
- Leipzig 2008: Sony announces PS3 keyboard attachment
- Top 10 Twilight series moments
- Midnight Sun: leaked, unfinished and glorious
http://www.voai.org/golf.htm
I received a Pesticide Application Notice, 7/16/07, informing me Highlands Soil & Fumigation was going to apply Curfew to the Gold Course. The notice addressed Florida Statutes 482.2267 and the pesticide would be applied 7/16/07 and 7/17/07. The notice was to be presented to me 24 hours prior to being applied. The only notification the residents had the opportunity to find out about CURFEW was on Mariner Sands (MS)TV bulletin station. I found it to be appalling, pathetic, and noninformative to say the least. Not one of approximately ten individuals I questioned saw the notice. Furthermore, when I questioned them if they knew what CURFEW was and the dangers of pesticides, no one had an inkling what I was talking about. I have my site address on cards which I gave them. Hopefully they will spread the word to other residents. This is what the residents and myself should have received for CURFEW: Please click http://www.cdms.net/ldat/ld69L011.pdf
If I was warned fourteen years ago about my health deteriorating as it has from pesticides, I would never have set foot in MS. There are approximately one hundred individuals on the “Sensitivity List” in the entire state of Florida. Three are from Martin County and I am one of those three! I question…WHY SO FEW??? Cover-up???
Let me give you a factual example of the total lack of knowledge our residents have concerning pesticides: In the April 2007 issue of the Mariner Sands Compass, MS’s “Play for Pink Committee” sponsored a tournament or the fight against Breast Cancer. My original homebase was Nassau County, Long Island. Suffolk county borders on Nassau County. Now read this girls. Don’t you feel the slightest bit hypocritical and nervous? I believe I have the right to fight for you gals since my mother had both breasts removed. She, of course, lived on Long Island. If you review my sight you will come across men’s issues attributed to pesticides.
Counties Begin Maintaining Greens the Organic Way
http://www.voai.org/breastcancergolfcourses.htm
By DONNA KUTT NAHAS
Published: July 25, 1999
FOR nearly a half-century, a steady diet of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides have helped keep Long Island’s golf courses looking lush. But pressure from environmental groups and suspicions that the chemicals may be a factor in the Island’s high breast cancer rate has led to a restriction in the use of chemicals at some municipal golf courses. And now, both counties are building or planning organic public courses.
Golf courses are under Florida’s 487 statute, and MS served me a notice of pesticide/fungicide application under the 482.2267 statute because I am listed on Florida’s “Sensitivity List”, I believe MS “opened the door” in order for me to be alerted 24 hours in advance of every pesticide/fungicide application on the golf course(s).
The above has always been a contention of mine. That is, if I wasn’t on the “Sensitivity List” the public would never have been notified of this reprehensible, and I allege, cover-up, quid-pro-quo, criminal act, which I again allege, a serious crime by the state, manufactures, installers of pesticides, golfing communities such as MS, managers and anyone working in a managerial capacity, etc. I consider the use of of pesticides without proper notice borders on the likes of Adolf Hitler’s mass holocaust executions of innocent people along with Saadam Hussein gassing of the Kurds. Hitler used a company for the chemicals by the name IG Farban who committed horrendous war crimes. This company eventually broke up into various companies, namely Bayer, Basf (read break-up and liquidation below). Because of pesticides our lives have been shortened and certainly our health has become a burden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IG_Farben#Break-up_and_Liquidation
“They new or should have known” is a legal phrase. The above named have violated the Constitutional rights of the American people. My site describes what I allege in detail the nature of the crimes. The health and safety of the public is not being served! Let the “Court of Public Opinion” determine the fate of pesticides and if they still want to die a slow death through ignorance and denial. I don’t doubt some may want to “Kill the Messenger”, but even those individuals are immersed in the killing fields and their day may come! Sad!
I suggest those who have taken the time to review my site, please take stock in what I am saying. My site, which I update daily, or as often as possible, when new information becomes available is very popular with John Q Public on a national and international scale.
I speak to residents of MS and others daily about the pesticide problem and the dangers involved with DRIFT coming off the golf courses and surrounding areas bombarding their homes, harming them, their children, granchildren, and pets. I belong to environmental organizations nationally. Some are posted on my site.
The below may be interesting to the Real Estate arm of MS. I’m aware 90 plus homes are up for sale in MS. I send my site to Real Estate firms as well as golfing fund raising events, not to preclude other golfing communities, especially the lung organizations who are raising funds via golfing events for breast cancer and other respiratory problems . Possibly, some of those who are selling their homes and leaving Florida have taken heed to what they saw on my site, or heard about the pesticide problem from others who are spreading the word. Please click: Breast Cancer Action (Silence Is the Sound of Money Talking) http://www.voai.org/breastcanceraction.htm
I will close now with a comment. I am not a Carrie Nation, Cindy Sheehan (who lost her son in Iraq), or Don Quixote fighting windmills. I am a crusader, activist for a better title, for what is right. My two sites are of the educational variety only. I receive, not a cent from either one. In 1981/2 I took on the alcohol beverage industry (ABI), click http://www.voai.org/william.htm and scroll down. If your interested in the alcohol problem, and MS has its share of boozers, click http://www.voai.org. I was the first to file a classaction complaint against the ABI in New York. I filed two more including an appeal here in Florida. I’m not an attorney. Each complaint was denied, without prejudice, but I did get the answers I was looking for. I enjoy what I’m doing, actually, I consider it a hobby. I wrote the book “God’s Linchpin”, edited ,and designed the cover. If your interested you can read it. Just go to the 2nd page of my site and click away.
The below is relevant to MS real estate office and the real estate business’ intoto. This e-mail is being sent to Martin, St. Lucie, Jupiter-Tequesta, Hobe Sound Association of Realtors
“All information relating to the negotiations, property and parties involved in a real estate transaction should be disclosed to the principal, unless it is inconsequential. Written disclosure is best because it provides documentary evidence of disclosure. Brokers should create and retain records of significant verbal disclosures. Complete files of transactions should be kept for at least four years after a transaction has been closed.Wilson (rwilson@wcglaw.net) is a board certified commercial real estate attorney with Wilson, Cribbs & Goren of Houston.
Not disclosing problems with your property to your Realtor®.
The false hope that imperfections in your home won’t be detected is a terrible assumption. Home inspections will discover problems relating to health, safety, and even environmental concerns and is part of most sales contracts. The most recent trend is that many contracts to purchase ask for a seller’s disclosure statement even though this is not currently required by Florida law. In many cases, these issues have been or can be factored into the home’s listing price.” Hopefully some empathetic and ethical legislator will submit a bill making it law to notify what is in red above.
Here are some : LEGAL TERMS Do any fit? I believe they do. Possibly Probable Cause . See below.
There are various types or degrees of manslaughter recognized by federal and state statutes. Essential distinction between crimes of manslaughter, second degree, and criminally negligent homicide is mental state of defendant at time crime was committed; in former, actor perceives risk but consciously disregards it, while in the latter, he negligently fails to perceive risk.
If a person was aware of risk but caused death of another person in disregard of it, he would be guilty of manslaughter in the second degree, not criminally negligent homicide.
Manslaughter in the first degree is “voluntary manslaughter” while criminally negligent homicide is “involuntary manslaughter.” In re Wells’ Will, 1973, 76 Misc.2d458, 350 N.Y.S.2d 114. (Penal Law; Art. 125; page 504; N.Y.S.)
Manslaughter is as follows:
Manslaughter is the unjustifiable, inexcusable and intentional killing of a human being without delibertation, premeditation, and malice. State v. Bannister, MO.App., 512 S.W. 2d 843, 845. The unlawful killing of a human without any delibertation, which may be involuntary, in the commission of a lawful act without due caution and circumspection. Wallace v. U.S., 162 U.S. 466, 16 S. Ct. 859, 40 L. Ed. 1039. (Blacks Law Dictionary, 6th Addition, page 964)
Involuntary Manslaughter is as follows:
Involuntary manslaughter is the unintentional killing of a human being that results from a failing to perform a legal duty under circumstances amounting to criminal negligence.
Involuntary Manslaughter: Such exists where a person is committing an unlawful act not felonious or tending to great bodily harm, or in committing a lawful act without proper caution or requisite skill, unguardedly or undersignedly kills another. Model Penal Code, 210.3(1)(a); 18 U.S.C.A. 1112. (Blacks Law Dictionary, 6th Addition, page 964)
Criminal negligence is conduct that shows a reckless disregard for human life or safety and a willful indifference to the injury that is likely to follow. Add conspiracy to coverup the crime by two or more individuals and federal civil rights charges can be applied. For the federal law to apply, there must be proof that two or more people were conspiring to deprive an individual of civil rights. To go a step further, if death results, conviction can result in a term of up to life imprisonment and tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Probable cause is all that is needed for a Grand Jury to bring formal charges (indictment) against the accused.
Probable Cause is as follows:
Reasonable ground for suspicion, supported by circumstances strong enough to warrant a cautious man’s belief that the law has been, or is being, violated.
The above are but a few defininitions of the possibilities that may or may not apply to the reader’s particular situation. I urge and suggest strongly that the reader retains an attorney for further advice. This writer personally believes, not only has a criminal act been committed, but constitutional rights have been violated.
FEDERAL LAW:
Under federal law it is illegal to give anything of value to a public official “for or because of any official act performed or to be performed” by the official. Government ethics regulations say officials may not accept a gift valued at more than $20. In contrast, the gratuity statute ( a criminal law) has no minimum. Any gift of value given to influence official acts violates the law.
Such laws are important because to accept such a gift would place the official in conflict of interest or at least raise the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Federal officials are required by law and ethics regulations to maintain undivided loyalty to the nation rather than lobbyists and other special interests seeking to curry favor or gain special access. (By Warren Richey, staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor, Tuesday, March 2, 1999)
Why is this e-mail so lengthy? I’m circulating it to all concerned outside the gates of MS, Treasure Coast golfing communities, and ultimately generate a compelling and factual cover-up story to the media with the information I uncovered shown on my site. This will be accomplished with the aid of the legions of organizations throughout the country specifically my Long Island compatriots and my good friend who is an expert in the field of crop protection products. His company was a major manufacturer of pesticides. The company was sold to DOW CHEMICAL after he retired as the Regional Sales Manager for four states (AL; FL; GA; SC).
Bill Macdowell