Tag: contamination
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In the Heart of the Corn Belt, an Uphill Battle for Clean Water
Iowa State Senator David Johnson has led the fight to reduce agricultural pollution of the state’s waters. Casey Beck Runoff from farms and feedlots has badly polluted Iowa’s waterways, more than half of which do not meet federal quality standards. Now, an unlikely coalition is calling for stricter controls to clean up the drinking water…
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How One Kid Stopped the Contamination of a River
Stella Bowles was 11 years old when she first donned her rubber boots to test for water contamination in the LaHave River, which runs beside her home on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. “I wanted to swim in the water, and Mom’s always said no,” Bowles told CityLab. But in 2015, after hearing…
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Flint Water Crisis Deaths Likely Surpass Official Toll
The death toll in Flint, Michigan, from contaminated water may be much higher than state health officials have acknowledged, an ongoing FRONTLINE investigation has found. The likely killer: Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by the legionella bacteria. Officially, 90 people were sickened and 12 died from exposure to waterborne legionella bacteria during…
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‘Fecal Soup’: Wisconsin Well Water Would Horrify You
Erika Balza does not drink the water out of her tap. Despite having a new well installed that came with a price tag of more than $13,000, she doesn’t trust it. “We’ve just written it off,” says Balza, a 47-year-old former paralegal and title insurance agent. “I did say after the new well was installed…
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Michigan Faces Another Toxic Water Crisis
Now Its Governor Wants a Chemical Company to Pay Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked the state attorney general to sue chemical giant 3M, suggesting that the company must pay for making toxic chemicals that wound up in the drinking water. Towns across America are coming to grips with an alarming new source of water…
