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Study Finds Pensacola Has The Nation’s Worst Water
December 13, 2009
Pensacola has the worst drinking water of any American city, according to the results of a national survey released Saturday.
In the study, there were 21 chemicals found in Pensacola’s water that exceeded health guidelines, including radium, lead, bezene and carbon tetracholride.
In an unprecedented analysis of 20 million tap water quality tests performed by water utilities between 2004 and 2009, Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that water suppliers detected a total of 316 contaminants in water delivered to the public. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set enforceable standards for only 114 of these pollutants.
Another 202 chemicals with no mandatory safety standards were found in water supplied to approximately 132 million people in 9,454 communities across the country. These “unregulated” chemicals include the toxic rocket fuel component perchlorate, the industrial solvent acetone, the weed killer metolachlor, the refrigerant Freon and radon, a highly radioactive gas.
Pensacola’s worst water ranking was among 100 of the nation’s largest water systems in cities over 250,000 in population. In North Escambia, water systems are operated by small independent water companies such as Walnut Hill Water Works, Molino Utilities, Central Water Works, Bratt-Davisville Water System and the Town of Century. These smaller water systems were not part of the worst water results. Only the water provided by the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) in the Pensacola metro area was part of the water study. The smaller North Escambia water systems were not included in the study by EWG.
“The nation’s tap water has been compromised by weak federal safeguards and pitiful protection of drinking water supplies,” said Jane Houlihan, Senior Vice President for Research at EWG.
“Utilities do the best job that they can treating a big problem with limited resources,” said Houlihan, “but we must do better. It is not uncommon for people to drink tap water laced with 20 or 30 chemical contaminants. This water may be legal, but it raises serious health concerns. People expect better water than that, and they deserve it.”
Federal law does not require tap water to be safe for long-term consumption; the long-term risks of cancer and other health threats are balanced against the cost and feasibility of purification. As a result, health officials acknowledge that legally binding contamination limits typically allow exposure to levels of pollutants that present real health risks. For hundreds of other contaminants there are no legal limits at all — any amount is legal.
Some communities have made the commitment to deliver safer water, with dramatic results. Boston had a serious contamination problem that peaked in 2004-2005. After installing a new filtration system and changing treatment techniques, the regional water system now delivers some of the highest-rated big city water in the country. It has also committed to a well-protected reservoir system, a key to preserving the long-term effectiveness of the new techniques.
Tap water contaminants come from a wide variety of sources. EWG’s analysis revealed 97 agricultural pollutants, including pesticides and chemicals from fertilizer- and manure-laden runoff; 205 industrial chemicals linked to factory discharges and consumer products; 86 contaminants that originate in polluted runoff and wastewater treatment plants; and 42 byproducts of water treatment processes or pollutants that leach from pipes and storage tanks.
“In most U.S. households, pouring a glass of tap water means exposing families to hundreds of distinct chemicals and pollutants, many of them completely unregulated,” said Houlihan.
Chemicals detected in Pensacola’s water supply from 2004 to 2008 were: Barium (total), Chromium (total), Cyanide, Mercury (total inorganic), Nitrate, Nitrite, Selenium (total), Trichlorofluoromethane, 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene, cis-1,2-Dichloroethylene, 2,2-Dichloropropane, Monochloroacetic acid, Dibromoacetic acid, Chloroform, Xylenes (total), p-Dichlorobenzene, 1,1-Dichloroethylene, 1,1-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1,2-Tetrachloroethane, Monochlorobenzene (Chlorobenzene), Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Alpha particle activity (incl. radon & uranium), Combined Uranium (pCi/L), Cadmium (total), Lead (total), Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Heptachlor epoxide, MTBE, Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), Bromoform, Bromodichloromethane, Dibromochloromethane, Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs), 1,2-Dichloroethane, Carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-Dichloropropane, Trichloroethylene, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, Tetrachloroethylene, Benzene, Alpha particle activity (excl radon and uranium), Radium-226, Radium-228.
Pictured: The nation’s best and worst water systems in cities over 250,000 population, according to a study released Saturday by the Environmental Working Group.
Comments
45 Responses to “Study Finds Pensacola Has The Nation’s Worst Water”
Something is truly wrong with Pensacola Florida. I am from a family that grew up near Scenic Heights Elementary School since 1975. We grew up extremely healthy with no family history of cancer or illness.
Between 4 people – these are the illnesses that have occured:
2 brain tumors
1 breast cancer tumor (covered whole chest)
1 ovarian tumor
1 cancerous kidney tumor
1 missing adrenaline gland
2 missing thyroid glands
Something is seriously wrong. My prom date died from a brain tumor along with my neighborhood friend. Both were barely 30years old.
So what do we do about it? ECUA has a monopoly on water, here. It’s not as if we can boycott or go with a different provider.
ECUA is too lazy and tight fisted to be motivated to do anything about it and claim that because they meet the minimum federal requirements that they have the best water in the nation.
D- students should make that claim: “You say I have the worst grades in my graduating class, but because I meet the standards required to graduate, I assert that I have the best grades of any student in the United States.”
Regarding:
Anonymous on December 15th, 2009 3:29 pm
“so, how exactly is uranium in the water? that makes me really comfortable”
It really shouldn’t since it has always been there. I enjoy watching the commercial where they brag about using sea salt, that would mean it already has Uranium dissolved in it. as you can see from below, taken from:
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf75.html
Uranium is a relatively common metal, found in rocks and seawater.
Uranium is ubiquitous on the Earth. It is a metal approximately as common as tin or zinc, and it is a constituent of most rocks and even of the sea.
Some typical concentrations are: (ppm = parts per million).
Granite 4-5 ppm U
Sedimentary rock 2 ppm U
Earth’s continental crust (av) 2.8 ppm U
Seawater 0.003 ppm U
Those of you on private wells: have you ever had it tested? may contain coliforms if you’re in a rural area, or radon, its naturally occuring in well water, city wells or otherwise, as is flouride. Chlorine is toxic, if breathed in gaseous form, but used in drinking water, it has saved untold millions of lives and ranks in the top five public health improvements of the last 100 years. Know anybody that’s died of cholera lately? Check your Pensacola history and see how many thousands used to die from drinking-water-borne epidemics. And to say Joe got cancer, and Joe drank city water, therefore city water gave Joe cancer is false logic. That is like saying I woke up this morning, I tripped down the stairs and died, therefore waking up is fatal. I’ve had a child with a brain tumor. Let me tell you: Bad things happen to people. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Stuff happens. To stick your head in the sand and declare conspiracy all the time is crazy. Keep your well if you want. Fine. Dont spread old wives tales as truth, though.
Dont even talk about the bottled water. Its in plastic. Arent you all afraid of the bi-phenyls that the media and big govt types are scaring everyone about? Its trucked around inefficiently with exhaust spewing trucks. Soot and CO2 and ozone and bad air anyone? Its often made from city water!
I am in the business of filtration. I hear people every week say they either don’t care what is in the water or that the government is supposed to take care of them. Ronald Reagan said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” The EPA and ECUA can only do so much. It is all in the money and politics.
I really try to avoid talking about health issues and cancers, etc. My goal is simply to take as many chemicals out of the water as possible. I believe that if I do not put them in or on my body I won’t have to worry about them later. The sad part is that Chlorine and Fluoride are both poisonous chemicals. They can say all they want that in small amounts it won’t hurt anyone but I will still filter the water I drink, bathe and brush my teeth in. There is so much published information on tap water that it doesn’t take much to be aware. Get your head out of the sand and be responsible for yourself. I love to ask people if they buy bottled water and if so why. You can filter your own water for 2 cents a gallon why fill up our landfills with plastic?
You either have a water filter or you are a water filter!
dougthewaterman.com
so, how exactly is uranium in the water? that makes me really comfortable
I have been telling my family since the mid 1990’s not to drink the tap water here but to drink only purified water. There is not one family in the neighborhood that I grew up in that did not have a family member or members who have either had cancer or died from it. You would be shocked to know the odds for that is more than astronomical. There is a reason this county ranks second in the nation for cancer cases according to some reports and has the worst water in the nation. It might not take much research to find out the reasons why. I’ve known it for years and no one told me or had to. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or any real education to know that when every family around you is dealing with cancer that there is at least one common reason for it. The water. This may not be news to those who keep track of all that but the general public has been unaware unless they make it their business to know. Now they are finally talking about it. Wonder what would happen if someone did the research to find out exactly how many cases of cancer in the past 40 years of residents living in this county compared to everyone else in the country? It could be so monumental no amount of explanation except the truth would suffice.
what are the harmful effects of the many chemicals listed after years of daily consumption….i.e. drinking, baithing, ect? I’m interested in viewing the findings of an independent study.
REGARDING:
Whitfield on December 14th, 2009 3:23 pm
“Why oh Why didn’t Pnj or Wear3 Bust their chops on this one???
What has happened to indebth reporting that reveal all the corrupted companies and padded pockets? Theyre all afraid of lawsuits!! Just stay out of court at all costs!”
Oh, I don’t know….Carl Werneke has written quite a bit about such problems. What was it? a month os Sundays? Well, every Sunday for a month anyway.
That does i!
I’m going to quit drinking water until all chemicals other than hydrogen and oxygen have been removed.
And if it turns out the air is polluted whatsoever, I’m going to hold my breath until it is all clean.
Interesting that freon is listed as a contaminant when one considers the fact that it is totally inert. That is why it makes it up into the ozone layer. Only ultraviolet rays can cut it apart and the ozon layer filters them out.
and, of course there is uranium in most rocks and radioactive potassium in clay and milk is radioactive and the sun gives burns
I guess I better start holding my breath
Why oh Why didn’t Pnj or Wear3 Bust their chops on this one???
What has happened to indebth reporting that reveal all the corrupted companies and padded pockets? Theyre all afraid of lawsuits!! Just stay out of court at all costs!
Their not worried about the communities health concerns, they are more concerned that you all know where to find the parties!!
They reported several years ago about the bad water in Pensacola before they were taken over by “out of towners”, since then.. not a word!!
My grandson had a brain tumor 8 years ago. We found out that there was a total of 11 in our area. Common denominator the WATER!!!
When I was a kid many years ago, I remember bilboards that stated Pensacola’s water was 99 and 99/100% pure. ( Like Ivory soap. lol ) What happened, I’m sure some people know the real cause however they will never let the truth be known.
Don’t forget we “really” bad air also. A few years ago we ranked in the top 10 of counties with worst air in the US.
THIS IS WHY I HAVE WELL WATER!!!!! this is discusting, thank goodness my children are not being raised on city water!
Hi I am a licensed water treatment plant operator in the Pensacola fla area. I have worked in water treatment for over 30 years. I do not work for ECUA. I will not comment on the quality of ECUA’s water…My comment is for people on board any military installation in pensacola area. NAS has its own water system,
all water for NAS and NTTC comes from deep water wells, when it leaves the water well it passes through a GAC (Granular Activated Carbon absorption unit)
These units remove pretty much everything but the water,The water then travles to the water treatment facility where it passes through a aerator, this removes
oxygen from the water. After leaving the aerator it travels through the injector, where water treatment chemicals are injected.After treatment chemicals are added it travles to a ground storage reservior for distribution to the base.
Licensed operators are on duty 24hrs a day, 7 days a week even christmas or hurricanes, these operators run water quality test every 2 hours, All water produced for the military in the pensacola area is of the highest quality available. A fact for you …. NTTC water system has never gone down, never had to issue a boil water notice in the last 30 years…Even tho during IVAN a radio station was saying that there was a boil water notice….this was incorrect and the were notified of such. So when your on base fill up yer jug and take it home, its GOOD water
Here’s a little more info on who EWG is. FWIW, they may bring up some good info from time to time, but they are agitators for bigger government
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?id=1445
I work in the water industry in central alabama. Environmental working group has an axe to grind. they are involved in twisting these data to scare people for ‘change’. Those contaminants reported are tested for by all utilities, by law and regulation, and have to report them. if they exceed the maximum contaminant level, they have to take action, including public notification. all the info EWG is agitating about is already in the consumer confidence report that the utility must mail to customers every year anyway. Dont be scared by the hype. Call an engineer at ECUA and get the straight scoop. I dont have a dog in this fight, and only occasionally travel to p-cola to visit family, but I’d drink the water in a minute. The polluted rivers have little if anything to do with this. i believe pcola water is treated groundwater. It is much better than bottled water. Esp for the cost. remember: evian is naive spelled backward.
Let’s give em all a raise !
not too long ago, maybe 6 months ago, p’cola news journal published a piece on what a “paradise” pensacola is. i suppose they were trying to lure people to move here. very sad that this neck of the woods was a paradise at one time before the paper mills raped the land of all the old growth forest and polluted the rivers and streams. one can only imagine how people would be trying to flock to this area had not big business ravaged it for profit and left the community with such a mess. disgusting and depressing.
i hope i dont die cause of the water…….
Not surprised, knowing how badly polluted the rivers are on each side of the county. ECUA may be to blame for not doing a better job, but that is a band aid on the real problem which is the source of the chemicals. I remember time and time again how many in the county use to say the paper mill’s foul stench was the smell of money, and didn’t care that the mill completely killed 13 mile creek or was dumping who knows what into the air. That is one example of how we all are responsible to one degree or another. Let a proposal to clean up a certain industry or system be made that effects people’s own cost and the answer is “no”.
I’m just surprised anyone could be shocked by this report.
This explains why I am sterile. I knew it wasnt my fault!
ECUA does not care about people they just want our money I would love to see their faces. We need change what are we going to do? NOTHING and they know it and know they can keep on doing what they want. I lived in town one time and we got in trouble if we left garbage cans out all week (some people understand how gross it is to leave by the road) ECUA does not care if you leave them out though. I can say I will buy a filter tommorow along with alot of other people. How long have people known about this problem? Did our Health Dept know about it? This makes me so sick to think I have always let my children drink this. Babies drink this. What does this do to them? Is this why children seem to have so many mental problems. I wish ECUA was like cable and I could just cancel my service. They need to tell people about the problems.
Bryan Bethea, go to the Environmental Working Group for in-depth info about this study and the complete 100-City ranking list. Yes, Colorado is represented. They also have detailed reports of all the pollutant tests for Escambia for 5 years.
The Pensacola News-Journal has always been at the service of the city’s elite, such as they are. No surprise that they didn’t publish the story immediately. They might be doing some background for a full story – I hope so.
Pensacola’s sad pollution history goes a long way back and continues. I’m afraid it will take an enormous amount of grass roots energy to make any changes at all. The green future looks gray around here.
Lets see. The nations worst water. The officers of ECUA need to be replaced. It is up to the voters to decide whether they want clean drinking water. How much more are we the residents going to take? Until we take control of the situation and quit being complacent then it is we and our children who will suffer.
Let’s be clear here. The study is pointing the finger at ECUA, not the City of Pensacola. The City does not have its own water utility. If the water in Pensacola is truly polluted then the voters are to blame for electing a corrupt, inefficient ECUA board.
I am shocked and angry. I encourage my little kids to drink water all the time and I have had a lifetime of it. Why didn’t ECUA 1) tell us and 2) clean it up? As for the PNJ and local TV, they always seem reluctant to say anything that puts Pensacola in a bad light. HOW ABOUT THE TRUTH?!
It all falls in our need for better money, all the chemical and paper plants in the area.
Along with cresote plants. They all pay great money , but look at what they have done to our way of life that we will live with for quiet sometime. So better start drinking bottled water. All should have seen this coming , those plants are suppose to be regulated for the amount of pollution ,they put out. Sorry, not gonna happen. I’ve worked for all of them and seen the pollution,they put out . So we are alive in the middle of it. Its only just begun. I hate it for our children , bringing in the factory’s to the area was meant to bring in a better way of life for them.
I used to live in Fort Worth. The city is a great place to live, however the water was nasty. We had to filter it to make it drinkable. Honestly, ECUA water is much better!
Not so fast, there Cynical. Pensacola rated right up there with San Diego, Jacksonville, Houston, Riverside, and Las Vegas (to name a few). Look what ‘big city’ amenities they’ll have to offer us!
Oh, I know what it is…if they just had a little more tax revenue (ours) it would’ve been better.
Nope, no consolidation.
Wow, I agree this is horrible. Molino Mom, the PNJ won’t have anything about it until they learn from someone else LOL. Thanks again William for your outstanding work. We appreciate it greatly!!!
“New Pensacola Chamber of Commerce slogan:
Pensacola — Just Like Mexico — Don’t Drink the Water!!”
Molino Mom… Now that’s funny! However on a serious note, ECUA will use this as evidence to ‘tap’ into our water and sell it downtown. And I can’t wait for consolidation pushers to get ahold of this and twist it to their benifit. Like C.C. said, “Vote NO…” on consolidation!!!
I called the Pensacola News Journal to tell of this Yahoo Green Report. The gentleman said 6 or 7 people had already called on this report. I told him I would be shocked to see if the PNJ had the b–ls to report this. And I haven’t seen this in the PNJ either. GOOD REPORTING!!!!!!
There is some doubt to be cast on this study. While I’m not at all saying that Pensacola’s water is not as awful as the authors of the study are claiming, the study results do raise some eyebrows. It claims to measure the water quality in the 100 largest cities in the country. Well, first of all, the entire state of Colorado is missing from the study. Colorado is home to 2 of the largest cities in the USA (Denver and Colorado Springs). Additionally, Palm Beach County is identified as being in California. There is no such place. There is a Palm Beach County, FLORIDA. I suppose that is what the authors meant. Finally, Pensacola is not home to more than 250,000 people. The city has about 57,000 people. If this study is limited to cities with the quarter million mark in population then why is Pensacola even on the list?
I would think such an important story with public health implications such as this one would be given a bit more validation before it was thrown out as fact.
I would suggest taking a look behind the study at who funds the organization who sponsored it. I smell some political opportunism here.
Why all the suprise by readers? What should one expect after years and years of insecticide and herbicide application just from farming cotten, not to mention all the other polluters. water pretty much flows south, so many of the contaminants found in Pensacolas water came from farther north. Here is something that was kept out of the news in the last two years. According to officials from the American Cancer Society, Jay, Fl. has the highest cancer rate in the state of Florida. Me done had cancer one time, don’t care to have it again. Get you the best house filtration money can buy, or go bottled water.
The story was not in the PNJ because the PNJ editor (term used loosely) was too busy belittling Sherrif Morgan because he declined to give them an interview on the 3 or 4 stories they wrote concerning the 16 murders we had in Escambia County. This is just yet ANOTHER example of how poorly Pensacola is managed. Let’s take a look at what Pensacola has to offer:
- High rate of unemployment
- Below average wages for those who are working
- Excessively high violent crime rate
- Nations worst drinking water
- Highly polluted air, rivers and bays
And the best idea the county commissioners could come up with was to build a Maritime Park.
THANK you William! I read an article on Yahoo yesterday, but of course it did not go into detail about each city and what was in the waters. Thank you for going into detail. How scary is this? I bet you money that the home filter business is about to boom in P-cola!
Why have we not heard of this until now…….instead of trying to hide the facts the ECUA should have spent money to clean up this mess!
touting tourism…….
Gee are you just finding out what is going on here.
Nobody who was born and raised here, wants outsiders here.
They don’t want no stinking change.
They don’t want no stinking new money.
The message in this town is if you weren’t born here, GET OUT!
When outsiders come in here and start a business the first thing
that happens is the county offices start harrassing them.
I know of someone who bought a resturant across town that
had been there for forever with no problem from the county.
But the minute he bought it, the county came in and said it
had rats and closed it down! I know another business that
opened and I was going to use it, but the day I went the county
man was there harrassing him. A friend of mine started a
beauty shop and bingo, here came the county telling her she
needed a veriance for her parking. I may have that spelled wrong,
but I know what that is, and she didn’t need it.
My bug man told me the outsiders don’t need to come here, because
nobody is going to give them a job!
One of the police officers here told me, they don’t want us here because
they hunted these woods all their lives and they don’t want anybody else
in here building things and cutting down their woods or putting up
no trespassing signs. He said that when they tried to put in blue angel
and all the subdiviisions on it, that he and his family and all the neighbors,
and half the town went out and pulled all the stakes every night so
it was a nightmare for the contractor. He laughed about it, And the
fact that ppl where coming on my property in the dead of night with
guns and hunting illegally and out of season for deer.
As soon as my house sells I’m out of here, good buy stinking town.
Drink your own water!
In molino and cantonment, there is a packed which I feel is probably
also in pensacola. If their outsiders, Dont give them a job!
If they start a business harrasse them and dont give them business.
I used to do a lot of charity work here, but not anymore.
IF they don’t like us, their not getting our money.
This town doesn’t want change, and they don’t want to spend money,
so everything here goes to crap.
They don’t even care about their own. I have no doubt the powers that
be knew there was water problems, but they don’t care about anyone.
Let big business polute the water, who cares.
My question is this….why hasn’t anyone done anything about this? The study was conducted from 2004-2009….that was plenty enough time to clean up this situation.
This story was not in today’s Pensacola News Journal. It was not pro-Pensacola, pro-strong Mayor or pro-Maritime Park, so they ignored it. Or just plain missed it, even though it was on the national news on Yahoo.
New Pensacola Chamber of Commerce slogan:
Pensacola — Just Like Mexico — Don’t Drink the Water!!
This is pathetic. Pensacola beautiful beaches but deadly water and we are not talking about the ocean. So now you have to worry about dangerous chemicals when drinking the water you still have to worry about fishing in the bayous and playing in the ocean. The crime rate I know has gone up tremendously since we
moved here. The cost of living here shot up before the recession so don’t let anyone fool you on that point. This is basically a city that wants to grow but the old money is holding it back to what they feel it should be. Unless you are a doctor or lawyer the only jobs in abundance are waitress or sales clerk. Move to Charleston, SC.
Some heads need to roll over this one, and quickly!
wow.
speechless
So let’s just jump right on that consolodation idea…NOT!!!!!!!! Vote NO…