August 2, 1999

Poison in our drinking water?

A government study out of Utah is raising concern about the safety of the water supply. The culprit is arsenic.

As News Specialist Jed Boal reports, this research could have far reaching effects.

It looks cool and clean, but the federal government says what's inside a glass of water could kill you over time--low levels of arsenic causing heart disease, kidney cancer, and now we learn prostate cancer.

The Environmental Protection Agency just released a study of arsenic in the drinking water near Delta, Utah, in Millard County.

The poisonous heavy metal bubbles out of the ground there through wells and streams.

Kevin Brown/Utah Environmental Quality: "THE STUDY CORRELATES SOME HEALTH DESEASES RELATING TO HEART AND CANCER WITH ARSENIC LEVELS IN THE DRINKING WATER."

Jacki Johnson/Drinks Arsenic-laced Water: "DOES IT REALLY MAKE ME REALLY WORRIED? IT DOES MAKE ME WONDER, YOU KNOW, WHAT WHAT ELSE WE WOULD DO? I DON'T KNOW IF THEY CAN TAKE THE ARSENIC OUT.

Many local residents say they don't believe the study, which used old L.D.S. Church registries and old water records tracing families back many generations.

Ken Talbot/Mayor of Hinckley: "I BELIEVE THERE'S PROBABLY ARSENIC IN THE WATER. BUT, UH, AS FAR AS TO A HEALTH HAZARD OR ISSUE, I THINK IT'S BOGUS."

Jed Boal/Eyewitness News: "BECAUSE OF THE UTAH STUDY AND A MANDATE FROM CONGRESS, THE EPA IS GOING TO TIGHTEN ARSENIC REGULATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY. BUT THAT WILL TAKE MONTHS OR YEARS. IN THE MEANTIME, THE WATER YOU'RE DRINKING, PARTICULARLY IF YOU LIVE IN A SMALL COMMUNITY, COULD BE A HEALTH HAZARD."

The EPA has shut down water sources with arsenic since the 1980's. But some communities drink water just as contaminated as it is in Millard County, Utah.