Government's Budget Deal May Defund Clean Water Programs

Care2 (4/17, Braun) reports that clean water protections are being weakened in the budget deal between Republicans and President Obama, as a "whopping $997 million was slashed from the EPA's programs for clean and safe drinking water." This comes as an unfortunate time as, "Experts share deepening concern over our ability to maintain a clean water supply. Recent studies on newly-detected contaminants, such as prescription and over-the-counter drugs, along with the budget cuts, only increase that concern." Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the nonprofit Food and Water Watch, warns, "The ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to help municipalities deliver clean water to US citizens has been seriously threatened with cuts to the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, the mechanism by which the federal government dispenses funds for the upkeep of our tap water and sewerage systems."

Read more: http://bit.ly/f1sRGO