Lee Hendrickson
It is well known that clean drinking water is crucial for survival. However, too often greedy and short sighted corporations cause unsafe water pollution, which affects countless lives. Many people throughout the country–as well as the environment—are still experiencing adverse effects due to water contamination.
From 1953 to 1987, workers and their families were exposed to contaminated drinking water at the Marine Corps base in Jacksonville, NC. Many later experienced many adverse health effects including cancers, infertility and miscarriages. In 2022, President Biden signed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act into law for victims to file claims for financial compensation. However, many still have not filed, or are awaiting the outcome of their claim.
Since 2014, the drinking water in Flint, Michigan has contained dangerous levels of lead and the carcinogenic contaminant TTHM due to leaching from corroded pipes. This has led to the third-largest outbreak of Legionnaires Disease in US history, as well as other illnesses. While the city has moved to other sources for water, many residents still lack clean water to drink decades later.
This water crisis shot into the public eye due to the 2000 movie Erin Brokovich, which recounted the town’s successful lawsuit which awarded them the largest settlement from PG&E in history. Wastewater from their facility contaminated the city’s drinking water with the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, which can cause lung cancer and other issues. While the cleanup is still underway, the residents have moved from the town, and houses have been bulldozed to prevent squatters.
One of the earliest water contamination lawsuits in US history was filed in 1906. The state of Illinois to reverse the flow of a river to the Mississippi, which then turned into a dumping ground for raw sewage. The state of Missouri filed suit claiming it was contaminating the water as far away as St. Louis. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court ruled that Missouri did not provide enough evidence regarding the source of their polluted water.
Exxon Valdez was the name of the oil tanker that collided with a reef near Prince William Sound off the coast of Alaska in 1989. Over 38 million gallons of crude oil spilled in the ocean due to the wreck, some of which is still there to this day. This environmental disaster led to the passage of the Oil Pollution Act in 1990, prohibiting vessels that have previously caused spills from passing through and further polluting the area.
It came to the attention of the public in the 1970s that the town of Woburn had an usually high rate of childhood leukemia and other cancers. Further investigation revealed that their drinking water was contaminated with the industrial solvents TCE and PCE that were dumped in the surface and drinking water by two nearby corporations. Lawsuits were filed against these companies in 1982, but they only ended up paying a small fine. However, their facilities were closed and the town now has clean water.
In 2010, an explosion on British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana caused the death of several crew members and dislodged the rig, allowing oil from the well to vent directly into the sea. It took 87 days to cap the well, in which time millions of gallons of oil had seeped into the ocean, causing severe damage to marine life. To this day, it remains the largest marine oil spill in history, and it is unclear if the oil will ever be able to be fully cleaned up.
Another ongoing water contamination crisis is still occurring in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In the 1940s and 1950s, General Mills was dumping the industrial solvent Trichloroethylene (TCE) in the water and soil. In 2013, the state released statements that the chemical could be found in the ground, water, and homes of residents. Prolonged exposure to the chemical can lead to cancer and birth defects, and the cleanup and monitoring is still underway.
