The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a new national strategy to enforce safe drinking water laws in small, rural communities on Tuesday and pledged to redouble efforts to protect children from toxic water in schools. The announcement came during a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held to examine reports of widespread water contamination and unsafe levels of lead and other toxics flowing through the pipes at thousands of U.S. schools. As part of the new approach, EPA officials said the agency would pay particular attention to chronic violators and said in some cases they would ask small water systems to restructure or merge to improve their safety records. The hearing followed an Associated Press investigation showing that roughly one in five schools with their own wells violated the Safe Drinking Water Act in the past decade, a problem that until now has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government.

To view the full article, visit the New York Times. For a copy of the original article contact the WIP at (970) 247-1302 or stop by the office at 841 East Second Avenue in Durango.