Preventing Chemical Spills Crucial For Safe Water, Senate Subcommittee Told

摘要

Preventing chemical spills near sources of drinking water and taking other measures to protect source water are the most important aspects of providing safe drinking water, a water utility official told a Senate subcommittee Feb. 4. "The best thing we can do-and where the greatest focus ought to be placed-is keeping harmful chemical contaminants out of the water altogether," Brent Few-ell, chief environmental compliance officer of United Water, testified before the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife. The subcommittee held a hearing to examine the safety and security of drinking water supplies following the Jan. 9 leak of thousands of gallons of crude 4-Methylcyclohexene methanol (MCHM) into the Elk River near Charleston, W.Va.