Municipal Ground Water Contamination in Massachusetts: The Case for Wellhead Protection in Humid Regions

摘要

Investigation of municipal ground water contamination problems in Massachusetts reveals a wide array of approaches to reducing the problem. Generally, strategies of prevention (usually socio-political) were much more cost-effective than clean-up (usually engineering solutions). Degree of success of preventive strategies is difficult to predict because of individual case differences. Unresolved tensions between levels of government exist with respect to appropriate roles in reducing problems of ground water contamination. The most difficult institutional problem is the need for local action to solve local ground water problems. Local agencies often lack both the impersonalism and breadth of expertise to solve such problems. Many of the 'friends and neighbors' types of local enforcement problems can be overcome by impersonal federal and state intervention. Massachusetts has achieved substantial success in controlling local ground water contamination with imaginative state programs administered by generally dedicated environmental agencies.