Rural Community Assistance Partnership

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ground water

ProPublica: Poisoning the well: How the Feds let industry pollute the nation's underground water supply

Posted Wed, 2012/12/12 - 3:09pm by RCAP

by Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica, Dec. 11, 2012

Federal officials have given energy and mining companies permission to pollute aquifers in more than 1,500 places across the country, releasing toxic material into underground reservoirs that help supply more than half of the nation's drinking water.

In many cases, the Environmental Protection Agency has granted these so-called aquifer exemptions in Western states now stricken by drought and increasingly desperate for water.

Protecting groundwater protects public health, the environment

Posted Thu, 2012/09/06 - 9:21am by RCAP

RCAP encourages the public to protect public health and the health of the environment by protecting groundwater beginning on Protect Your Groundwater Day, Sept. 11.

In the United States, 88 million Americans rely on groundwater-supplied community water systems, while another 42 million Americans rely on individual household water wells.

Political wrestling over fracking in Pennsylvania

Posted Tue, 2012/07/03 - 9:22am by RCAP

From iWatch News by The Center for Public Integrity:

Local leaders sue for right to control location of gas wells

When Pennsylvania passed a state law that stripped local authority over where potentially hazardous natural gas wells could be drilled, cities and townships decided to take matters into their own hands.