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In the Western
suburbs of Milwaukee, Waukesha County faces a more acute
problem. Groundwater from wells 900 feet deep, contain
high concentrations of Radium. Federal drinking water
standards require compliance in 2003, so because of
a water quality issue, Waukesha faces a water quantity
crisis. This is not solely a drinking water issue, Radium
is absorbed by the respiratory system so even in homes
with bottled or carbon filtered drinking water, the
bathroom shower provides a means of direct exposure.
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www.motherjones.com
www.jsonline.com
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| Waukesha
County's abundance of former agricultural land has provided
the foundation for unprecedented construction of new housing
and all of the businesses, and services that follow that
growth. Demand for water here has also stressed the aquifer
that supplies the many residences supported by shallow
wells. These huge homes, on generous lots, could be worth
a fraction of their current value if groundwater quantity
issues are not satisfactorily addressed. |
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| James
T. Krohelski, Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey |
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| "In
areas of high groundwater use, for example Southeast Wisconsin,
or the lower Fox River Valley up by Green Bay, there are
too many wells, pumping at too high a rate, too close
together. This is what creates our water quantity problems.
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| Jonas
(continued) |
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| "Even
though there is plenty of Water in the State of Wisconsin,
there are some areas that are having issues related to
quantity, simply because they aren't able to access water
as quickly as they need it." |
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| Groundwater
quality concerns are not limited to radium here. Mercury
is found in high concentrations in both surface and groundwater
all over the nation. Emissions from coal burning power
plants are carried by rain from the skies. Dioxins and
PCB's remain from industrial dumping decades past, and
long ago recognized as carcinogens. Only lately have other
properties of Dioxin been discovered. It is among a new
class of pollutants being studied as endochrine disruptors.
An agricultural herbicide, Atrazine is also one of the
compounds that are found to have widespread effects on
the State's waters. |
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www.wienvdecade.org
www.tu.org
www.cbemw.org
www.ngwa.org
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Charlotte
Anderson Smith, President PharmEcology Associates, LLC
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Environmental
Consultation to the Healthcare Industry |
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"There
are chemicals that are endocrine disruptors, which in
very, very small, minute doses can cause tremendous impact
on the developing fetus, and also in the newborn. And
in the Great Lakes here, women eating fish from the Great
Lakes, we're now finding have tremendous contaminants
in their bodies, and these can be passes on, both to the
fetus and through breast milk, and we're seeing tremendous
impacts on sexual development, perhaps some indications
in terms of hyperactivity, rage response, attention deficit
syndrome, all some even behavioral changes that we never
really associated with potentially, very, very minute
amounts of chemicals." |
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