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Quick Research Notes and Legislative Developments

Drugs in Drinking Water

Pharmaceuticals in drinking water continues to be a hot research topic and area of health concern. Researchers recently published an article in Groundwater magazine documenting the discharge of measurable levels of pharmaceuticals in waste water from a school septic system and the migration of these drugs to an aquifer used as a drinking water supply. This is not the first time such contaminant migration has been documented as this research helps continue the much needed discussion of how we assure a safe water supply.

The implications are significant. The health effects associated with ingestion of pharmaceuticals on a regular basis are not well understood due in part to the myriad pharmaceuticals in the water supply. Further, though water supply systems are regularly tested, the type of test being conducted does not generally include pharmaceuticals and therefore the concentration of these drugs and compounds in the water supply is not well understood. The drugs may be present but we are not seeing them because we are not looking for them.

Residential Heating Oil Releases

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the Licensed Site Professional Association and others continue to wrestle with ways to provide relief to homeowners who have had accidental releases of fuel oil at their properties. The LSPA is compiling the results of a survey of response action costs associated with residential fuel oil releases and the MADEP is evaluating expansion of the regulatory relief provisions for homeowners who face response action costs subject to the Massachusetts Contingency Plan.