The recent wave of lawsuits seeking to hold water providers liable for damages from health problems attributed to contaminants in drinking water raises the specter of yet another nascent upward pressure on water rates at a time when many utilities are fighting for funds to comply with tougher new Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements and to upgrade security systems and aging infrastructure. Long bypassed by such litigation in
favor of the deeper pockets of corporate
sources of suspect environmental
toxins, suppliers of public drinking
water, both public agencies and private
companies, are increasingly being targeted
as potentially paying parties for claimed
losses associated with incidences of cancer,
miscarriages, birth problems, and other
maladies.
This article examines several such cases
that have arisen in California, New Jersey,
Virginia, and Texas. No two cases are alike
other than putting water utilities in a new
and potentially very expensive legal arena.
Includes figure.
| Edition : | Vol. 94 - No. 4 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 300 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 9 |
| Published : | 04/01/2002 |
