3/26/2025
WT Staff
 Knowledge of an environmental crime? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email info@wtny.us
March 26, 2025 329 pm EDT
SDWA CrimeBox
Historic Conviction Fiscal Year 2023; Case ID# CR_3444(Iowa)
Don't say you did when you didn't
Iowa's one and only criminal conviction under the Safe Drinking Water Act
Clean, safe drinking water is a fundamental human right. Drinking water facility operators are skilled technicians that take pride in their work, required to complete ongoing training to maintain certification. Public trust in safe drinking water is a serious subject with terrible consequences if things go wrong.
Water-borne illness
Consider the Father of Epidemiology, Dr. John Snow, who in the mid-1800s marked up a London street map with black ticks for each mystery illness resulting in death, by household. As more and more homes experienced the loss of beloved mothers, fathers and children, the marks on Dr. Snow's map clustered around the local drinking water well. The prevailing theory, miasma, held that illnesses came in the air. Dr. Snow considered the possibility that water could be the source of this deadly outbreak. Queen Victoria acted swiftly on Snow's recommendation, authorizing the immediate removal of the pump handle on the Broad Street well.
Testing to validate water quality has since been a central factor to ensure safety of public drinking water. When test results are falsified, the responsible party can be charged criminally. See the last SDWA CrimeBox, the link is below this article.
Nashua, Iowa 2023
The defendant in this case was the operator-in-charge of the Nashua Water Supply in Iowa. The water operator deliberately misled the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as to the disinfection and sanitation status of finished water distributed to approximately 1550 residents. The defendant submitted daily chlorine concentration numbers as required for SDWA compliance. Upon investigation, it was found the chlorine tests had not been done at all. The finished water may have been adequately disinfected, however, no one knows for sure. Failure to follow through with the daily testing protocol exposed Nashua residents to a health risk they did not know they were taking.
Death in the water
Backtrack to the spring of 2000 to consider the harm when public drinking water is not properly tested and managed for safety. In the Canadian town of Walkerton, ON, dozens of children were absent from school, with more children home sick as each day passed. Emergency room visits at area hospitals indicated an e.coli outbreak. A litany of errors contributed to no corrective action taken for several days following a lab test indicating microbiological contamination in the local water supply. By the time a Boil Water Advisory was issued, half the community of 5000 was already ill. The water plant operators were eventually charged. Six people died as a result of the collective failure in Walkerton, including inconsistent testing, mislabeling samples, falsifying reports and ignorance of the danger posed by e.coli.
Sentencing the water operator, 2023
In the Nashua, Iowa case, the operator got away with a slap on the wrist for falsifying daily chlorine levels. Fortunately, the failure to perform the daily tests did not align with a contamination event, no harm to the public. Total fines and restitution work out to 56 cents per resident exposed to the risk.
Federal Fine: $500; Restitution: $270; Special Assessment: $100; Probation: 12 months
See last week's CrimeBox here, "Achieve criminal status: offer falsified water analysis to residents in your mobile home park"
SDWA CrimeBox briefs are compiled from EPA Criminal Enforcement records.
|
|
|
