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Lawmakers Consider Bill To Limit Health Advisories On Drinking Water

A Duke Energy power plant and coal ash ponds outside Asheville.
Zen Sutherland
/
Flickr / www.flickr.com/photos/zen/1796555301/

Committees in the state House and Senate are weighing a measure that would prevent state agencies from issuing certain health warnings on drinking water.

The bill prohibits regulators from sending out health advisories unless the contaminants in the water violate federal standards, even if state officials think the levels are unsafe. 

The proposal comes after two state agencies disagreed about whether private well water near coal ash ponds is safe for consumption. Supporters say the bill clears up confusion, but opponents say it puts the public at risk. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with Frank Taylor, managing editor of Carolina Public Press, about the proposal.

Will Michaels is WUNC's Weekend Host and Reporter.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.