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One Month After Katrina, Water Facilities Remain Inoperable, EPA Official Says

Posted on: Friday, 30 September 2005, 12:00 CDT

By Brian P. Nanos, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Sep. 30--WASHINGTON -- One month after Hurricane Katrina struck Mississippi, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that facilities that provide 2.3 million people with drinking water and that treat wastewater for 1.8 million people are still inoperable, a top EPA official said Thursday.

Marcus Peacock told a House subcommittee investigating the environmental impacts of the hurricane that about 20 percent of drinking water systems and 10 percent of wastewater facilities remain out of commission. He said the EPA has placed mobile labs in Mississippi and Louisiana to provide water testing.

"It's not the sexiest hearing, but I think it's one of the most important hearings," said Committee Chair Joe Barton, R-Texas.

Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre submitted written testimony with Pontotoc Mayor William Rutledge, but did not appear before the committee.

Testifying via teleconference on behalf of the National Rural Water Association, Rutledge cited Bay St. Louis as an example of the effects Katrina had on Coast communities.

Rutledge said the water system in Bay St. Louis is back up and working. However, local city officials are still telling people to boil their drinking water because they believe the system to be fragile and prone to leaks, he said.

Rutledge called on the committee to get Congress to provide technical assistance and equipment. He said environmental regulation would be neither required nor appropriate.

"Communities know the water is not safe long before it is declared not in compliance, and no one wants to restore safe water more than the local officials," he said. "We don't need someone to tell us we must comply, but rather we need the help and know-how to fix the problem."

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.)

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