Tue, 19 Apr 1994

stopper:

Heading: 14 Optima Bold

Polluted run-off spoils water

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuter): Pretty soon guidebooks could warn visitors to the United States not to drink the water, unless congressional action is immediately taken, information provided by environmental groups suggested Thursday.

Polluted run-off continues to contaminate U.S. drinking water and the Sierra Club and National Resources Defense Council called on Congress to pass measures ending this type of pollution, two environmental groups said Thursday.

"The good news is we can prevent polluted run-off. The tools exist ... the bad news is these tools are rusting from lack of use," the groups said at a news conference. They called for more stringent measures to be included in the Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Acts.

In their report "Danger on Tap," activists said the laws, due to be revised this year, should force landowners to reduce pollutants in runoff and fund programs to clean up already polluted waters.

Between 1986 and 1992, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a total of 102 drinking water disease outbreaks that struck 34,155 people in 35 states.