Spring Break
Don't drink the water
Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: Opinion
Colorado is well-known for its wonderfully tasty drinking water, so much so that companies like Budweiser and Coors have dug their golden roots into the Front Range.
Maybe it's because we're the first state on the Continental Divide, a status that eliminates the middleman in the cloud-to -river-to-faucet diagram.
Or maybe it's the rich minerals collecting in those fresh, bubbly, white-water streams flowing down the mountain.
Or maybe it's because you're higher than a kite.
Ironically, on the day that hundreds of munchie-grubbing, cotton-mouthed Boulderites smoked-up the CU-Boulder Norlin Quad, the Associated Press reported that another type of drug is being dumped into America's water supply.
U.S. manufacturers, including drugmakers, have legally dumped 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into what the AP called "waterways that often provide drinking water."
And the federal government isn't really keeping tabs on these companies.
The FDA claims their agency is not responsible for any waste from factories, while the EPA seems to be avoiding the question.
EPA acting assistant administrator for water Mike Shapiro told the AP, "Pharmaceuticals get into water in many ways," including human and animal waste and flushing drugs down the toilet.
But scapegoating this problem sets a dangerous precedent.
Studies show pharmaceutical-laced waters not only cause harm to the wildlife like fish and frogs, but scientists have also seen reactions in human tissue.
And the federal government subsidizes these drug companies, so you'd think they'd be wrapped up in bureaucratic red tape.
We expect more from companies who set out to cure health issues, not create them.
Maybe it's because we're the first state on the Continental Divide, a status that eliminates the middleman in the cloud-to -river-to-faucet diagram.
Or maybe it's the rich minerals collecting in those fresh, bubbly, white-water streams flowing down the mountain.
Or maybe it's because you're higher than a kite.
Ironically, on the day that hundreds of munchie-grubbing, cotton-mouthed Boulderites smoked-up the CU-Boulder Norlin Quad, the Associated Press reported that another type of drug is being dumped into America's water supply.
U.S. manufacturers, including drugmakers, have legally dumped 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into what the AP called "waterways that often provide drinking water."
And the federal government isn't really keeping tabs on these companies.
The FDA claims their agency is not responsible for any waste from factories, while the EPA seems to be avoiding the question.
EPA acting assistant administrator for water Mike Shapiro told the AP, "Pharmaceuticals get into water in many ways," including human and animal waste and flushing drugs down the toilet.
But scapegoating this problem sets a dangerous precedent.
Studies show pharmaceutical-laced waters not only cause harm to the wildlife like fish and frogs, but scientists have also seen reactions in human tissue.
And the federal government subsidizes these drug companies, so you'd think they'd be wrapped up in bureaucratic red tape.
We expect more from companies who set out to cure health issues, not create them.
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