Last night I went to the mailbox, and found this notice...

Town & Country Service Co., Inc. is currently in violation of the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for haloacetic acids five (HAA5) as set forth by the State (Part XII of the Louisiana State Sanitary Code (LAC 51:XII) and the Federal Primary Drinking Water Regulations (40 CFR Part 141).

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an the Louisiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals (LDHH) set drinking water standards that require the disinfection of drinking water. Where disinfection is used in the treatment of drinking water, disinfectants combine with naturally occurring organic an inorganic matter present i the water to form chemicals called disinfection byproducts (DBPs). EPA and LDHH set standards for controlling the levels of disinfectants and DBPs in drinking water. including trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic (HAAs). Some people who drink water containing HAAs in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer.

In December 1998, EPA ser enforceable drinking water standards for TTHMs at 80 parts per billion (ppb) and for HAA5 at 60 parts per billion (ppb) to reduce the risk of cancer or other adverse health effects. Compliance with the TTHM and HAA5 standards for public water systems serving less than 10,000 individuals initially became effective and enforceable on January 1, 2004. Compliance with the TTHM and HAA5 standards are determined by calculating a running annual average (RAA) of quarterly TTHM/HAA5 sample results. Compliance calculations performed during the third calendar of 2007 show that the system's HAA5 RAA was 65ppb. Compliance calculations performed during the fourth calendar quarter of 2007 show that the system's current HAA5 RAA is 61 ppb, this, the system is currently in violation of the HAA5 standard.

Please share this information with all other people who drink the water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

Town & Country Service Co., Inc. purchases its water from the City of Monroe.

What the fuck????

I now am on a task to make sure this is taken care of.....

Gawds I do live in a third-world country!

Although I am in Oz, and that letter explains alot of HHAA's and TTHM"s hehe, That is gobsmacking!. Good on ya Lady E for pursing this. You Go Girl;friend! That's disgraceful..

Asi xx

Ah, LE - you live in Fun-roe too =)

If this is the first time you've received such a message, you're lucky. I have a friend who has lived in the Baucomville area of West Monroe for most of his life, and he gets them every few months - has been for years. My grandmother has gotten a few recently, too, and I think one was just mailed to my apartment complex not that long ago.

I don't drink tap water anymore. We even cook with bottled water. I live close to Bayou Desiard, and on that note, I'm convinced that all the water on the ULM campus comes from and ends up in that bayou ^^;

If you get anywhere on this, please let me know. I have a couple friends also concerned about the enviornment - we are hoping to get a recycling initiative started and plan on a few green-friendly activities this coming Spring - and while I can't speak for all of them, if you can get any headway in this matter, I think we would all be willing to back you up. Nobody wants to be drinking the yellow runoff that gets pumped through our kitchen faucets.

Hello Krissychan,

I will defintely keep you in mind, and you living here makes it very nice. I placed the letter on the News-Star paper forum, and it was looked upon very strangely in my opinion. NO one seemed to give a rat's ass that they were TRULY getting poisoned. As you know there are alot of chrinic ummunity diseases down here...Chrons disease is just one I have seen a multitide of cases in, also many degenerative diseases of the bones and joints....these are the results of the polluted water and air that is accepted as normal every day here. Making change in this social climate is almost impossible. I would enjoy any assistance and help that you and your friends could provide.


It is truly horrifiying that no one has taken action on this VERY serious issue to public health and the future of our very OWN lives.

Blessings Bright and Dark,

lalala

That most folks when it comes to things like this!

Shame on the gov't!

Welcome to my third world country,  

Sundown

Edit to add:
LE, give me a call, I have the name and number of someone you may want to speak with. Usually they send required notices to let you know of potential problems, this one seems to be a notice of violation. The water system did their part, the city of Monroe fell down. I won't say anymore here but give me a call and I will fill you in. Remember who I work for, LOL.

Sundown

Sorry I cant help but laugh....this is soooo demented. I live in BF Nebraska for 2 years back in the early 90's and we once got a warning notice about our water being so jacked up we werent supposed to drink it ....we had 2 little kids then....and the stuff in it was so bad it was considered poisonous....the problem is they sent the notice 2 full months AFTER the problem occured....good thing my kids never drank tap water....even then it was either juices, sodas or bottled water...
Still we used it for boiling stuff that we ate and bathing in etc which cannot be good for you either, since you do absorb things thru your skin even if it is more slowly absorbed that way.
And of course the agencies involved will never accept any responsiblity for their actions, or rather inaction.

 Lady E...that is scary.  The state of things today scares the ever living shite out of me.  At school in our nutrition class, we have been looking at the nutrient content of soil, and how due to our poor farming methods, we are literally destroying the nutrients in our earth, and hence our produce in turn has less nutritional value.  I cannot wait until I have the financial means to buy my own slice of country out in the middle of nowhere, where I can grow my own fruits and veg and take care of my family. Sadly, society in general really makes me want to  (runaway) Best of luck with this!

A