A week after Helene hit, thousands still without water struggle to find enough

A week after Helene hit, thousands still without water struggle to find enough

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Helene severely damaged drinking water utilities in the Southeast. Western North Carolina was especially hard hit. Flooding tore through the city of Asheville’s water system, destroying so much infrastructure that officials said repairs could take weeks. The Environmental Protection Agency said that, as of Thursday, about 136,000 people in the Southeast were served by a nonoperational water provider and more than 1.8 million were living under a boil water advisory. Officials in North Carolina are facing a difficult rebuilding task made harder by the steep, narrow valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains that during a more typical October would attract throngs of fall tourists.… Continue Reading

Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge says

Fluoride in drinking water poses enough risk to merit new EPA action, judge says

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen cautioned that it’s not certain that the amount of fluoride typically added to water is causing lower IQ in kids. But he concluded that mounting research points to an unreasonable risk that it could be. He ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be. The agency says it is reviewing the decision.… Continue Reading

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