Puerto Ricans Drinking Water From Hazardous Waste Site
It’s been more than three weeks since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico – and more than 35% of residents remain without safe drinking water.
However, some residents are getting water from unsafe sources.
CNN reported that water is being pumped from a federally designated hazardous-waste site, after reviewing Superfund documents and interviewing federal and local officials.
CNN watched workers from the Puerto Rican water utility, Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, or AAA, distribute water from a well at the Dorado Groundwater Contamination Site, which was listed in 2016 as part of the federal Superfund program for hazardous waste cleanup.
However, a resident, Jose Luiz Rodriguez, told CNN he is so desperate for water that this news didn’t startle him.
“I don’t have a choice,” he said to CNN. “This is the only option I have.”
In addition to the Superfund site, the US Environmental Protection Agency says the area was polluted with industrial chemicals, including tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene.
This pollution “can have serious health impacts including damage to the liver and increasing the risk of cancer,” according to the EPA.
The EPA said it plans to do testing in the area over the weekend.
