Representing Nebraska's Second District Copper Levels in Nebraska Drinking Water February 2000 Environmental issues are difficult to legislate because a large, bureaucratic federal government is not equipped to meet the needs of individual communities.
Big government is in our backyards again, and in our kitchen sinks, too.
While studies have detected no copper in our groundwater systems, the EPA has begun to take action against copper in drinking water as a result of copper pipes. The EPA's attempts to prematurely enforce arbitrary standards on Nebraska communities concern me for a number of reasons. The potential million-dollar cost of municipal projects to replace copper pipes in drinking water systems does more than place a burden on taxpayers, it also serves as an example of another federal government mandate that will drain the financial resources of small communities. Federal efforts to widely enforce the copper action level are premature in light of the plan agreed to by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services which would implement a three-tier program according to specific sampling for water copper levels. To proceed with an action plan before the completion of this study would not be sensible because we currently have little information on what constitutes an unsafe level of copper.