Pollution exceeded federal safe drinking water standards in twenty percent of these wells.
Nitrate pollution is caused by fertilizers, septic tanks and animal wastes.
Excessive nitrates in drinking water are known to cause Blue Baby Syndrome and have been associated with spontaneous abortions and elevated risks of cancer. The public has been kept totally in the dark about this problem, said Lana Pollack, MEC President. State government should be notifying communities where nitrates are a problem. The State should be replacing contaminated drinking water and undertaking prevention measures. MEC s extrapolation from this data indicates that there are nearly 100,000 households with nitrate contamination in their drinking water.