Once contaminated, groundwater is difficult, often impossible to purify. People from Riverhead, Long Island to Ridgewood, New Jersey have lost wells because of gasoline contamination. To attack groundwater contamination, EPA established standards for u nderground storage tanks . Gas stations and other affected businesses were given ten years to upgrade or remove tanks. Agricultural runoff affects 70 percent of our rivers and streams.
Pollutants also flow off streets and parking lots, lawns and golf courses.
EPA is working with the states to create plans to better control run-off pollution. As good as today's water treatment technology is, it still has limits. Surface water is vulnerable to many types of contamination, from road spills to septic tank overflows. As development in a watershed increases, the quality of its water invariably worsens. Boston and Atlanta have both abandoned reservoirs because development-related pollution surpassed the limits of treatment technology.