Mayor Phil Odom recently sent letters to about 50 municipalities in the state asking them to join an effort to lobby the U.S. Congress to change the rule established by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Numbers do make a difference.
Last month, the state Department of Health and Human Services issued administrative orders to 62 communities, subdivisions and institutions to treat their water supply in order to reduce copper levels. Tests done in Hastings homes showed copper levels slightly above the EPA's limit of 1.3 milligrams per liter, or 1.3 parts per million. EPA says the limit is prudent and necessary to prevent ill health effects in individuals sensitive to copper. Local officials say the limit is not based on sound science. Two unpublished studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control showed copper at levels found in Hastings had no ill health effects.