Hydronarratives: The Confluence of Water and Environmental Justice

Who is at risk? What is the risk? Who is overseeing the risk itself?

The well being of Americans rely on the Government for a myriad of reasons. Not just by keeping us out of wars or by cutting crime rate by whatever means. Instead, there are plenty of government agencies in charge of monitoring, measuring, regulating, and lawmaking public service programs. Among these agencies are ones tasked with the aforementioned for the nation’s drinking water. To make sure that the government agency is doing their job well, they’re held to a standard by… another government agency. Unfortunately though, they aren’t being held to a “golden” standard as much as a “lead” standard. Since it’s the government holding the government responsible for any violations, and everybody is friends with each other, the problem won't fix itself. Many US citizens experience health risks due to corner cutting and a lack of formal recognition. The EPA website itself said that 25% of PWSs (Public Water Systems) reported a level of lithium above the legal limit. It’s a concerning statistic. Lithium and other PFAS are proven to have negative health effects on people who consume them in large quantities. Despite the flaw and acceptance of it, no substantial change takes place.

Furthermore, to illustrate the impact that one contamination disaster has on Americans, we have to look at how many people rely on any given Public Water Systems. In Pennsylvania for example, the main public water system has more than eight hundred thousand people relying on it for water.

It’s a substantial proportion of the total state’s population of around thirteen million people. The problem is that too many people are at risk, concentrated to one water treatment center, all equally susceptible to contamination when disaster inevitably strikes naturally or by way of human error.

(The following StoryMap will be based in the depicted Allegheny County, western PA. It is dark blue in this image.)

If we take this a step further, we can narrow down the data of demographics that usually get hit the hardest by crises of this sort. Typically, these disasters happen in low income communities, and to make matters worse, they're less able to pay for legal or medical provisions for themselves. But taking it even a step further, there's evidence that the issues are not treated as seriously when concentrated to communities of racial minorities.  “Low-income and minority communities often face disproportionate burdens of exposure to contamination sources and environmental pollution, and associations with race and ethnicity persist even after accounting for differences in income”. It's clear that not everything is being done for the safety of Americans if all of us aren't even getting the same treatment. A large factor of exposure to water toxins is one's location relative to a PWS, but that doesn't account for the lack of reparations or even acknowledgement. 

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