Barre, Vermont was recently affected by tropical storm Irene and had to deal with contaminated floodwater. It has been a weird season for weather; hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes and violent wind storms have rocked the country. There never seemed to be an end in sight to the dismal, and often deadly, forecasts. All of these events thrown at us by Mother Nature caused more than just power disruptions,... 

We already know that there are at least 2,100 contaminants in our drinking water. This is what we drink out of the tap in our kitchens and bathrooms, and sometimes outside from the hose in the yard. The horrid list of contaminants would knock your socks off it you took the time to track down all the crud that is in our supposedly safe drinking water. What adds even further insult is that we pay to... 

Water comes in many forms, but if it tastes odd and is gritty, there is something seriously wrong. Do not drink it. The next time you go to the tap for a drink of water, take a minute and think about what you are about to put into your body. Do you really know what is in the water you drink? Do you know there are more than 2,100 pollutants in today’s water, most of which cannot be filtered out at... 

You might not see blue-green algae in your water from the tap, but you can smell it. You definitely do not want to drink it as many forms of blue-green algae are toxic. This can kill humans and animals. So if a town’s water source is contaminated with toxic blue green algae, who in their right mind would be drinking it? The answer to that would be likely no one. Who could even get past the smell?... 

Groundwater is the source of supposedly fresh drinking water for millions of families across America. Families count on rain, sleet, hail and snow to replenish the groundwater and rejoice in knowing that there is a natural source of drinking water. Yet many do not realize that it is contaminated with radioactive waste and human waste that is dumped into the environment. When wastewater evaporates,... 

Understandably, there is concern about polluted rainwater ruining our groundwater, but in reality the problem is a whole lot bigger than that. One wonders if people truly understood the consequences of their habits on our water supply whether or not they would stop. Unfortunately, when money is at stake, the end seems to justify the means. With things like large agricultural operations, fracking,... 

Not being able to even boil the water to make it safe does not happen often, but when it does, there is a lesson about having access to clean water. Water contamination is, unfortunately, far too common these days, but this accident bordered on the bizarre. A cleaning contractor mistakenly flushed underground tanks at a hangar at the local airport. That meant that about 200,000 gallons of jet fuel... 

Every time you have a drink of water from your tap, you figure it’s safe. Who is protecting your water? It’s a classic misstatement these days when you read articles about a process called “fracking” that extracts oil from and natural gas from rock formation. Fracking is also referred to as hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking and, contrary to media reports that the process uses a “brine”... 

Arsenic is a natural element found in the earth, in varying concentrations. No matter what the level, it poses a threat to your health. It has long been known that arsenic in drinking water is not good for you. It has only been recently that a new study has brought forth new evidence of the links between arsenic in your drinking water and heart disease. If you smoke and also drink arsenic laced water,... 

This has been a weird year weather-wise, and flooding seems to be the rule, rather than the exception. Flooding raises concerns about contaminated water. Pictures of sandbagging efforts have become common in the papers and on other media outlets. The rivers, creeks and other bodies of water, just do not want to stay within their boundaries. If floodwaters breach a local water filtration plant, there...