The European Commission announced on 28
June that it would be taking legal action against the UK government over illegal
levels of pesticides in drinking water. This follows on the from the action
taken by Friends of the Earth (FoE) in 1988 which drew attention to the
government's failure to enforce compliance with legal standards for pesticides
in drinking water. The standards were set in 1980 and the standards should have
been met by 1985.
FoE estimated that, in 1992, around 14.3 million consumers in
England at some time received drinking water containing pesticides above the
legal standard. FoE has called for a tax on pesticide manufacturers to pay for
the costs of drinking water treatment. The cost to consumers of pesticide
removal from drinking water is estimated at around £1 billion in capital
expenditure alone.
Friends of the Earth, press release, 28 June 1996.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 33, September 1996,
page 26]