Americas toxic tap water problem
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Despite being the world\\u2019s wealthiest nation, the U.S. has communities that are still exposed to toxic tap water. Today, we hear how a city in New Mexico has struggled with high levels of arsenic in its water \\u2014 and how its residents are fighting back.
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Fifty years after the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act, which is supposed to limit toxins in Americans\\u2019 water, many people around the country cannot safely drink from the tap.
Drinking water samples tested in Sunland Park, a small New Mexico city, found illegally high levels of arsenic in each of the past 16 years. In 2016, levels reached five times the legal limit.
The city also reflects parts of the United States \\u2014 low-income areas and Latino communities \\u2014 that are particularly exposed to arsenic in their drinking water at higher rates than any other racial or ethnic group, even when controlling for socioeconomic factors.
In Sunland Park, residents\\u2019 complaints have mounted in recent months, and some are taking the first steps toward filing a lawsuit.
Today on \\u201cPost Reports,\\u201d we talk to investigative reporter Silvia Foster-Frau about her reporting from New Mexico and why problems with toxic water there \\u2014 and elsewhere in the country \\u2014 persist.
Today\\u2019s show was produced by Emma Talkoff. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Monica Campbell and mixed by Sean Carter.
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