Piss in my pond and tell me it's raining

Do you know what's in the water that you drink?
Well I do, and it's a-maz-ing...
--Randy Newman's It's a Jungle Out There

If you live near the Great Lakes, the Center for Disease Control is sounding a lot like Monk's theme song: they know about some horrible things in your drinking water, but they're not going to tell you.

(h/t to Emptywheel)

The draft executive summary (PDF), which is helpfully stamped with 'Do Not Cite or Quote," has a few items you might want to be aware of (italics in original, bold emphasis added):

...Of the 108 hazardous waste sites included in the 25 [Areas of Concern], 71 sites were identified as having a potential human health impact. Of this number, 2 are classified as urgent public health hazards, 29 are identified as public health hazards, and 40 are listed as indeterminate public health hazards as defined by the [Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry] Public Health Assessment Manual.

Vulnerable populations (i.e. children less than 6 years of age, reproductive age women, and older adults) living within a one-mile radius from the AOC hazardous waste sites included approximately 5,000 residents for the Lake Superior AOCs, over 200,000 persons for Lake Michigan AOCs, approximately 9,000[?] persons in the Lake Ontario AOCs, and over 7,000 residents for the Lakes Erie and Huron AOCs, respectively. These figures indicate that the total number of individuals within one mile of AOC hazardous waste sites totals an estimated 230,000. According to analysis of ATSDR's HazDat database for 2003, there were over 15,000 instances where contaminants of concern were found at levels above health-based screening values in a variety of media (i.e., water, air, and soil).

This report indicates that there are 25 AOCs which have not been remediated and that over 9 million residents are living within these AOC counties. The AOC county health measures (health status indicators) that compare unfavorably with the median of the peer counties and also with the U.S. population data merit further attention. Differences between the peer counties, the U.S. population data, and the U.S. AOC counties indicate elevated rates of disease beyond the norm (norm being the peer counties and the U.S. population data).

While no causal inferences or associations are made in this report, of the 26 AOCs, elevated rates were observed for infant mortality in 21 AOCs, low birth weight in 6 AOCs, and premature births in 4 AOCs. Elevated cancer mortality was also seen for breast cancer in 17 AOCs, colon cancer in 16 AOCs, and lung cancer in 12 AOCS...

They finished the report late last year, and the wheels of bureaucracy turn slowly - but this is yet another report that was intended for public release - and hasn't been.

People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time
If you paid attention, you'd be worried too
You better pay attention
Or this world we love so much might just kill you


I could be wrong now, but I don't think so