WOBURN - As the year 2004 winds down, a 30-year-old and 40-year-old issue on so-called "Woburn water" is still in the forefront.

Last week marked the 30th anniversary of the signing of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, one of the most important public health laws ever enacted in the United States. The act aims to ensure that 170,000 public water supplies, serving 275 million people, meet national standards that protect consumers from harmful contaminants in drinking water.

Locally, the act in Massachusetts regulates almost 11,000 public water systems serving nearly 12 million consumers in New England.

On another front, the year 2004 marks the 40th opening of the ominous G & H Wells in East Woburn which provided water to the East Woburn and Central Square areas in a crescent-shaped angle emanating from the wells off Salem St. in East Woburn. The infamous wells were closed in 1979 and gave rise to the book and film "A Civil Action."

The G & H Well areas, however, are still much in the news. The Woburn Redevelopment Authority has charge of the G & H Well Superfund area, a 330-acre swath on the Aberjona River water plain. The site, WRA officials point out, includes the aquifer and land that are bounded by Route 128 (I-95) to the north, Route I-93 to the east, the Boston and Maine (B&M) Railroad to the west and Salem and Cedar Street.

Future use on the site, possibly including a walkway to observe nature and bird life, is seriously being discussed.

The former Cryovac building at 369 Washington St. has been on the market for a decade or more and has a second commercial Realtor trying to sell the site. And, the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection has focused on waste clean-up at 60 Olympia Avenue in the same Superfund area.

Purging of the ground water at the G & H Wells and 369 Washington St. still continues daily.

The entire Superfund area focuses on some well-publicized names such as W.R. Grace & Company, UniFirst Cooperation, New England Plastics, the Wildwood Conservation Corporation and the Olympia Nominee Trust.

A Record of Decision in 1989 targeted the site after the famous 1986 trial with W.R. Grace and Beatrice. Some 18 individuals were identified as part of the leukemia case including five children who died and one adult. Families in 1986 came to a settlement with the companies in Phase I of a three-phase trial that never proceed to Phase II or Phase III.

Focus on water

In recent days, however, the focus has been on clean water in the U.S., Massachusetts and cases addressing the like of the now world-famous Woburn water situation.

As spokespersons for the Environmental Protection Agency in Boston noted this week: "Water is the liquid of life; it makes up two-thirds of our bodies, yet most of us take the safety of our drinking water for granted. Because public health protection has been, and remains, the drinking water industry's most important focus, the U.S. has one of the safest public drinking water supplies in the world."

In opening remarks before the New England Water Works Association's December meeting in Randolph, EPA Regional Administrator, Robert W. Varney stated, "The 275 million people who benefit from the Safe Drinking Water Act's vital public health protection can raise their water glasses tall today — let's toast its 30th Anniversary and acknowledge its importance."

"The public can be confident about the quality of their drinking water because of the hard work of the professionals charged with ensuring its safety," added Ray Raposa, Executive Director of the New England Water Works Association. "While public health protection will always be our goal, we proudly celebrate our past achievements and look forward to the challenges ahead."

Since tap water reliably flows from the spigots in homes, note EPA officials in Boston, it's easy to forget that the water our families drink, cook and bathe in, comes from either deep in the ground or from a lake, river or reservoir. The Safe Drinking Water Act, they point out, "safeguards our water supplies by employing a multi-layer approach to protect water quality — beginning at the source. The Act mandates that states conduct detailed source water assessments to help identify potential contaminant sources and take steps to protect them."

Through the years, the Safe Water Drinking Act of 1974 has grown. The original 1974 Act called for EPA to create drinking water regulations and set standards for 18 contaminants. Today, more than 83 harmful chemical, radiological and microbiological contaminants are regulated.

The act requires water suppliers to test water and adequately treat it so that it can meet the increasing number of health-based standards, note EPA officials. It gives the EPA, "delegated-states and tribes," authority to enforce the standards, and "requires water suppliers to keep their systems in good working order."

Woburn

In Woburn's case, cleaning fluids including TCE (trichloroethylene, perchloro-ethylene, chloroform and other organic compounds) were determined to have poisoned the water supply. Between January 1969 and December 1979, 12 cases of childhood leukemia were diagnosed, noted a study by the Mass. Dept. of Public Health Bureau of Environmental Health Assessment, with six of the cases in a six-block area served directly by the contaminated wells.

Other areas of Woburn received water from city wells in the Horn Pond area or the MWRA.

The city today produces more than half of its own water and has taken great steps, including the construction of the multi-million dollar water treatment facility, to ensure its quality. The city receives the rest of its water supply from the MWRA.

The Safe Drinking Water Act now provides necessary funding to help water suppliers meet the increasing demands of the act at a time when the aging infrastructure of many water systems require costly upgrades. In support of improved drinking water quality, EPA presented in recent days two major grants to water suppliers today — a $29 million state revolving fund grant to the Mass. Water Pollution Abatement Trust, and a grant to the New England Water Works Association for $115,000 to be used for development of a first responder sampling guide.

The Safe Drinking Water Act dictates that public water suppliers provide annual reports about water quality to every drinking water consumer. Woburn receives such reports like clockwork these days. "The act's multi-faceted approach relies on the hard work and involvement of many partners, including EPA, states, tribes, water suppliers, industry and consumers," note EPA officials.

Drinking water utilities today find themselves facing challenges they never envisioned 30 year ago — security and counter-terrorism have become a focal point since the world changed after 9/11. Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2002 specify actions certain community water systems must take to improve the security of the nation's drinking water infrastructure. The new requirements call for assessments of system vulnerabilities and development of emergency response plans.

EPA of New England notes: "Our work to keep our nation's supply safe is not done - we must meet our new challenges, keep pace with advances in science and technology and protect our drinking water supplies at the source. EPA plans to continue to implement new rules and help the Act grow with the changing needs of our society — so that our children can toast future Safe Drinking Water Act milestones and can confidently continue to enjoy safe drinking water."