But the utility hasn ’ t taken any action . It doesn ’ t have to . The chemical isn ’ t regulated in drinking water by the EPA or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality , which means neither agency has ever set a maximum allowable level of TCP . It ’ s not clear why Smithwick Mills was even monitoring for the chemical , though state officials said many utilities receive results for TCP as part of routine lab tests for a variety of chemicals that get reported to state regulators .
Residents said they received no notices about the high levels , which weren ’ t shared in the town ’ s annual consumer confidence reports from 2019 to 2021 , the first three years TCP was recorded in its water . TCP test results appeared in the 2022 report , which the water utility sent to residents after a ProPublica reporter reached out to the company earlier this year .
Jerri Paul , who has lived in Smithwick for three years , said she ’ s disappointed in the lack of communication from the water system and regulators . She has little hope that Texas officials will act on their own , because the state government has generally been reluctant to expand environmental regulation .
“ I just don ’ t see them doing something above and beyond what the feds do ,” said Paul , who is a member of the Smithwick Mill Estates property owners association board . The community is made up mostly of working-class people and retirees , many of whom don ’ t have the resources to buy bottled water , she noted . “ We ’ re really dependent on the federal government doing something and saying that this is a contaminant that is not acceptable .”
A representative from Corix Utilities , which operates the Smithwick Mills water system , said in a statement that the company ’ s review of the tests didn ’ t show a danger to the community ’ s residents and that the system is in compliance with drinking water standards .
TCP has been found in far more drinking water than just in this small Texas town . When the EPA last conducted nationwide testing about a decade ago , the chemical was detected in
38 x The Trial Lawyer the water of 6 million people ( though , at the time , not in Smithwick ). Four million of those people were served by systems with average concentrations above California ’ s standard .
TCP is one of more than a dozen unregulated contaminants that have been found in the country ’ s drinking water . During the past decade , regulators have identified at least one of these substances at levels that could impact human health in the tap water of 61 million people , according to a ProPublica analysis of EPA data . Nearly 16 million of these people were exposed to potentially dangerous levels of possible or likely carcinogens , including TCP . And over the past 25 years , the agency has identified more than a hundred other water contaminants , including industrial and agricultural chemicals and microorganisms , that may present risks to humans . The potential health effects of these substances include developmental delays , reproductive issues and cancer .
Experts and activists say this demonstrates fundamental shortcomings in the country ’ s approach to environmental threats . The Safe Drinking Water Act , designed to protect the nation ’ s water quality , requires an extensive , multistep process before adopting new standards . Critics say the EPA has struggled to move contaminants that have been on its radar for a decade or more through this process in a timely fashion .
The EPA ’ s inaction on these chemicals “ just illustrates how broken the system is ,” said Erik D . Olson , a lawyer who worked at the EPA during the Reagan administration and is now senior strategic director for health and food at the Natural Resources Defense Council , an environmental advocacy group . “ The law really is incredibly cumbersome and difficult , and there ’ s just a lack of political will to regulate a lot of these things .”
An EPA spokesperson said in a statement that while the agency views TCP as a potential contaminant of concern , it hasn ’ t collected enough data on it . Before regulating a new contaminant , the agency must show that doing so will provide meaningful health benefits based on the law ’ s criteria .
“ EPA must make regulatory determinations based on the best available data and peer reviewed science ,” the spokesperson said in a written statement . The agency did not make officials available for interviews .
Action Is Rare
In 1974 , soon after expanding regulations for surface water pollution through the Clean Water Act , Congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act , directing the EPA to protect the nation ’ s tap water . But within a decade , many lawmakers felt the legislation hadn ’ t done enough . In 1986 , Congress passed amendments to the law that directed the agency to regulate more than 80 additional contaminants , including bacteria , viruses and chemicals such as cyanide and PCBs , within five years ; the EPA would have to add another 25 contaminants every three years after that .
The agency struggled to comply with the mandates and missed deadlines for setting standards . Many small water utilities and some states said that the EPA ’ s rulemaking process didn ’ t prioritize contaminants with the greatest health risks . So , in 1996 , following this pushback , Congress amended the law again with the stated goal of basing the agency ’ s rulemaking process on “ sound science .”
The amendments created a much more complex , multistep process for regulation proposals . The EPA would need to demonstrate not only that a contaminant was a danger to human health , but that it was found widely enough in drinking water to warrant regulation . The agency also had to show that the benefits of regulating the contaminant would outweigh the costs — a tricky calculation that requires the agency to weigh the known tangible price associated with treatment and cleanup versus often uncertain projections about the health impacts of newly studied substances .
“ The activities of Federal agencies