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AUGUSTA – Health advocates, businesses, and parents were disappointed on Tuesday as they watched legislation to protect Maine families from arsenic in drinking water fall four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in the Maine House of Representatives to override the Governor’s veto. LD 1162, An Act to Ensure Safe Drinking Water from All Maine Families, would have promoted widespread outreach and education across the state to raise awareness about the need to test private wells for arsenic and other toxic contaminants.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2015

Contact: Emma Halas-O’Connor, Environmental Health Strategy Center
ehalasoc@preventharm.org; (207) 699-5799

LePage Veto Kills Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Mainers from Arsenic in Drinking Water

After bipartisan-backed bill falls four votes short of a veto override in the Maine House, health advocates pledge to continue working to increase testing for arsenic in drinking water

Augusta, ME – Health advocates, businesses, and parents were disappointed on Tuesday as they watched legislation to protect Maine families from arsenic in drinking water fall four votes short of the two-thirds majority needed in the Maine House of Representatives to override the Governor’s veto. LD 1162, An Act to Ensure Safe Drinking Water from All Maine Families, would have promoted widespread outreach and education across the state to raise awareness about the need to test private wells for arsenic and other toxic contaminants. 

“One in ten private drinking water wells in Maine is contaminated with high arsenic levels, and yet only 45% of Mainers with private wells actually test their water for arsenic” said Emma Halas-O’Connor, Campaign Manager for the Environmental Health Strategy Center. “What is for certain is that this problem isn’t going away unless we take action.”

LD 1162, which was sponsored by Representative Drew Gattine (D-Westbrook), drew strong bipartisan votes in both bodies of the legislature, passing by 108 – 40 in the House and 22 – 13 in the Senate. The bill also had the backing of outspoken champions from both sides of the aisle, including Representative Gattine, and Representative Gary Hilliard (R-Belgrade) and Representative Karen Vachon (R-Scarborough); in a Monday opinion editorial to the Portland Press Herald, Senator Amy Volk (R-Scarborough) praised the legislation as a bill that is “simply about raising much-needed awareness.” The bill had also garnered support from Maine businesses like Northeast Laboratories and A&L Laboratories, who would have seen an economic boost from increased water testing rates.

On Friday, the Governor vetoed the bill, stating that the problem was already being taken care of by the Maine CDC;  however, the LePage Administration Department of Health and Human Services recently opted not to reapply for federal grant funding that would have sustained the CDC’s program to promote drinking water testing; as a result, no statewide arsenic education activities will be funded after August 2015.

LD 1162 would have provided a steady revenue stream for education and outreach activities that would encourage drinking water testing, by establishing a Safe Drinking Water Fund, paid for through low fees collected by the state Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory. 

16 House Republicans who had previously supported LD 1162 switched to opposing the bill on Tuesday, resulting in the bill narrowly falling short of moving on to an override vote in the Senate.

Exposure to arsenic in drinking water is linked to cancers of the bladder, skin, and lung, as well as learning disabilities and cognitive functioning. A 2014 study of 270 Kennebec County school children found that arsenic in drinking water was connected to a significantly lowered IQ score of 5 – 6 points.

The group plans to continue raising awareness about safe drinking water by doing targeted outreach in areas of the state that are hotspots for arsenic, and will assess future opportunities to bring the issue before the legislature. “Right now thousands of rural Mainers are being unknowingly exposed to toxic chemicals that elevate the risk of cancer and learning disabilities” said Halas-O’Connor. “We’re committed to continuing our efforts to promote safe drinking water beyond this legislative session.”

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The Environmental Health Strategy Center is a Maine-based public health organization working nationally and state-wide to promote human health and safer chemicals in a sustainable economy, and is affiliated with Prevent Harm, the organization that spearheaded the legislative campaign for safe drinking water.