Herb Kohl: “I am very pleased that we have included in this bill strong provisions to address the growing concerns about parasite…”

“I am very pleased that we have included in this bill strong provisions to address the growing concerns about parasite contamination. The bill requires EPA to set standards for safe levels of cryptosporidium in drinking water. And it requires EPA to institute an aggressive research program to develop better ways to detect and treat for cryptosporidium and other parasite contamination. And Mr. President it is not a moment too soon, because the city of Milwaukee just last night learned that a water sample taken 9 days earlier has again turned up traces of cryptosporidium, the same parasite that caused death and illness in that city 1 year ago. Despite these traces, no disease has been reported. In reality, we do not really know what the positive test means from the standpoint of public health, and this precisely demonstrates the problem. The state of science is extremely limited with regard to our understanding of how to detect and treat for parasites like cryptosporidium. We do not even understand what levels of cryptosporidium will cause illness. It is shocking that Milwaukee has to wait 9 days to get the results from a water sample, and it is ludicrous that we do not know exactly what it means to human health when they do get back the results of those tests.”