Document Rj1ZBGVo4zJ2jRMjXmKjq2Q6a

eijr felaniariMMiura HEW BEDEfflQ, H&SS. O. 49,833 SUM. 71254 JUL 2 9 1976 New England water: Better, and worse BOSTON <AP) - The U.S. En vironmental Protection Agency said today the quality of New England's water was improving bat new problems * were cropping op. 1 The second annual report of the agen- [ cy's regional office said 51 per cent of the region's miles of rivers were suitable for fishing and swimming in 1975, up from 45 per cent the previous v year. The state-by-state breakdown of river miles suitable (or fishing and swim ming: Connecticut, 41 per cent; Mas- chnatts, M per cent; Maine, C per ' .cent; New Hampshire, 54 per cent; ^Bhode Island, 54 per emit; and Ver- | moat, B per cent. . The report said the amounts of lead t- was dropping in the drinking water I'buppUes of Boston-area communities because of new treatment programs. *? Bacteria levels were dropping and, ^because of more judicious salting of \ winter highways, chloride levels were I also on the decline, i' But the EPA said organic compounds J in water supplies, particularly \ chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, posed a problem of uncertain dimen- 'on. The compound! are believed to 4 form through the action of chlorine used r*for disinfectant on other substances & pn--nt -- the water from municipal or L. industrial discharges, or even naturally present. . Chloroform Is known to cause cancer in mice and rats. A nationwide study foimd chtorofann in the water supplies of Lawrence, Mass.; Newport, R.I.; Waterbary, Cons.; and the Metropolitan District Commission in greater Bostoo. Oae Newport sample showed chloroform at 108 parts per button, and EPA --id it was working with city of ficials oa ways to reduce it. A followup study will include 10 New England cities -- New Haven, Water- bury and Hartford, Conn.; Providence and Newport, R.I.; Springfield and Boat--; Manchester, N.H.; Burlington, Vi, and Portland, Maine. For solid wastes, EPA said it had identified IS industrial users of polychlorinated biphenyls, a substance more tongtasting than DOT agd causing serious illness if absorbed in Ugh concentrations. River sediment shewed PCB present In concentrations of up to 188,100 parts per billion. Sludge fran the New Bed ford sewage treatment plant csntahwd PCB at a concentration of 84,000 parts per billion, and EPA said it would study emissions from New Bedford's sludge incinerator. ~ Mffiaantn Co., the only manufacturer of PCB, has announced plans to Mop making it. In air quality, EPA said alt New England monitoring sites found no violations in 1175 of the standard for sul fur oxides. New violations of the 14-hoar stan dard for particulate matter were found at Bangor, Maine, and Worcester, Mass , along with a repetition of 1874 violations at another Worcester loca tion and at Springfield, Mesa. Each state showed some vMattaon of tht onehour standard, EPA said. All test sites showing violations of the eight-bonr standard for carbon monox ide In 1974 also --owed violation in 1975. However, maximum levels of the pollutant were down sipiificanUy In some places, particularly New Britain/ Conn., and Burlington, Vt All test sites in 1974 showed violation of the standard for phoinchrmii al ox idants, a principal component of smog. In 1975 station at Burlin, N.H., and Portland, Maine, reported ao violation, bat the monitoring stations were not working in the summer months when violation would be ex pected. The number of violation dropped in ? New Ham-hire and significantly in ' Connecticut and Massachusetts, but 1 rose in Rhode Island, probably because a number of Rhode Island test sites were not in operation in 1974. / HONS Q3729Q