AWWA JAW56583

The recent wave of lawsuits seeking to hold water providers liable for damages from health problems attributed to contaminants in drinking water raises the specter of yet another nascent upward pressure on water rates at a time when many utilities are fighting for funds to comply with tougher new Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requirements and to upgrade security systems and aging infrastructure. Long bypassed by such litigation in favor of the deeper pockets of corporate sources of suspect environmental toxins, suppliers of public drinking water, both public agencies and private companies, are increasingly being targeted as potentially paying parties for claimed losses associated with incidences of cancer, miscarriages, birth problems, and other maladies. This article examines several such cases that have arisen in California, New Jersey, Virginia, and Texas. No two cases are alike other than putting water utilities in a new and potentially very expensive legal arena. Includes figure.