(Continued from Page 1) In addition, Rollison called on

(Continued from Page 1)

In addition, Rollison called on the State Department of Education to consider mandated water education in the public schools, following the example set by Texas which has made water education part of the standard curriculum in 3rd-6th grade social studies texts and in high school physical science books.

Other speakers criticized the lack of regulation and monitoring for private and public water supplies.

“There’s a better than 50-50 chance that my well contains unacceptable levels of bacteria and chemcials^ said William Howell of Fredericksburg. “What can I do about it? And more importantly, why didn’t anybody tell me about it before now?”

He pointed out that the recent progress in cleaning up the pollution in the Chesapeake Bay came only after 20 years of lobbying on the part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to convince governments and people that a problem even existed. “We don’t have 20 years to convince them there’s a threat to groundwater,” he ' said, adding that cleaning up surface water is “child’s play” compared to pollution abatement of groundwater. “This is not simply an environmental issue. It’s a survival issue.”

Bob Lee, Clarke County’s administrator, warned that “if the problems are worse than we think, remediation may not be feasible.” Recalling Clarke County’s experience in dealing with contamination, he stressed that “with groundwater pollution, corrective action is often not an alternative.”

According to Lee, the state is uniquely qualified to handle some aspects of groundwater protection: promulgation of minimal standards for construction of wells and septic fields; regulation of underground petroleum storage tanks; standards for landfill sites; chemical sale and application standards; requirements for agricultural best management practices; public education; and pollution clean-up.