Safe Drinking Water: Science and Law
By John Wargo - Yale
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Lecture Description
Environmental Politics and Law (EVST 255)
The lecture reviews water law in the United States, and highlights challenges inherent in regulating water quality. Aging water infrastructure, pesticide and herbicide application, and surface water runoff all pose challenges in maintaining a clean drinking water supply. The lecture covers pesticide management through the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The management of pesticides and herbicides in drinking water has been heavily influenced by the economic concerns of pesticide and herbicide users as well as the municipal water agencies charged with testing water regularly for regulated chemicals. The lecture concludes with the regulation history of atrazine, a commonly used herbicide that research has shown to be hormonally active.
00:00 - Chapter 1. Clean Water: Science and Law
08:23 - Chapter 2. The Safe Drinking Water Act and Its Limits
24:00 - Chapter 3. Mapping Out Atrazine and Its Regulatory History
38:44 - Chapter 4. The Dance of Regulation
Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses
This course was recorded in Spring 2010.
Course Description
Can law change human behavior to be less environmentally damaging? Law will be examined through case histories including: environmental effects of national security, pesticides, air pollution, consumer products, plastics, parks and protected area management, land use, urban growth and sprawl, public/private transit, drinking water standards, food safety, and hazardous site restoration. In each case we will review the structure of law and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. This Yale College course, taught on campus twice per week for 50 minutes, was recorded for Open Yale Courses in Spring 2010.
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