Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Bottled Water

September 2008

On September 10, 2008, the Senate Subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality of the Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing on “Quality and Environmental Impact of Bottled Water.”

The Subcommittee heard from the following five witnesses:

Emily Lloyd
Commissioner
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
Click here for a copy of her testimony

Mae Wu
Staff Attorney, Health and Environment Program
Natural Resources Defense Council
Click here for a copy of her testimony

Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director
Food & Water Watch
Click here for a copy of her testimony

Dr. Stephen Edberg
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Internal Medicine and Chemical Engineering
Yale University School of Medicine
Click here for a copy of his testimony

Joseph Doss
President and CEO
International Bottled Water Association
Click here for a copy of his testimony

In his opening statement (ATTACHED), Senator Lautenberg stressed the right for consumers to know what is in their bottled water. He did acknowledge the importance bottled water plays, especially in times of emergency, but also its perceived impact on the environment and landfills. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), who is the ranking member of the Environment and Public Works, also provided an opening statement (ATTACHED), in which he lauded the efforts of the bottled water industry in assisting Louisiana in their recent catastrophes. He also said, “The safety of bottled water is comprehensively regulated at the Federal, State, Local and Industry levels. In fact, both the Natural Resource Defense Counsel and the Center for Disease Control note that illness from bottled water has only been the result of rare and isolated incidents, which suggests that the current framework works and further regulation is unnecessary.”

Ms. Lloyd described the New York City’s public water system’s efforts to provide safe quality drinking water to 9 million citizens and their campaign to have more New Yorkers drink tap water. Ms. Wu reiterated the NRDC’s findings of their 1999 study of bottled water and recommended that bottled water be required to disclose on the label contaminants that are detected in bottled water. She did concede that bottled water does have a good track record on safety. Ms Hauter was strident in her attempt to vilify the bottled water industry, stating that only 14 states regulate bottled water and the over 70% of the bottled water industry is largely unregulated. She also described the oil used to manufacture containers and the adverse impact bottled water withdrawals have on the environment. Dr. Edberg provided the Subcommittee with an overview of the differences between bottled water and water from a municipal water system. He described the distribution of bottled water in sealed sanitary containers as a means of protecting public health. Municipal water systems distribution is one of the difficult challenges in maintaining safe drinking water and that more support for drinking water infrastructure is needed. Dr. Edberg provided the Subcommittee with an overview of the differences between bottled water and water from a municipal water system. He described the distribution of bottled water in sealed sanitary containers as a means of protecting public health. He stated that municipal water systems distribution is one of the difficult challenges in maintaining safe drinking water, and that more support for drinking water infrastructure is needed. Dr. Edberg also said that bottled water can be an advantage for people with compromised immune systems, including cancer patients, those taking some arthritis drugs, and patients with HIV. Mr. Doss highlighted the efforts of the industry on providing consumers with access to information, reducing the environmental impact and the regulatory framework of bottled water. He indicated that bottled water consumers have a choice of brands in the market place, unlike consumers of public water systems. If consumers are unsatisfied with company responses for more information on their choice of bottled water, they can choose another brand. He suggested that any action that would discourage consumers from drinking this safe, healthy beverage is not in the public interest.