Find a water polluter near you

The New York Times has created a database for the public to look up water pollution  violations by state. Check it out here.

The database accompanied an in-depth article called Toxic Waters, which details how the Environmental Protection Agency has been ignoring violations of the federal Clean Water Act for the last five years, at the cost of public health. The story and the database together represent a phenomenal feat in environmental reporting.

From the article:

The Times obtained hundreds of thousands of water pollution records through Freedom of Information Act requests to every state and the E.P.A., and compiled a national database of water pollution violations that is more comprehensive than those maintained by states or the E.P.A. (For an interactive version, which can show violations in any community, visit www.nytimes.com/toxicwaters.)

In addition, The Times interviewed more than 250 state and federal regulators, water-system managers, environmental advocates and scientists.

That research shows that an estimated one in 10 Americans have been exposed to drinking water that contains dangerous chemicals or fails to meet a federal health benchmark in other ways.

Those exposures include carcinogens in the tap water of major American cities and unsafe chemicals in drinking-water wells. Wells, which are not typically regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, are more likely to contain contaminants than municipal water systems.

The data shows some startling statistics, like the fact that last year, "40 percent of the nation’s community water systems violated the Safe Drinking Water Act at least once."

As more and more people flock to the Internet for news, incensed by the idea that they might have to pay for news coverage, consider this: Isn't this kind of journalism worth supporting?