What has happened is a group called The Environmental Working Group has put data onto the Internet in regards to matters pertaining to the environment and pollution issues. Anniston's pollution problem just happens to be one of EWG's pet projects. http://www.ewg.org/
According to the Anniston Star articles on this subject, some of the plaintiffs are people who have had PCB found in their blood and on their properties, thus creating a concern if they have a garden with produce which may absorb some of the chemicals. I believe the EWG will be conducting blood tests on as many residents as possible and also soil tests, water tests, etc. in order to prove the claims by the people in this polluted community.
Now, I have been a member of garden newsgroups for a couple years and have been watching those people who swear that spraying weed killers and synthetic bug sprays on their gardens doesn't harm anyone. I wonder what their blood tests say? Wonder what their soil will say if tests for PCB and DDT were done. Sure, one man spraying his stuff doesn't really affect anyone but himself, until it rains and the rain washes that chemical slush into the stormdrains, onto neighboring properties, and eventually into the water system. I also believe the water treatment plants have done an excellent job keeping our water clean (for what it's worth), but in doing so they have to put other chemicals in the water causing bad taste, bad smell, and just plain awful water. Even so, some harmful chemicals still make it into the water because the levels of the EPA parts per million allowable is way to high. That means that more bad stuff than there should be could be in your water, and that just because the EPA says levels are below their requirements doesn't mean their requirements are low enough.
