14-R364

2014 -- S 3121

Enacted 06/19/14

S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

PROVIDE A WRITTEN UPDATE OF THE FACTS, FIGURES, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

FOUND IN THE SEPTEMBER 2013 REPORT OF THE SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE

COMMISSION TO STUDY PUBLIC HEALTH THREATS FROM PHARMACEUTICAL

HUMAN WASTE CONTAMINATION IN THE WATER SUPPLY

Introduced By: Senators Ottiano, and Miller

Date Introduced: June 18, 2014

     WHEREAS, One of the central responsibilities of the state is to protect the health and

well-being of its citizens; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Senate took action in 2013 to assess the risk to the water

supply and to public health posed by unused pharmaceuticals and contaminated human waste, by

forming the Special Legislative Commission to Study Public Health  Threats from

Pharmaceutical Human Waste Contamination in the Water Supply; and

     WHEREAS, The Special Legislative Commission’s final report, issued in September of

2013, contained facts, findings, and recommendations that described an overall level of safety in

Rhode Island’s environmental health; and

     WHEREAS, It is critical to continue to monitor the state’s disposal of hazardous waste

and the safety of our groundwaters and water systems; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby respectfully requests that the Rhode Island Department of Health provides a written

update of the facts, figures, and recommendations found in the Special Legislative Commission’s

September 2013 report; and be it further

     RESOVLED, That this Senate respectfully requests that the written update be submitted

to the Senate President, to the Chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and

Agriculture, and to the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on or

before February 10, 2015; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is directed and authorized to send

duly certified copies of this resolution to the Director of the Department of Health, the Director of

the Department of Environmental Management, and the Rhode Island Attorney General.

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