from the linked article"
"Widespread calls to protect drinking water ran up against lobbyists for oil companies and members of Congress from oil districts. They complained that the science of what substances were dangerous was uncertain and that how they would be measured and regulated was unclear. They complained that the EPA was inefficient and expensive and was staffed with inexperienced officials."

My comment: Does that ever sound familiar !

"in 1972, an EPA study discovered that waters downstream from 60 industries discharging waste from Baton Rouge to the Mississippi River’s mouth in New Orleans had high concentrations of 66 chemicals and toxic metals............Concerns about the area of Louisiana that later came to be known as “Cancer Alley” were uppermost, but there were chemical companies across the country, and Congress set out to safeguard the lives of Americans from toxins released by corporations into the nation’s water supply. "

My comment: Yeah, who needs the EPA, Americans can count on Corporations to do the right thing,lol. If I remember right, Louisianan's are majority fervent believers in getting rid of
environmental controls. They are paying a heavy price for allowing themselves to be abused
like that. But hey, at least they got their freedoms.