-Tyler Lobdell, Food & Water WatchIndependent research has significantly advanced since the EPA set its drinking water threshold in 1991. The EPA cited new science on cancer and birth defects in the 2010 drinking water standards review as well as in its 2017 scoping review. Whether it’s drinking water standards or water quality standards, most of that is done at the federal level,” Stoner said. “Nitrate pollution can travel hundreds of miles through streams and rivers and groundwater and other connected water bodies,” she said. “Your agencies should immediately identify and eliminate sources of nitrate pollution in drinking water and provide funds to communities to reduce nitrate to safe levels.”