Federal Government Could Seize Control Of Oklahoma’s Drinking Water

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Oklahoma is scrambling to come up with the money to comply with new Environmental Protection Agency clean drinking water regulations.

The state needs $2 million to avert a federal takeover. That’s not a lot, considering Oklahoma’s $ 7 billion budget, but so far, the funds haven’t been easy to get.

If Oklahoma fails to comply, the EPA will take responsibility for the safety of the state’s drinking water. Right now, that’s the state Department of Environmental Quality’s job, but it costs money.