MADISON COUNTY WATER WATCH
TOXIC TAPS?!?
How SAFE is our DRINKING WATER?!?
The history of the National Priority Superfund site in Anderson, Indiana, is marked by repeated negligence and a disturbing pattern of disregard for public health—particularly for the citizens who have lived in its shadow for generations. My own family’s medical timeline, eerily, traces alongside the known contamination issues associated with the Wheeler Avenue Water Treatment Plant, dating as far back as the 1960s.
Our story isn’t unique—it’s part of a larger, painful pattern. I can’t speak about our family’s struggles without seeing the parallels with local environmental failures. Every diagnosis, every unexplained illness, echoes the community’s long-standing exposure to unsafe water and inadequate oversight.
This isn't just history—it's ongoing harm.
Nicole K.
Photo from the E.P.A. HRS report:
How Safe Is Our Drinking Water?!?
The truth is: we were left in the dark.
The screenshot above is from the EPA’s Hazard Ranking System (HRS) Report. It confirms what many of us feared—our finished drinking water had been contaminated for years. Yet none of us were formally notified. Unless you read the right newspaper article at the right time—or knew someone on the inside—you likely had no idea that Anderson, Indiana is home to a federally designated Superfund Site. Until recently, neither did we.
We only learned about the site and its placement on the National Priorities List (NPL) by accident—in February 2025, when we stumbled across a TikTok video about Superfund Sites. That moment opened the floodgates. We started digging and uncovered decades of buried reports, broken trust, and a history of neglect.
Fueled by frustration and a commitment to the truth, we challenged the EPA.
The EPA responded to our challenge by hosting a Town Hall Meeting at the Anderson Public Library. The room was tense, emotional, and full of residents seeking answers. What we heard was devastating: the EPA is essentially starting over—and it could be another four years before we fully understand the risks we’re facing. We were stunned. Angry. Betrayed.
How could something so serious—something that threatens our health, our children, and our future—have been kept so quiet? We were left to piece it all together ourselves, while government officials and agencies failed to keep us informed and safe.
This isn’t just a crisis. It’s a wake-up call.
That’s why Madison County Water Watch exists: to demand transparency, fight for environmental justice, and make sure that no one is left in the dark again.
Nicole K.