The problem is, there's no evidence other than the fallacious results they put in the newspaper. I actually took my own sample of the water, when it was at its worst, but I (stupidly) dumped it out after they had told me it wasn't collected in an "approved" container after letting the water run for 10 seconds.
That was before I realized that only the initial few ounces were heavily contaminated. So, unless a bunch of people can prove they were sick during that time, I just have to let it go. No one in this backwards town seems to care anyway.
BTW, their excuse for contaminating the water was: "We never painted the inside of a tank before" and "We trusted the contractor. It's their fault" and "We let the paint cure the necessary time according to the manufacturer's specifications" and "We already tested the water earlier that year for VOC's, and there weren't any present."
To which I responded: "You should have talked to someone who has painted the inside of a tank" and "You are responsible for any work that is contracted out" and "Paint-curing time varies tremendously based on the humidity and temperature, not to mention that the tank is essentially a closed system, giving the solvent vapors no where to escape" and testing the water before it is painted is completely worthless other than to give you a baseline for comparison after the tank was painted."
I also had to practically beg them to test for lead, since they initially sandblasted all the old layers of paint, which could easily have had lead in it. They told me they were hesitating because, "Just asking for that test could open up a can of worms, and the higher-ups would start asking questions."
They never did make public the results of the metals testing.
