Trusting the government

I think that most people in the US think that health and safety issues like safe drinking water has to be handled by the government, rather than through private means. Here's an article about an EPA decision regarding perchlorate levels in drinking water.

quote: The ingredient, perchlorate, has been found in at least 395 sites in 35 states at levels high enough to interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks, particularly for babies and fetuses, according to some scientists.
The EPA document says that mandating a clean-up level for perchlorate would not result in a "meaningful opportunity for health risk reduction for persons served by public-water systems."
....
Lenny Siegel, director of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight in Mountain View, Calif., added: "This is an unconscionable decision not based upon science or law but on concern that a more stringent standard could cost the government significantly."
The Defense Department used perchlorate for decades in testing missiles and rockets, and most perchlorate contamination is the result of defense and aerospace activities, congressional investigators said last year.
The Pentagon could face liability if EPA set a national drinking water standard that forced water agencies around the country to undertake costly clean-up efforts. Defense officials have spent years questioning EPA's conclusions about the risks posed by perchlorate.

Now I don't know who's right here about the perchlorate levels, but what I do know is that when there is a "public system", there is no one we can "fire" if we don't like what they are doing. If I am unhappy with the quality of bottled water, I can buy another brand. If I don't like what's coming out of my tap, I can't switch to another provider. It's especially aggravating that we are trusting the government to be responsible for the environment, when the government itself is the biggest polluter!