Regulators allowed contaminated wells to keep running if the city chlorinated the water.

Evidence

In the summer of 1967 the Massachusetts Department of Health contemplated shutting down both wells because of “the poor bacterial quality of the water supplied therefrom.” The city protested. The state health authorities relented, permitting the wells to remain open on the condition that the city subject the water to continuous chlorination. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 69

Categorization

• XREF: Chlorination treated bacteria while leaving industrial solvents untouched — echoes your interest in how partial remedies displace rather than solve a problem.