Washington, D.C. --- Media reports
reveal that a third actor -- the United States Environmental
Protection Agency -- joins the cast of those who have failed to
protect the city's children and residents from lead-poisoned
drinking water. EPA regional officials knew about the problem of
elevated lead levels for at least one year prior to the exposure of
the problem to the public and took no action. Mayor Anthony
Williams has asked WASA to mail donated water pitcher-style filters
to all estimated 23,000 residences with lead service lines, after
reaching only a fraction of these affected households through
a difficult-to-administer pick-up distribution process. No
such plans are underway for affected households with copper or brass
service lines.
"This news should galvanize us into action more
than ever since all three agencies responsible for our water knew
about the problem and sat on their hands, in conspiratorial
paralysis. For WASA, the D.C. DOH, and now EPA, to have known
about it -- some of them for months, some for years and to have
done nothing -- it is criminal," stated Melody Webb, a lawyer and
D.C. resident who is heading the effort to immediately provide
healthy water alternatives to families from low-income and
underserved communities.
The group is calling for the federal government
to support a full program of private lead plumbing replacement,
public education, free filtration systems and immediate city
implementation of solutions, including the Women Infants and
Children program for qualified impoverished women and children.
Commenting on the Mayor's response thus far, Webb
stated "At the very time that the EPA revelations show the failure
of all 3 responsible actors, the Mayor adds insult to injury by
throwing out a life raft to some and leaving the other residents
to drown in water with high levels of lead. It is time for
the Mayor, WASA, and the federal government to bring their public
health response in line with the evidence that much of the tap
water is poisoned in this city. We are awash in evidence that the
problem is not confined to lead service line homes, but the Mayor
blindly ignores that fact and leaves the other affected residents
to sink or swim."
Originally the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority and
the D.C. Department of Health reported that the primary risk
factor for elevated lead levels was having
city-controlled lead service lines. Recent testing has turned up
3% of children with high lead levels, many of them not residents
of lead service line homes. So far, at least 9% of homes with
copper service lines tested and 4% of homes with brass service
lines have turned up high lead levels. "The city is now making
filters available to families in lead line serviced homes. It is a
start, but still inadequate. What we are still lacking and what
we need is real public outreach and public health precautions
because the water is so corrosive that it is causing lead to leach
from lead pipes within our own property lines, solders connecting
copper pipes, lead fixtures, lead plumbing, putting all the city's
children and pregnant women at risk" stated Webb.
Other issues that deserve public outcry include the
city's failure to provide adequate information and protection to
tenants of apartment buildings, which are home to many
impoverished women and children. Carolyn McGrier, a grandmother
who resides in a Southeast, D.C. apartment building stated "I
tried to get filters because I have grandbabies visiting and I am
sick and elderly. I made lots of calls, but I got the run-around
and so I just gave up trying to get help. It's not right for them
to give filters to people in homes and not in apartment
buildings when we could be getting water with lead in it too".
According to advocates for bottled water for
children in city public schools, the city has similarly failed to
take adequate precautions in all of its public schools. "We know
that 9 of the schools had excessive lead levels even with the
questionable testing protocol that WASA used. And now the schools
have been retested because the proportions of this complex problem
are still unknown. Nevertheless, the D.C. Public Schools keep the
drinking water sources open and accessible to children. The Mayor
turns a blind eye to the city's children even as Fairfax County
and the Archbishop responsible for Catholic schools in D.C. have
taken the precaution of putting potentially dangerous water off
limits to their school children." said Webb.
The issue is said to have national political
implications. "This goes all the way to the top since President
Bush's EPA has relaxed the strict enforcement standards of the
'90s'. Democratic Presidential hopeful John Kerry ought to take
aim. We are spending all this money in Iraq -- $87 billion-- with
$20 billion of it at one point discussed to help rebuild Iraq's
water and sewer system. Yet President Bush's federal government
has indicated no interest in spending whatever is necessary to
stop the poisoning of water in the place where we have
situated the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court and the
President of the United States himself. Our supporters around the
world must be scratching their heads, and our detractors eager to
point out the irony of this. While the capital of the free world
instructs other nations on how to build infrastructure to foster
political stability, the U.S. capital's water system is poisoning
American children" stated Melody Webb.
Webb links the issue to D.C.'s lack of full
democracy. "All the ingredients are there for a recipe of great
injustice. Given that we D.C. residents are disenfranchised --
lacking voting rights, holding only half-baked self governance,
and are predominantly African American to boot-- it is no real
surprise that this would happen to us" .
The group is calling for a number of
measures, including the following:
1. There should be immediate criminal investigations, firings
and a program of reparations funded at the national level, and
administered locally under a plan that is overseen by a board of
citizens and experts.
2. Immediately, there should be made available lead-free water
for all of D.C.'s pregnant women, new mothers, infants and
children up to 6 years of age, that is for
Indigent Families: Free
NSF-certified bottled water or NSF-certified water filters.
This should be via the WIC program.
Eligible Families: Tax credits to taxpayers for the expense of
NSF-certified bottled water and filtration products
3. Federal funding for a safe and expedited replacement of lead
service lines from the 7% per year replacement schedule to 50%
per year
Congress' cuts to EPA's budget for corrosion control programs
nationally have reduced the funds available to the District's to
address the lead leaching problem. Congress needs to provide
adequate funding for immediate correction.
The structural deficit, a by-product of a local D.C. tax base
financing both federal and local infrastructure needs, creates a
just demand that the federal government bear some of the burden
of the expense of improving the water system.
4. Federal funding for immediate individual outreach to all of
the affected and at-risk population, particularly those with
water samples testing with elevated lead levels. This should
include prompt disclosure, reporting to individuals and the
public, and scheduled replacement of lead lines.
5. Federal funding for public outreach and education to fully
inform the public of the planned testing regimen, with mapping
of results and aggressive public education on lead exposure
reduction as well as a permanent free lead testing program of
any D.C. home or residential facility.
6. While some testing has been done and more is scheduled for
child-serving facilities, perform thorough and rigorous testing
of all potentially affected waterways, including multiple family
dwellings, all city schools, recreation centers, libraries,
licensed child care facilities and schools. Apartment buildings
are of particular concerns to many city residents.
7. Grants to all residents for private lead plumbing, components
and fixtures replacement
Washington, DC-- In the wake of reports that the source of lead
contamination in the city's water is likely corrosion-causing
chemicals, it is now clear that all residents of D.C. are
potentially at risk of high lead levels in their water.
Previously, WASA and D.C. officials advised that the likeliest
source of high lead levels was city lead lines that are especially
vulnerable to corrosion and that serve older single family homes.
Testing done in Arlington County, Virginia, which purchases water
from D.C. and uses no lead service lines, has solidly anchored the
theory that the problem extends beyond homes with lead service
lines. The high lead levels found in several Arlington residences
that were recently tested shows that any lead source in the water
system of D.C. could be leaching lead into the water, including
copper pipes with lead solder, fixtures with lead content, and
other lead plumbing. Arlington officials have issued an advisory
to all pregnant women and children under age 6 regarding
consumption of the city's tap water.
Water for D.C. Kids is mobilizing parents, particularly low-income
families, to pressure Mayor Anthony Williams to immediately follow
the call of this increasingly likely explanation of the problem
and to copy the example of Arlington County by expanding its
advisory to cover all, not just lead service line, residences.
"The city's dilatory and limited set of public health initiatives
to address the problem so far have been built around this lead
service line premise, a shaky foundation that is now sinking
before our very eyes. Tragically, that lead service line premise
has under-estimated the risk group, the scope of testing and the
amount of assistance needed for affected D.C. residents. Wake up,
city leaders. The city's fetuses, babies and children are paying
for your self-serving inadequate actions to protect the health of
D.C. citizens" says Webb.
The number of residents, particularly children, affected by lead
levels is unknown as is the cause of the contamination
problem. "From this day forward the clock is ticking on
the moral, if not legal liability, of D.C. leaders, who have to
see now the blinding mandate to do something and something right
now to preclude any further citizens' exposure to lead."
Water for D.C. Kids is especially concerned about the impact of
the water emergency on the poor and apartment dwellers, who are
often the same. Webb believes that the findings in Arlington are
a watershed moment with far-reaching implications for the public
health actions by the Mayor of Washington, D.C.. "The Arlington
case has just firebombed the floodgates. We now know that it is
highly likely that every single child under age 6, that every
single pregnant and nursing woman is likely at risk since each and
every tap in the city could be receiving water carried through
either lead pipes or lead components that may be leaching lead
because of chemicals being used to treat the city's' source water.
Arlington is taking this precaution and it is only moral if not
practical for the city to take the same step."
The group wants the Mayor to adopt a platform of strategies to
more aggressively protect the city's children from
lead-contaminated water by making healthy water alternatives
available to all children, including a free water and filter
program for participants in the city's Women Infant Children
program for indigent families as well as tax rebates for expenses
related to the water emergency. In light of the findings in
Arlington, Webb urges the Mayor to "issue the same alert for
all city residents that has been issued for lead service line
households. Do it and do it now."
Water for D.C. Kids advises the Mayor to acknowledge that anything
other than maximum precautions for the poor and apartment dwellers
could be deemed environmental racism, due to the as-yet
unaddressed needs of the poor and apartment dwellers. Ella
William, an Anacostia, Southeast Washington resident stated "I
knew it. I knew it. I never believed them about the problem
being only with houses because a lot of these apartment buildings
are really old. As a grandmother with an eight month old grandson
and 5 months-pregnant daughter living with me in my apartment, I
am angry that we all could be getting poisoned but WASA won't give
us water test kits and the city won't give us free filters. But
they are giving the filters to people in houses. How can they do
that?"
Webb states that she is getting inquiries from tenants
questioning WASA's right to withhold from tenants water testing
kits and results. Webb states that tenants are being forced to
trust the assurances of their landlords. "The city is doing an
abysmal job of informing the public of its rights and getting out
all of the pertinent information for assessing risk and allaying
fears. Where is the public information campaign required by
federal regulations when this level of lead contamination is
reached?"
The group is calling for a number of measures, including the
following:
1. D.C. families with pregnant women and young children are
outraged about the city's underestimation of the potential risk
group. and urges the city to spare the health of its children and
limit the city's legal liability by immediately taking
comprehensive health precautions based on the new evidence that
the majority of D.C. residents could be affected by the lead
corrosion caused by the city's chemically treated water.
2. Families want a universal set of public health precautions
that extend to every single pregnant woman and child under the
age of 6 who resides in the District of Columbia. These include
children free bottled water, free filters, and taxpayer rebates
for families. The city must immediately make available to all
residents who need it free NSF certified filters, free bottled
water.
The city needs to provide immediately water testing kits to
all households in the District of Columbia and all faculties
serving children, pregnant and nursing women as well as other
vulnerable populations -- that includes those outside the
previously designated risk categories: such as multi-unit
apartment buildings.
3. Families want a far-reaching public outreach effort to
educate all families with pregnant women and children about
services and programs, as well as their rights as tenants to
information about the lead content of their water.
4. Families want each and every household in the city, as
well as all licensed child care facilities and institutions
serving children, to be provided with water testing kits and
to have results revealed summarily.
5. Families want the city to affirmatively assist all
residences in identifying potential sources of lead
contamination within their property lines, and in their home
plumbing and fixtures. Families want the city to institute a
program to assist homeowners and landlords in financing the
cost of identifying and replacing such lead components and
plumbing.
Washington, DC--Water for D.C. Kids is
mobilizing parents to pressure Mayor Anthony Williams to adopt a
platform of strategies to more aggressively protect the city's
children from lead-contaminated water by making healthy water
alternatives available to all children, including a free water and
filter program for participants in the city's Women Infant
Children program for indigent families.
Water samples drawn from some 4,000
D.C. residences last summer exceed the lead limit of 15 ppb, an
actionable threshold level established by the United States
Environmental Protection Agency. Reports indicate that D.C. Water
and Sewer Authority has been aware of the problem of elevated lead
levels since as early as 2002; however, WASA failed to notify
those personally affected and the public at large of the
problem. Pregnant women and children under age 6 in lead-line
serviced homes are advised not to drink unfiltered water.
The number of residents, particularly
children, affected by lead levels is unknown as is the cause of
the contamination problem. "While experts seek answers, parents
and caregivers want clean water alternatives now for all of D.C.'s
children, as a matter of justice since we don't know who all is
affected", stated Melody Webb, whose efforts are particularly
concerned with the plight of the impoverished.
The group is especially focused on the
impact upon infants and children, since they are at highest risk
of poisoning from exposure to high lead levels in water,
especially when coupled with exposure to other forms of lead.
The group expressed grave disappointment in the city's delayed
testing of the schools. The Mayor, in tandem with WASA's
inaction, failed to demand immediate testing of city schools, with
the result that lead testing in the city's public schools occurred
only last weekend. Compare that to the Catholic Archbishop, who
quickly moved to shut down fountains and begin testing.
The group calls government action to-date inadequate. Melody
Webb, a lawyer heading the group, expressed outrage toward the
mayor for failing to take public health precautions to address the
problem while efforts are made to determine the cause of the
problem. "Aren't all the city's children at risk since each and
every tap in the city could be receiving water carried through
either lead pipes or lead components that may be leaching lead
because of chemicals being used to treat the city's' filthy source
water-- the Potomac River? If there is a chance, any chance at
all, that we are feeding lethal tap water to our children -- the
Mayor ought to aggressively test the city's children and (through
sampling or otherwise) every single source of drinking water in
the city, particularly those servicing infants, children and
pregnant women" said Webb.
Davonyah Smith, a Southeast Washington
residents stated "As a single mother with children aged 7, 8 and
10 in the city's public schools, I find it a struggle to buy
bottled water for them to drink at home and at school. The city
needs to give free water or filters to people who can't afford it
until they figure out what is going on".
The group is calling for a number of measures, including the
following:
1. D.C. families with pregnant women and young children are
outraged about this filtering of information by WASA and D.C.
elected officials regarding the threat posed by this water
emergency that we are facing. We want the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth about the risks that we face.
2. Families want a comprehensive set of public health precautions
that extend to every single pregnant woman and child under the age
of 6 who resides in the District of Columbia. These include
children free bottled water, free filters, and taxpayer rebates
for families.
3. Families want a far-reaching public education effort to inform
all families with pregnant women and children, in particular the
indigent.
4. Families want each and every household in the city, as well as
all licensed child care facilities and institutions serving
children, to be
provided with water testing kits and to have results revealed
summarily.
5. Families want the city to affirmatively assist all residences
in identifying potential sources of lead contamination within
their property lines, and in their home plumbing and fixtures.
Families want the city to institute a program to assist homeowners
and landlords in financing the cost of replacing such lead
components and plumbing.