Clean Water Action

District of Columbia

Lead in the Water in Washington DC

Can we trust the DC Water and Sewer Authority? Demand Answers

Why is WASA hiding the truth about partial lead pipe replacements?

Myth
To make the case for slowing down its lead pipe replacement program, WASA claims that partial lead pipe replacements "have shown only small decreases in lead levels at the tap."

Fact
After intense questioning during WASA's first community meeting on January 30, WASA finally admitted that in many cases partial lead pipe replacements result in lead spikes to the water, up to weeks after replacement. WASA has already carried out 8,900 such replacements in the District, potentially engendering the health of thousands of residents. Why did they hide this from us?

Demand that WASA posts on its website all its post-replacement test results from 2006-2007. We need to know the full story behind partial lead pipe replacements in the district.

Why is WASA not telling us that their compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations does not prove our water is safe?

Myth
WASA touts its compliance with EPA regulations as proof that the problem of lead in DC water has been solved.

Fact
Many independent sources have documented that WASA manipulates testing protocols and data to ensure compliance with EPA law. In 2007, for example, the agency failed to collect water samples during June and the better part of July. This is the period when lead in the District's water has been documented to reach its peak.

• EPA law regulates only 1st draw samples. 2nd draw samples, which are more representative of the water we drink and cook with, do not count. If 2nd draw samples counted, in 2007 WASA would not have been in compliance with EPA standards.
  
  
• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that "for homes with children or pregnant women and with water lead levels exceeding EPA's action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb)," only bottled water should be used. WASA's 2007 test results show several 1st draw samples in the hundreds of ppb. These measurements are representative of lead levels citywide.
  
  
• The only extensive water testing in the District occurred at DC public schools (DCPS) in 2006-2007 and revealed serious problems with lead contamination. 77% of schools had at least one tap with lead levels that exceeded the EPA lead action level of 15 ppb. 10% of schools had at least one tap with lead levels above 700 ppb. These samples exceed EPA's lead action level by at least 46 times.

Demand that WASA gives us a rational explanation for the discrepancy between its claim that our water is safe and the latest DCPS findings.

Why is WASA not telling us the truth about the dangers of lead in water?

Myth
WASA cites a 2004 report by the CDC ("Blood Lead Levels in Residents of Homes with Elevated Lead in Tap Water – District of Columbia 2004") as indication that high levels of lead in DC's drinking water do not pose a serious health risk to children.

Fact

• Many of the authors of the CDC report were employees of the DC Department of Health (DOH), an agency that played an active role in covering up the lead-in-water crisis during 2001-2004. Several employees of DOH were fired for their role in the lead crisis, and more would have had the same fate if evidence of harm to the District's children had been acknowledged.
• The 2004 CDC report has been criticized severely as "quick," "sloppy," and misleading by internationally renowned pediatrician and expert in children's environmental health Dr. Bruce Lanphear and 2007 MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Environmental Engineering Dr. Marc Edwards.
• In direct contradiction to WASA's claims, Freedom of Information Act requests revealed that in 2004 DOH found drinking water as the only identified source of lead for several children with lead poisoning. Other children with high blood lead levels had no identified lead paint hazards, but water was never tested at their home. While WASA cannot refute these facts – as reported on WAMU, Salon and Environmental Science & Technology – they persist in repeating the falsehood that all children with elevated blood lead had identified lead sources other than water.
• Even in 2007, when the District's water was supposed to be safe, the DC Department of the Environment reported that water was the only identified source of lead for 2 children with elevated blood lead levels. Water was one, amongst other identified sources of lead, for 5 additional children.

Demand that WASA hires acclaimed pediatricians with expertise in childhood lead poisoning to bring an end to its disinformation campaign and finally tell us the truth about the health risks of lead in DC's water.

Call To Action

Call Councilmember Jim Graham, Chair, Committee on Public Works and the Environment (202.724.8181) to request an immediate oversight hearing on WASA.

Demand that City Council question WASA's myths and get the facts.

The very people who lied to us about lead at the tap in 2001-2004 are now telling us that our water is safe. Their statements contradict an overwhelming amount of evidence that lead in DC's water continues to be high.

Tell the leadership of Washington DC that it must hold WASA accountable now!

For More information Contact:

Yanna Lambrinidou, Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives, 202.997.1834
Andy Fellows, Clean Water Action, 202.895.0420 (x102)
Paul Schwartz, Clean Water Action, 202.895.0420 (x105)