Gao: Epa Lacks Info About Lead Contamination

A government watchdog office has found the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can’t tell whether water systems have done what they can to eliminate lead contamination in drinking water. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

A government watchdog office has found the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency can’t tell whether water systems have done what they
can to eliminate lead contamination in drinking water. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports…


Since 1988, the Lead Contamination Control Act has required testing for
lead in the water. Lead contamination can cause mental retardation
among young children if they’re exposed to the contaminant at high enough
levels.


The Government Accountability Office found the EPA doesn’t know
whether the water is being tested. That’s because 70-percent of the
community water systems in the nation are not filing required reports.


Based on the limited data that have come in, it also appears that very few
schools and childcare facilities have tested their water for lead. The water
needs to be tested at the faucet because the plumbing in homes and schools might
be responsible for high lead levels.


The EPA acknowledges it needs to press the states to more rigorously
test for lead in drinking water and file the reports.


For the GLRC, this is Lester Graham.

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