LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of residents of Flint, Michigan, who were harmed by lead-tainted water now totals about $641 million, officials revealed Tuesday.
The lawsuit was the result of workers following state environmental officials’ advice not to use anti-corrosive additives.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/ap-flint-water-lawsuit-settlement/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
Residents of Sycamore, Illinois, have filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Sycamore, alleging that it knowingly failed to maintain its water supply and ignored problems with its corrosion control treatment.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/11/drinking-water-news-lead-illinois-michigan-first-nations/
There are an estimated 6.1 to 9.3 million lead service lines – pipes carrying drinking water – across the country. Ohio is second in the nation for lead service lines at an estimated 650,000 lead service lines carrying water to families’ homes, second only to IL. While it is unclear how much money it will really take to fully remove lead service lines in Ohio, on the low end it can run approximately $2,400 a line and on the high end approximately $7,100 a line, which could mean anywhere from $1.95 B to $4.62 B over 20 years to fully replace the lead service lines.
Recently the Ohio EPA announced up to $20 million in grant-like funding to eligible lead service line replacement projects through the state’s Drinking Water Assistance Fund for fiscal years (July 1st – June 30th) 2021 and 2022. Communities can receive up to $1 million per a year. The funding criteria does require the replacement of both the public and private lead service line. The private service line is the line that runs generally from the curb of your house inside the house.
Is your community taking advantage of this funding? Call your local elected officials to find out.
As a mom I worry about my children and as a scientist and environmentalist, I probably know too much to taper my worrying. I worry about the food they are eating, about their mental and social well-being, and about what is in the water they are drinking. I worry so much, that when news of Flint, MI and then Sebring, OH’s lead-in-water crisis broke, I called their school districts’ operation manager to find out the last time they tested for lead in the school system. I also made my husband watch the documentary made about the Flint water crisis – there was a lot of anger and tension that night watching the documentary and rightfully so.
No parent should ever have to worry if their child is unbeknownst to them being poisoned by lead. When I watched and heard stories about parents unknowingly giving their children water tainted with lead, it brought me to my knees. I saw and heard their pain and I knew the lives of these families had been changed forever. This is why I work so hard with my colleagues daily to fully remove lead service lines from communities across the Great Lakes and to make sure those unable to afford to replace their private water lead service line have access to grant funding. It is also why Freshwater Future trains community members on how to take action and protect themselves, while also working to change policies. It is why I, and my colleagues, also work with partners across the Great Lakes that deal with lead in paint, because we know we must take a one-touch approach to removing lead from houses completely.
Author: Kristy Meyer, Freshwater Future Director of Policy
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/ohio-environmental-protection-agency-provides-funding-for-lead-service-line-replacement/
Protecting our children and family from lead based products go back as far as we can remember. In 1978, the use of lead based paint was banned inside buildings. During those times, great harm was discovered when the paint began to crack and chip, due to the bumping and rubbing against walls and window sills. Breaking down into dust and contaminating the air with microscopic particles unseen to the eye and inhaled, thus elevating blood lead levels and risk of lead poisoning. Air quality within the family’s home once compromised has been corrected and readjusted for a safer and healthier home by using water-based paint. Be that as it may, lead continues to persist as an everyday challenge for people within their home, if it is not the air being compromised, it’s their drinking water.
Lead service lines (LSL) have been known to increase the lead content within our drinking water for centuries. In 1986, new LSL’s were banned to be installed though existing lines were permitted to stay. Instead of removing them completely alternative strategies were implemented such as lining the pipes with a corrosion control solution to reduce the amount of lead leaching into the water, partial lead line replacement, and a federal lead regulation disallowing lead levels in water to surpass 15 parts per billion (ppb).
The Center of Disease Control (CDC) pronounced the partial lead line replacement could backfire and substantially increase the content of lead in water. Similar to lead paint, if the LSL is disturb it would release higher concentrations of lead than if the pipe remained static. Making full lead line replacement superior.
To be clear there is no safe level of lead in your water, and full lead line replacement is the best option to eliminate lead from our water. However, the greater the concentration of lead the greater risk of health impairments. According to the CDC, exposure to high levels of lead may cause anemia, weakness, kidney and brain damage. Very high lead exposure can cause death. Lead can cross the placental barrier, which means pregnant women who are exposed to lead also expose their unborn child. Lead can damage a developing baby’s nervous system. Children who survive severe lead poisoning may be left with mental retardation and behavioural disorders that include but are not limited to increased aggression which may lead to more violence, and a decreased IQ level.
Equitable opportunities sit at the heart of Freshwater Future’s core values. Lead is a serious issue and all communities should be given the proper care and resources to protect themselves and their family. That is why Freshwater Future has created a slew of content regarding lead to serve as an additional resource hub for community members looking for more information on how to protect their families and their drinking water from lead exposure.
Author: Brandon Tyus, Freshwater Future Community Programming & Policy Associate
Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/how-the-lead-did-we-get-here/
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A western Michigan city has been selected to receive a $5.1 million federal water infrastructure improvement grant to help pay for lead service line replacement.
The funding also will support public engagement in Grand Rapids on the risks of lead in drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-grand-rapids-lead-pipe-replacement-grant/
By Robin Erb, Bridge Michigan, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/covid-testing-lead-poisoning-michigan/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Eric Freedman, Capital News Service
To keep healthy this fall, deer hunters have more to worry about than just COVID-19 and the flu.
On the beware list: a group of chemicals known as PFAS and lead from ammunition.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/hunters-contaminated-game-pfas-lead/
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday ordered Flint to check for lead or galvanized steel water lines in neighborhoods built since the 1990s, despite the city’s belief that the homes have copper pipes.
Flint is in the homestretch of digging down to water lines at more than 20,000 properties and replacing them if necessary, the result of a deal that settled a lawsuit by residents and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-judge-flint-water-lines-newer-neighborhoods/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Indiana:
The Environmental Protection Agency is set to install six groundwater monitoring wells to investigate the contaminated water plume beneath much of Kokomo.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/drinking-water-wisconsin-wells-septic-first-nations-lead-pipes/
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced a $500 million plan Thursday to upgrade drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in Michigan that includes actions such as replacing lead service lines and removing chemical pollutants.
The initiative, dubbed MI Clean Water, calls for creating a pot of money from which local governments could apply for grants or loans to improve their water treatment systems.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/10/ap-whitmer-michigan-500-million-water-infrastructure-plan/
By Lynne Peeples, Ensia, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
This story is the first in a nine-month investigation of drinking water contamination across the U.S. The series is supported by funding from the Park Foundation and Water Foundation.
Once a week, Florencia Ramos makes a special trip to the R–N Market in Lindsay, California.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/09/drinking-unsafe-water-contaminants-solutions/
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A $600 million deal between the state of Michigan and Flint residents who were harmed by lead-tainted water is a step toward making amends for a disaster that upended life in the poor, majority-Black city, Gov.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/ap-whitmer-flint-water-deal-600-million/
Michigan will pay $600 million to compensate Flint residents whose health was damaged by lead-tainted drinking water after the city heeded state regulators’ advice not to treat it properly, an attorney involved in the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Details will be released later this week, according to the attorney, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about it ahead of an official announcement.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/ap-michigan-deal-flint-water-crisis/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Minnesota:
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is reminding farmers and landowners that beginning Sept.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/drinking-water-contamination-mining-grants-tribal-communities/
By Matt Martinez, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Services, through the Institute for Nonprofit News network
The city is significantly behind in its goal to replace 1,100 lead pipes by the end of the year, exacerbated in part by the ongoing pandemic, Milwaukee officials say.
As of Aug.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/08/milwaukee-significantly-behind-lead-pipes-by-end-of-year/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full ory:
Indiana:
The White River Alliance, the premier organization for regional water resource protection in Indiana, is going virtual for the third annual Indiana Water Summit, a forum developed to examine the complex interests and issues that face Indiana’s water supply.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/drinking-water-lead-pittsburgh-ny-stream-protection/
DETROIT (AP) — Flint residents whose health and homes were harmed by lead-contaminated water scored a legal milestone Wednesday when the Michigan Supreme Court said they could proceed with a lawsuit against public officials for the disastrous decisions that caused the scandal.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/ap-court-flint-class-action-lead-water/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
In this edition: Minnesota DNR decides water quality study is not needed for irrigation well, Saranac Lake drinking water has elevated sodium levels, New York will receive $22 million from EPA for water infrastructure projects, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency holds public meeting to answer questions about 20-year clean water plan, Penn State webinar provides water management assistance for those on private water supplies, Pennsylvania grand jury finds state environmental and health departments did not properly oversee fracking industry, Ontario government seeks public comment on groundwater withdrawal proposal, Thunder Bay City Council approves loan program for private replacement of lead service lines, national plumbing standard revised to require greater protections from lead leaching, EPA decides not to set drinking water standards for chemical found in rocket fuel, and Environmental Working Group study finds nitrate contamination in thousands of communities is getting worse.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/07/drinking-water-fracking-pennsylvania-lead-epa-water-infrastructure/
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you are on a roller coaster ascending the first and highest hill on the ride. You hear the click, click, click as the car slowly climbs to the top and you start getting excited, even nervous, the closer you get to the peak.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/michigan-history-environmental-contamination/
The Trump administration has made a habit of rolling back federal environmental protections over the past few years.
According to The New York Times, 100 environmental rules have been reversed since President Donald Trump took office. Among those rules are thirteen changes or proposed changes that directly impact the Great Lakes, other regional waterways and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/regulatory-rollbacks-federal-water-protections-great-lakes-region/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle in the region.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2020/06/drinking-water-news-roundup-contamination-runoff-grants-lead/
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Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/freshwater-weekly-february-22-2020/
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Blog – Freshwater Future
https://freshwaterfuture.org/uncategorized/freshwater-weekly-february-16th-2020/
