Home day cares, mostly on Chicago’s South and West sides, are prioritized by the city for lead pipe replacements, but future funding is murky. The children at Ruby Williams’ home day care in Austin have been drinking bottled water for years. Williams wasn’t sure if there were any issues with the tap water in her… Read more »
Posts Tagged: lead
How to speed up replacement of toxic lead pipes
With Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration projecting it will take 40 years and up to $12 billion to replace toxic lead water pipes throughout the city, aldermen are pressing for changes to speed up the work while driving down costs. On Tuesday a pair City Council committees heard from water officials in Cincinnati and Newark, New Jersey, two… Read more »
Chicago receives $336M federal loan to replace portion of lead water lines
Loan will cover replacement of just 7 percent of Chicago’s more than 400,000 lead pipes Chicago will receive a $336 million loan to replace up to 30,000 lead pipes across the city, according to an announcement made on Friday by city, state and local leaders. Chicago contains the most lead service lines in the country,… Read more »
Activists Rally for the Removal of lead pipes in Chicago and strong EPA rules: ‘It’s a harsh reality we’re facing daily’
When Sukky Bleck’s infant son was diagnosed last year with bilateral hydronephrosis, a condition preventing urine from draining from the kidney into the bladder, she started questioning herself. [Chicago Tribune] “Was it something I did? What did I do wrong? How can I fix it,” the 27-year-old Southeast Side resident said. Bleck said she soon… Read more »
350 Chicago households will get free water testing kits for lead as part of Northwestern study
Some Chicago-area residents will be able to test the water quality in their homes as part of a Northwestern study that will begin providing free test kits later this year. [Chicago Tribune] Awarded a $3 million federal grant, researchers plan to phase in testing over several years in 350 households, where residents will be able to… Read more »
Some States Reject Federal Money to Find and Replace Millions of Dangerous Lead Pipes
As the Biden administration makes billions of dollars available to remove millions of dangerous lead pipes that can contaminate drinking water and damage brain development in children, some states are turning down funds. [PBS News Hour and the Chicago Tribune]. A cut pipe is pulled from a dig site for lead testing in Royal Oak, Michigan. Lead can… Read more »
Durbin, Duckworth urge HUD to take steps to address lead poisoning
Illinois’ two Democratic senators joined nine colleagues last week urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take further steps to address lead poisoning in federally assisted housing.[Health News Illinois] The 11 senators, including Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, said in a letter sent last week to department Secretary Marcia Fudge that they wanted an… Read more »
My Chicago neighbors and I have lived with lead in our water. Enough is enough.
Safe drinking water is a fundamental human right. Yet, year after year, families in my community still struggle with lead-contaminated drinking water — and it’s coming straight from their faucets. [Chicago Tribune 8.16.2023] The Southeast Side of Chicago is made up of several vibrant communities, full of old houses like mine, plagued by many environmental… Read more »
Durham city workers fence off areas in two parks after high levels of lead found
Durham city workers fenced off areas at two parks which showed concerning lead levels on Friday. [11 ABC, 8.4.2023] According to a memo sent Thursday by the City Manager’s Office, preliminary results of soil samples collected by Mid-Atlantic Associates identified seven spots at Walltown Park and eight spots at East Durham Park as areas that… Read more »
E.P.A. Proposes Tighter Limits on Lead Dust in Homes and Child Care Facilities
The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978, an effort to eliminate exposure to lead that could require millions of property owners to pay for abatement. [New York Times 7.12.2023] Lead is a neurotoxin and exposure can damage… Read more »