angelburst29
The Living Force
USA Today investigation: 350 schools and day-care centers failed lead tests a total of about 470 times from 2012 through 2015
http://theantimedia.org/investigation-finds-350-schools-across-the-country-tainted-with-lead-laced-water/
March 18, 2016 - (COMMONDREAMS)
While a congressional hearing Thursday focused attention on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan news reporting from around the country reveals that the problem of lead-contamination afflicts communities nationwide.
A multi-part USA Today investigation published this week identified almost 2,000 additional water systems in all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years. “The water systems, which reported lead levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] standards, collectively supply water to 6 million people,” according to reporters Alison Young and Mark Nichols.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/11/nearly-2000-water-systems-fail-lead-tests/81220466/ (Map)
The series installment released Thursday details hundreds of educational facilities across the nation “where children were exposed to water containing excessive amounts of an element doctors agree is unsafe at any level.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/03/17/drinking-water-lead-schools-day-cares/81220916/
According to the paper’s analysis of EPA data, about 350 schools and day-care centers failed lead tests a total of about 470 times from 2012 through 2015.
A similar “solution” has been in place for two years at an elementary school outside of Fresno, according to California’s Desert Sun on Wednesday.
Common Dreams wrote last week about how public schools in Newark, New Jersey, were forced to shut off drinking fountains after test results showed high levels of lead in the water supply; NJ.com says similar tests have uncovered lead in water lines at Morristown Medical Center, as well as supplies overseen by the Passaic Valley Water Commission, which brings water to towns across five North Jersey counties.
“We need to do a better job of testing throughout the state and fixing these problems,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, earlier this month. “We can’t allow our children to be put at risk.”
Data analyzed after the Flint story broke showed that that lead exposure “is a pervasive issue in the United States,” Sarah Frostenson wrote for Vox at the time. “In some places outside of Flint,” she said, “more than half of children test positive for lead poisoning.”
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported Thursday on “startlingly elevated” levels of lead in Jackson, Mississippi’s drinking water.
“As with Flint,” the Guardian noted, “the problem in Jackson appears to be related to inadequate corrosion control, and the months of delay in state action raises shades of Flint, something that Michigan governor Rick Snyder will testify on before a congressional committee on Thursday.”
The story continued:
“An astonishing 22% of homes in Jackson, Mississippi, exceeded the federal ‘action’ lead level of 15 parts per billion, according to government tests done in June. Compare that with Flint, where researchers from Virginia Tech sampled hundreds of homes as residents begged for help and found 16.7% of homes exceeded the federal “action” lead level, though the sampling methodology may be different in the two cases.
“But Mississippi officials did not notify the city of Jackson of the results until January, and it was not until February that the state issued a warning for pregnant women and small children. A sampling of 101 homes in January and February this year showed 11% of homes above the federal lead limit – a number that is still worrisome, under federal regulations.
The residents of Jackson are stunned.”
Another similarity between Flint and Jackson is that both are majority-black cities. As Andrew Subica, assistant professor of social medicine and population health at UC Riverside, warned soon after the Flint crisis came to light: “Unfortunately, research suggests this water crisis is not an isolated incident of poor public policies endangering the health of residents living in economically distressed communities.”
And while the people in Flint and Jackson are served by public water systems, those who draw water from private wells aren’t much better off, Reuters recently found.
“Across the country, millions of Americans served by private wells drink, bathe and cook with water containing potentially dangerous amounts of lead,” the news agency wrote last week, basing its assertion on reporting and recent university studies.
All this serves to support USA Today‘s thesis that across water systems big and small, “limited and inconsistent testing means the full scope of the lead contamination problem could be even more widespread. People in thousands more communities served by water systems that have been deemed in compliance with the EPA’s lead rules have no assurance their drinking water is safe from the brain-damaging toxin.”
Lead Found In Drinking Water In 10 Oregon Schools (Video)
http://investmentwatchblog.com/lead-found-in-drinking-water-in-10-oregon-schools/
Ohio EPA refused to warn residents about toxic lead in drinking water despite knowing about it for months
http://www.naturalnews.com/053375_EPA_contaminated_water_Sebring_Ohio.html
As reported by The Columbus Dispatch and The Daily Sheeple, Ohio state environmental officials were aware as early as last October that residents of the small town – located in Mahoning County, about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland – were consuming lead-tainted water, but failed to warn the general public.
Toxic carcinogen found in 80 of New Jersey water systems
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/toxic-carcinogen-found-in-80-of-new-jersey-water-systems/
Small amounts of a probable carcinogen were found in more than 80 water systems in every part of the state according to an analysis of federal data by The Record.
The chemical, 1,4-dioxane, raised concerns after it was found at a Superfund site in Ringwood. 1,4-dioxane can damage the liver, kidney and respiratory systems.
Ken Garrison, the borough engineer for Fair Lawn, which supplies water to its 32,000 residents, called on regulators to provide guidance to water suppliers.
The city of Portland, Oregon will join six other west coast cities in suing Monsanto for polluting its waterways with cancer-causing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
http://www.mintpressnews.com/portland-sue-monsanto-contaminating-waterway-pcbs/214887/
Monsanto manufactured over 1 billion pounds of PCBs and the company’s own documents show they continued to sell the man-made chemicals after becoming aware of the dangers to both humans as well as the environment.
Flint burglary where water files stored 'an inside job,' police chief says
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/03/break-in_where_water_files_sto.html
FLINT, MI -- Mystery still surrounds an unsolved December break-in at an executive office inside City Hall where Flint water files were kept.
Although, federal criminal investigations regarding the Flint water crisis were not announced until February, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder did not declare a state emergency until January.
Erin Brockovich has a map of 10,000 US communities with poisoned water
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/erin-brockovich-has-a-map-of-10000-us-communities-with-poisoned-water-a6939576.html
Erin Brockovich has claimed she has made a map of 10,000 communities across the US whose populations are suffering due to a polluted and contaminated water supply like in Flint, Michigan.
We Are All Flint
http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/we-are-all-flint/
Radioactive tritium found present at over 200 times normal levels in Florida Bay
http://www.naturalnews.com/053362_radioactive_tritium_water_quality_Florida.html
Florida's Biscayne Bay. Water sampling of its waters revealed hundreds of times more than the normal amount of tritium, a radioactive isotope that's produced by nearby nuclear reactors.
http://theantimedia.org/investigation-finds-350-schools-across-the-country-tainted-with-lead-laced-water/
March 18, 2016 - (COMMONDREAMS)
While a congressional hearing Thursday focused attention on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan news reporting from around the country reveals that the problem of lead-contamination afflicts communities nationwide.
A multi-part USA Today investigation published this week identified almost 2,000 additional water systems in all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years. “The water systems, which reported lead levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] standards, collectively supply water to 6 million people,” according to reporters Alison Young and Mark Nichols.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/03/11/nearly-2000-water-systems-fail-lead-tests/81220466/ (Map)
The series installment released Thursday details hundreds of educational facilities across the nation “where children were exposed to water containing excessive amounts of an element doctors agree is unsafe at any level.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/03/17/drinking-water-lead-schools-day-cares/81220916/
According to the paper’s analysis of EPA data, about 350 schools and day-care centers failed lead tests a total of about 470 times from 2012 through 2015.
A similar “solution” has been in place for two years at an elementary school outside of Fresno, according to California’s Desert Sun on Wednesday.
Common Dreams wrote last week about how public schools in Newark, New Jersey, were forced to shut off drinking fountains after test results showed high levels of lead in the water supply; NJ.com says similar tests have uncovered lead in water lines at Morristown Medical Center, as well as supplies overseen by the Passaic Valley Water Commission, which brings water to towns across five North Jersey counties.
“We need to do a better job of testing throughout the state and fixing these problems,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, earlier this month. “We can’t allow our children to be put at risk.”
Data analyzed after the Flint story broke showed that that lead exposure “is a pervasive issue in the United States,” Sarah Frostenson wrote for Vox at the time. “In some places outside of Flint,” she said, “more than half of children test positive for lead poisoning.”
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported Thursday on “startlingly elevated” levels of lead in Jackson, Mississippi’s drinking water.
“As with Flint,” the Guardian noted, “the problem in Jackson appears to be related to inadequate corrosion control, and the months of delay in state action raises shades of Flint, something that Michigan governor Rick Snyder will testify on before a congressional committee on Thursday.”
The story continued:
“An astonishing 22% of homes in Jackson, Mississippi, exceeded the federal ‘action’ lead level of 15 parts per billion, according to government tests done in June. Compare that with Flint, where researchers from Virginia Tech sampled hundreds of homes as residents begged for help and found 16.7% of homes exceeded the federal “action” lead level, though the sampling methodology may be different in the two cases.
“But Mississippi officials did not notify the city of Jackson of the results until January, and it was not until February that the state issued a warning for pregnant women and small children. A sampling of 101 homes in January and February this year showed 11% of homes above the federal lead limit – a number that is still worrisome, under federal regulations.
The residents of Jackson are stunned.”
Another similarity between Flint and Jackson is that both are majority-black cities. As Andrew Subica, assistant professor of social medicine and population health at UC Riverside, warned soon after the Flint crisis came to light: “Unfortunately, research suggests this water crisis is not an isolated incident of poor public policies endangering the health of residents living in economically distressed communities.”
And while the people in Flint and Jackson are served by public water systems, those who draw water from private wells aren’t much better off, Reuters recently found.
“Across the country, millions of Americans served by private wells drink, bathe and cook with water containing potentially dangerous amounts of lead,” the news agency wrote last week, basing its assertion on reporting and recent university studies.
All this serves to support USA Today‘s thesis that across water systems big and small, “limited and inconsistent testing means the full scope of the lead contamination problem could be even more widespread. People in thousands more communities served by water systems that have been deemed in compliance with the EPA’s lead rules have no assurance their drinking water is safe from the brain-damaging toxin.”
Lead Found In Drinking Water In 10 Oregon Schools (Video)
http://investmentwatchblog.com/lead-found-in-drinking-water-in-10-oregon-schools/
Ohio EPA refused to warn residents about toxic lead in drinking water despite knowing about it for months
http://www.naturalnews.com/053375_EPA_contaminated_water_Sebring_Ohio.html
As reported by The Columbus Dispatch and The Daily Sheeple, Ohio state environmental officials were aware as early as last October that residents of the small town – located in Mahoning County, about 60 miles southeast of Cleveland – were consuming lead-tainted water, but failed to warn the general public.
Toxic carcinogen found in 80 of New Jersey water systems
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/toxic-carcinogen-found-in-80-of-new-jersey-water-systems/
Small amounts of a probable carcinogen were found in more than 80 water systems in every part of the state according to an analysis of federal data by The Record.
The chemical, 1,4-dioxane, raised concerns after it was found at a Superfund site in Ringwood. 1,4-dioxane can damage the liver, kidney and respiratory systems.
Ken Garrison, the borough engineer for Fair Lawn, which supplies water to its 32,000 residents, called on regulators to provide guidance to water suppliers.
The city of Portland, Oregon will join six other west coast cities in suing Monsanto for polluting its waterways with cancer-causing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)
http://www.mintpressnews.com/portland-sue-monsanto-contaminating-waterway-pcbs/214887/
Monsanto manufactured over 1 billion pounds of PCBs and the company’s own documents show they continued to sell the man-made chemicals after becoming aware of the dangers to both humans as well as the environment.
Flint burglary where water files stored 'an inside job,' police chief says
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2016/03/break-in_where_water_files_sto.html
FLINT, MI -- Mystery still surrounds an unsolved December break-in at an executive office inside City Hall where Flint water files were kept.
Although, federal criminal investigations regarding the Flint water crisis were not announced until February, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder did not declare a state emergency until January.
Erin Brockovich has a map of 10,000 US communities with poisoned water
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/erin-brockovich-has-a-map-of-10000-us-communities-with-poisoned-water-a6939576.html
Erin Brockovich has claimed she has made a map of 10,000 communities across the US whose populations are suffering due to a polluted and contaminated water supply like in Flint, Michigan.
We Are All Flint
http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/we-are-all-flint/
Radioactive tritium found present at over 200 times normal levels in Florida Bay
http://www.naturalnews.com/053362_radioactive_tritium_water_quality_Florida.html
Florida's Biscayne Bay. Water sampling of its waters revealed hundreds of times more than the normal amount of tritium, a radioactive isotope that's produced by nearby nuclear reactors.
