Sen. Taylor questions Milwaukee’s lead testing practice
“Lead poisoning is a community health crisis and it will take the alignment of all levels of government to solve this issue.”
(MADISON) – Last week, an article in The Guardian indicated that Milwaukee is one of at least 33 cities that violated Environmental Protection Agency guidelines when testing water for lead. The story stated that Milwaukee’s practice was to “cheat” the test by flushing the pipes prior to testing. Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) yesterday wrote a letter to Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett questioning Milwaukee’s lead testing and abatement efforts. Below is Sen. Taylor’s statement on this issue:
“Lead poisoning is a community health crisis and it will take the alignment of all levels of government to solve this issue. At the very least, people’s water should be tested for lead according to EPA guidelines. There’s more to do on this issue. People also need to be tested and we should help them get treatment for lead poisoning if they have elevated lead levels in their blood.”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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Can someone explain? The instructions on home lead tests suggest running the water for 5 to 10 minutes before taking the sample. That’s cheating?
We know most homes have lead pipes running from the street to the house. If we let the water sit in the lead pipe, of course it will pick up lead. If we want to prove something we already know, then don’t flush the pipe first.
I would assume you flush because your home probably doesn’t have lead pipes so you’re removing the water that’s been sitting in your PVC or copper pipes to get to the water that has been sitting in the lateral.