Milwaukee’s Lead Program Fails Again
Scale of problem currently limited to one family in Bay View, but full review planned.
It’s 2018 all over again, maybe.
The Milwaukee Health Department confirmed Thursday that the family of multiple children who tested positive for elevated blood lead levels didn’t receive the required follow up when the level exceeded five micrograms per deciliter.
“Within the last 48 hours, it has come to our attention that some aspects of our Lead Program have been mismanaged,” said MHD chief of staff Myra Edwards in an email to the Common Council. “The affected children and their family have been contacted and corrective action has been, and will continue to be, taken to mitigate any further lead risk.”‘ The affected family lives in the city’s Bay View neighborhood according to MHD and the council.
The news of a failure is akin to the January 2018 revelation that hundreds of families were not receiving the necessary follow-up or interventions. In two cases, children receiving emergency chelation therapy (a drug-based process to remove lead from blood for the worst cases) were allowed to return to homes without any lead abatement follow up. The federal government halted the city’s childhood lead poisoning prevention program as a result of multiple issues, triggering Mayor Tom Barrett to announce the forced resignation of then-commissioner Bevan K. Baker. A series of text messages revealed Baker knew about the chelation problem as early as September 2017 and was engaged in a discussion on covering it up with a subordinate.
Environmental health field supervisor Richard Gaeta was fired and Lisa Lien, the home environmental health manager, chose to resign rather than be fired. Two additional employees in management, whose names were not released, were disciplined. An outside law firm involved in the management investigation found “an environment full of bullying and unprofessionalism which affected the effective functioning of the Health Department.”
But the scale of the 2021 problem is many orders of magnitude smaller at this point. And the people involved are almost entirely new.
In a statement, the health department said it learned of the issue on June 15th. “Commissioner Kirsten Johnson and deputy commissioner of environmental health Tyler Weber immediately asked for additional information and contacted the [Wisconsin Department of Health Services], the Common Council and Board of Health to inform them of their findings.” Weber joined the department earlier this year, replacing Claire Evers as deputy commissioner of environmental health. He previously worked for Johnson in Ozaukee County.
“Currently, we do not know of other problematic cases, outside of the Bay View case,” said the department. “An internal case review of every elevated blood lead level is planned, in addition to an investigation of staff involved with this family.”
The council members that issued the joint statement are calling for a move away from blood testing as the primary referral mechanism. Under the current system private providers test children’s blood lead levels with referrals made to the health department if follow up is needed.
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More about the Lead Crisis
- Baldwin Delivers $850,000 to Reduce Lead in Schools and Childcare Facilities Throughout Wisconsin - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Aug 29th, 2024
- Baldwin Delivers Over $83 Million to Replace Lead Pipes, Expand Access to Safe Drinking Water - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - May 2nd, 2024
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore Statement on Milwaukee Designation as Workforce Hub - U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore - Apr 26th, 2024
- Biden Announces Milwaukee As New “Workforce Hub” For Lead Pipe Removal - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 25th, 2024
- Senator Baldwin Delivers Nearly $2 Million to Keep Wausau Families Safe from Lead Contamination - U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin - Apr 12th, 2024
- IRS Rules that Homeowners Won’t Have to Pay Additional Taxes for Subsidized Replacement of Lead Pipes - Milwaukee Water Works - Feb 29th, 2024
- Milwaukee Makes It Far Easier To Replace Your Lead Service Line - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 18th, 2023
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore Praises Biden Administration Effort to Remove Lead Pipes in 10 Years - U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore - Nov 30th, 2023
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Partnership with 10 Wisconsin Communities to Accelerate Lead Service Line Replacement as Part of Investing in America Agenda - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Nov 2nd, 2023
- Evers, DNR Announce $402 Million Funding to Improve Local Drinking Water - Henry Redman - Oct 24th, 2023
Read more about Lead Crisis here
Political Contributions Tracker
Displaying political contributions between people mentioned in this story. Learn more.
- November 13, 2017 - Tom Barrett received $35 from Myra Edwards
- March 30, 2016 - Tom Barrett received $100 from Bevan K. Baker
- March 30, 2016 - Tom Barrett received $400 from Myra Edwards
- August 29, 2015 - Tom Barrett received $25 from Bevan K. Baker
- May 5, 2015 - José G. Pérez received $10 from Cavalier Johnson
- May 5, 2015 - José G. Pérez received $100 from JoCasta Zamarripa
Perhaps it may be time to outsource this to the private sector. It also may assist with the pension issue (ever so slightly).