Report Finds Lax Lead Contamination Oversight In Georgia

The threat of lead-contaminated drinking water is exacerbated by poor oversight from government agencies, according to an article assessing regulatory oversight in Georgia.

For a report published by WebMD, journalists reviewed lead testing records for water systems in Georgia through the Open Records Act. They focused on systems serving more than 10,000 people. The 105 water systems reviewed in the article provide water to around 75 percent of Georgians.

The records show that lead testing is not being carried out in an effective way, according to the report.

“We found a process hindered by poor record keeping and an apparent failure to follow a federal rule that’s been on the books for more than 25 years,” the report said.

The main findings, per the report:

• About half — 58 — have tested some sites at lower risk for lead problems instead of focusing solely on those at highest risk.
• 49 of those water departments had also labeled some lower-risk sites as higher risk, giving the appearance they were following testing guidelines.

The Flint lead contamination crisis sparked several investigations into the threat that lead contamination poses to drinking water supplies across the country. The findings have indicated Flint was hardly an isolated incident.

In a sweeping investigation into lead contamination in the U.S., titled “Beyond Flint,” USA Today identified “almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years.”

Meanwhile, a Reuters investigation of lead testing results across the country identified “nearly 3,000 areas with recently recorded lead poisoning rates at least double those in Flint during the peak of that city’s contamination crisis. And more than 1,100 of these communities had a rate of elevated blood tests at least four times higher. Reuters examined neighborhood-level blood testing results in its reports, noting that much of it had not been disclosed in the past.”

To read more about lead contamination visit Water Online’s Drinking Water Regulations And Legislation Solutions Center.