Why Is There Still Lead in America’s Water?
The continuing injustice of Flint should be a wakeup call. With billions flowing from Washington and millions of lead pipes still in place across the country, now is the time to establish access to clean water as a human right.
New Orleans and other communities along the Mississippi River in southeast Louisiana face a looming crisis. Salt water creeping up the river is threatening to corrode pipes and release toxic lead, putting millions of people at risk.
The threat of lead pipes is nothing new, of course. Before the world learned that tens of thousands of people in Flint, Mich., were being poisoned, officials had dismissed residents’ concerns that their water was making them sick. This astounding neglect shone a light on systemic inequities that have been baked into too many of our communities for far too long. It was a moment of reckoning, underlining the question of who gets to be healthy in America and who is left behind.
From central Michigan to southeastern Louisiana, we’ve known for years that lead in drinking water is a public health catastrophe. It’s past time to rebuild trust between communities and their water and establish access to clean and affordable water as a human right — no matter where one lives. It’s past time for government leaders at the local, state and federal level to make this a top priority and dedicate the resources to get it right.
Flint’s pipes were to be replaced within three years. A decade later, Flint waits — a case study in what ails America. An estimated 9.2 million lead service lines still supply drinking water nationwide, according to a 2021 report by the Environmental Protection Agency, even though lead pipes have been outlawed in new construction since 1986. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that no amount of lead exposure is safe. Compounding the problem, more than 2 million Americans don’t currently have running water in their homes and millions more are exposed to contaminated water supplies.
Communities have experienced lasting health effects from these exposures. In Flint, the number of children with elevated blood lead levels has doubled, from 2.5 percent to 5 percent. Children are the most vulnerable to lead’s effects: Lead exposure has been linked to nervous system damage, learning disabilities, hearing impairment and other serious complications. These all have lifelong ripple effects, leading to behavioral and health problems, joblessness and even criminal records. Exposure in adults can increase the risk of cardiovascular, kidney and reproductive issues.
Like many other health disparities, Black communities are disproportionately affected. Research has found that blood lead levels are higher in children living in racially segregated neighborhoods — underscoring the systematic racism that shapes our neighborhoods and determines who endures harmful environmental crises. These are the communities left behind on vital public health projects, a failure of government at all levels.
