On May 10, 2017, The Sierra Club - John Muir Chapter is releasing a white paper, Lead Contamination in Wisconsin, which highlights the threats and possible solutions to lead contamination in drinking water and the health impact on Wisconsin residents. The release is happening at a press event in Racine, Wisconsin and will feature speakers that highlight the local threats of lead. Attend the press event. Read the white paper.
Recently, a study from the Wisconsin Public Research Interest group (WISPIRG) gave the state of Wisconsin an “F” grade for its efforts to protect children from lead in the drinking water. The study’s findings serve to further highlight the reality that is increasingly being discussed: Wisconsin simply does not do enough to safeguard our children, and all Wisconsinites for that matter, from the adverse health impacts of lead exposure. Lead exposure can originate from several different sources, including lead deposits in the soil and lead present in older paints, but the primary point of focus lately has been older lead pipes and their negative effects on drinking water.
Wisconsin currently relies heavily on the federal “action level” of 15 parts per billion per liter. However, this level is widely criticized by experts who consider it to be far too lenient, and assert that there is no safe level of lead, especially among children who are significantly more vulnerable to damage from lead exposure. For children under 5 in the critical stages of development, lead exposure can lead to difficulty concentrating and learning, issues with aggressive behavior, and potentially even the development or worsening of learning disabilities. This damage is permanent in nature, and may go undetected for several years while the harm continues to pile up.
While some view lead pipes as a primarily Milwaukeean problem, there are over 200,000 lead service pipes operating today in Wisconsin, with thousands of the offending pipes being found in Oshkosh, Wausau, Sheboygan, Racine, Kenosha, and West Allis, among other localities, proving that this is truly a statewide issue. Several programs have been attempted to help combat the problem, but unfortunately they are falling terribly short in scope. A 14.5 million dollar DNR program entitled “Safe Drinking Water Loan Program” was launched to help rid schools and daycares of lead pipes, but the program simply is not large enough or comprehensive enough to tackle the statewide lead pipe problem, or to make up for lacking state laws and policies. An 11-million-dollar grant from the federal government in 2016 is running into similar problems, and is addressing a mere 3 percent of the state’s lead pipe infrastructure.
With an issue of this scale, all available programs and ideas should be considered for their potential effectiveness in alleviating this statewide public health crisis, and partisanship must take a backseat to ensuring the health and livelihood of young Wisconsinites. To that end, State Senator Rob Cowles (R-Green Bay) has a proposal that would enable local water utilities to provide financial assistance for replacing lead service lines. In addition, proposals for more state money to be allocated to municipalities to address their problems should also be weighed, as replacing lead pipes on a large scale is frightening expensive, albeit undoubtedly worthwhile.
More than just money and simply going about replacing pipes, other policy matters should be discussed towards understanding and stamping out the lead problem. State law does not require proactive steps to be taken to remove lead infrastructure, nor does it require testing of a school’s drinking water for lead, or remediation in many cases where lead contamination has been discovered in a school’s drinking water. Additionally, if a school were to discover the existence of lead pipes, it is not required to inform parents of this. Rectifying these laws to make the law work towards better public health, more transparency, and corrective action should be a top priority.
As you can see, lead pipes and their corresponding health risks are an important issue to address moving forward, and one which certainly deserves the necessary and proper apportionment of Wisconsin money and other resources. For the sake of our children, we must come together to enact the policies that will allow us better identify and quickly address the very serious issue of lead contamination. Working together, I am sure we can find bipartisan solutions to a unifying issue, and ensure the health and well-being of the next generation of Wisconsinites.
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By Brian Wagenaar, Chapter Legislative Intern