Turns out that thousands of communities have it worse. From Reuters:
The thousands of U.S. locales where lead poisoning is worse than in Flint
On a sunny November afternoon in this historic city, birthplace of the Pony Express and death spot of Jesse James, Lauranda Mignery watched her son Kadin, 2, dig in their front yard. As he played, she scolded him for putting his fingers in his mouth.
In explanation, she pointed to the peeling paint on her old house. Kadin, she said, has been diagnosed with lead poisoning.
He has lots of company: Within 15 blocks of his house, at least 120 small children have been poisoned since 2010, making the neighborhood among the most toxic in Missouri, Reuters found as part of an analysis of childhood lead testing results across the country. In St. Joseph, even a local pediatrician’s children were poisoned.
Last year, the city of Flint, Michigan, burst into the world spotlight after its children were exposed to lead in drinking water and some were poisoned. In the year after Flint switched to corrosive river water that leached lead from old pipes, 5 percent of the children screened there had high blood lead levels.
Flint is no aberration. In fact, it doesn’t even rank among the most dangerous lead hotspots in America.
This is not surprising but whomever is running the water systems is not doing their jobs. Our little water cooperative has stringent rules for testing for coliform bacteria, radioactivity, heavy metals and the trigger levels are very low. Our water is fantastic but other neighborhoods have problems - from The Bellingham Herald:
Whatcom County asks state for millions to contain Swift Creek asbestos
A long-term fix for containing the naturally occurring asbestos and metals that flow into Swift Creek depends on $5.8 million that Whatcom County has asked the Legislature to set aside in the 2017-19 state budget.
It marks the third time the money has been requested from the state. If funding doesn’t come through this time, it could be a case of three strikes and you’re out.
“We are at a critical juncture,” said Roland Middleton, special programs manager for Whatcom County Public Works.
Time to start maintaining the infrastructure.
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