Today, Explained - Still not safe to drink

Episode Date: August 30, 2019

First it was Flint, now it's Newark. Why do American cities keep contaminating their water? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A lot of you are about to enjoy a long weekend, Labor Day here in the United States, Labor Day up in Canada. If you would like a Labor Day deal, Stitcher would like to offer you 30% off Stitcher Premium. You get a whole lot of ad-free shows, including this one, plus bonus episodes from some of your favorite shows and comedy albums to listen to. If you're interested, go to stitcherpremium.com slash Labor Day and use the code L-A-B-O-R-D-A-Y, Labor Day, for 30% off your subscription. Welcome to the 2019 VMAs. My name is Sebastian Maniscalco, and I'm going to be your host tonight. Thank you so much. This is my first award ever.

Right now, I'm joined by Taylor Swift, everyone. You're nominated 12 times tonight. How does that feel? It feels great. Just a minute ago, a bunch of protesters just came down rushing toward the Prudential Center on Edison Avenue. You can see, if you take a look behind me, it's a million men. What do we want? We want freedom! What do we need? Now! This is our city! This is our town! And you've got to do it!

You have the VMAs! It's ours! Most of these protesters are residents here in Newark who are trying to call out the city right now for holding the VMAs instead of canceling the VMAs in wake of the ongoing water crisis. Karen Yee, you've been covering the Newark water crisis in the Star Ledger. What's behind these protests we saw this week? The lead crisis has gotten a lot of attention recently, but really this problem dates back to 2016 when lead levels began to spike in the public

school system. Annual water contamination tests at Newark's public schools were conducted between december and february newark schools plan to seek the consent of parents of students to conduct blood testing for lead in the 30 schools with elevated lead levels on tuesday on wednesday the district turned off water at 30 schools after results revealed unsafe lead levels. And they shut off about 400 sources of drinking water, and they passed out bottled water to children who were thirsty. ShopRite answered the mayor's call and delivered more than 38,000 bottles of water after the city cut off the drinking water at 30 affected schools.

And this came at a time right after Flint. So at that point, there was a lot of alarm over whether this could be another Flint. But the district at the time, you know, moved pretty quickly to replace all of the old lead plumbing in the schools, add new filtration systems, and implement a more robust sampling plan so they could know whether this could continue to be a problem. Did they find out what the source of the lead was in the schools? Officials at the time said that this was an indoor plumbing problem. The lead was coming from old lead solder, old lead faucets, old lead fixtures, and those were subsequently replaced.

So it sounds like it's still a limited problem at this point in 2016. Right. Fast forward to 2017, that's when we started seeing lead levels citywide. Prior to 2017, Newark was on a three-year testing cycle, so they basically had to sample 50 homes every three years. As of 2017, they had to sample 100 homes every six months. And the first time they did the sampling, we saw a big problem. More than 10% of the sampled homes were above the federal limit for lead, which is 15 parts per billion. How bad is that? Is anything less than that okay? This is just a bar set by the government that says, you know, if certain percentages of your samples are over this

threshold, you have to take action. But there's no safe level of lead for consumption at all. I mean, it has effects primarily on children, pregnant women, when it comes to cognition, when it comes to development. Lead is in the water. Lead can be in paint. Lead could be in dust. It's in multiple different areas and children can be exposed in multiple different ways. So in June 2017, they have these sort of alarming citywide results. What came from that announcement? What happened next? At that point, the city issued an alert, and they announced that they were starting a program

to replace the source of the lead, which is these lead pipes that are snaking underground. So is that where the lead's been coming from? Not the actual source water, but the pipes? Lead is coming from the infrastructure. Newark gets its water from different reservoirs in the state, and that gets treated and then pumped through a distribution system. So the lead is coming from these pipes called lead service lines,

which are the size of a garden hose, and they basically connect individual homes to underground water mains. Water mains are kind of the big pipes that run in the middle of residential streets. So these lead service lines are the connector to each individual home to pump water. And in Newark, there's about 36,000 service lines, and about 18,000 of those are made of lead. So there's a ton of lead piping under Newark. How is it only a problem now? So there's a treatment called corrosion control and this is basically a set of chemicals that gets pumped into the water and as it flows through the distribution system it's

supposed to react with the lead in these pipes to create a crust, like a protective barrier to keep that lead from dissolving into the water. And so when that failed, you were essentially having corrosive, like highly acidic water flowing through these pipes, causing the lead to dissolve into the water and come out of the tap. So it's a twofold problem, like an infrastructure problem and then a failure of treatment problem. I see. So if you have lead pipes, it's not necessarily a problem if this corrosion control system keeps working? Ideally, no, right? I mean, if a water treatment plant is operating as it should,

you have to protect against, you know, old infrastructure and lead that could be leaching from these old pipes. Do we know when this treatment system stopped working or why it stopped working? The city hired an outside engineering company that drafted an extensive study looking at this. And all that report could tell us is the treatment failed sometime before 2017, which is when we saw the lead levels spiked. As to what caused the treatment to stop working, sometime around 2012, there was a new rule meant to prevent possible carcinogens from being in the water. And to meet this rule, this treatment plant that we're talking about, the Poquani treatment plant,

lowered the pH of the water. And in making the water more acidic, the water became more corrosive and rendered this corrosion control treatment less effective over time. Wow. So they were trying to solve another problem then and created this one. Exactly. You know, it's called simultaneous compliance. They're trying to comply with a medley of ever-changing standards and rules. And so it seems like in an effort to prevent possible carcinogens from being in the water, they lowered the pH, rendering the corrosion control treatment less effective over time. Okay, I feel like I have a solid understanding of how these pipes work now. So let's jump back into the timeline. 2016, we see lead in the water

in some schools. 2017, we start seeing lead levels citywide. And then 2018 is when the NRDC gets involved. Is that right? Yeah, it's the Natural Resources Defense Council. And they are a water advocacy group. And they sued in Flint a few years back and successfully won their lawsuit. And they came to Newark and started making a lot of public records requests to find out, you know, how bad are the lead levels? What's been the city's response? And from what they found, they weren't satisfied.

Eventually, they ended up suing the city in federal court in June 2018. The lawsuit claims state officials ignored federal law when they failed to treat drinking water for corrosion, leading to dangerously high levels of lead. And that lawsuit is still ongoing. And what was supposed to happen with the water in the meantime? The city had handed out these 39,000 filters, and that was supposed to be the short-term fix while the city changed its treatment and made it better and while

the city also dug up these old pipes and replaced them with copper pipes. Today the mayor announced the corrosion control system is no longer effective and home filtration systems are needed. Studies show that the corrosion control presently being used has not been effective in various parts of the North Ward, parts of the South Ward, the West Ward, and the Central Ward. The treatment process can take up to a year to get remedied, and then replacing all the pipes was supposed to take eight years to a decade to get remedied. So in the meantime, they said, look, use these filters. But what happened in August is that three homes were sampled post-filtration. So this means that the water went through the filter, which are nationally certified. And when they tested that water... Two of those water filters came back where the lead was not reduced to a level that we

were comfortable with. These are filters that have been used across the country. They've been used in Flint and have been found to appropriately and effectively remove lead and make the water safe to drink. And they weren't doing that here in Newark. They were removing lead, but they just weren't removing lead at the levels that they should have. That prompted the EPA to get involved and really say to Newark, like, you have to provide an alternate source of drinking water until we figure out what is wrong with these filters. That prompted the rollout of 70,000 cases of water to affected residents.

From brushing teeth to cleaning produce to cooking, almost everything is done with bottled water. August 9th is when the EPA sends a letter to the city saying, we're recommending strongly that you distribute bottled water. By that Monday, August 12th, the city rolled out its plan to distribute bottled water.

By Tuesday, we find out that this bottled water, which had been provided by the state from their emergency supply, was past its best-by date. The water bottle distribution was halted. Residents had lined up at several locations to pick up the water provided by the state but were frustrated by the latest headache. Water doesn't expire, but for residents that are frustrated,

that aren't really sure what to believe, to read this on the bottle that it's passed its best-by date, and the best-by date was May 2019, it just raised more concerns and more fear about whether they could drink this water. The water problem in Newark is getting real bad, almost like Flint, Michigan. Mayor Baraka is worse than the officials in Flint because he knew this.

It makes me feel angry that it's a situation that wasn't controlled before it got this bad. Water is a right. Water is a human right. So a new batch, 70,000 more cases of bottled water, rolled into the city Tuesday night and, you know, the distribution resumed. And a lot of people were saying, you know, this has been going on for three years. We've been hearing about letting the water in the city since 2017. Why are we getting bottled water right now? What's been the response from Newark's Mayor Roz Baraka? Recently, the mayor, you know, has been trying to assure residents that the water source does not have lead, that they're not Flint, and that the city is moving as quickly as possible

to fix the problem. Our corrosion control inhibitor stopped working. We didn't purposefully take it out of the water. So to make a comparison, it's not only disingenuous, to me, you know, it's almost insulting. And is Mayor Baraka right? Is what's happening in Newark different from what happened in Flint in meaningful ways? I think there are some differences, but I think there are some similarities. You know, one of the things that the mayor likes to highlight as a difference is that in Flint, they switched their source of water to save costs. And they didn't treat that water properly. In Newark, the water source has always remained the same. It's reservoir water.

That's never changed. And the treatment, the corrosion treatment, has also stayed the same. It's reservoir water. That's never changed. And the treatment, the corrosion treatment, has also stayed the same. It just stopped working because pH levels were changed. But Flint and Newark are both predominantly black and brown cities. We see similar infrastructure problems. Newark won't be the last city to have a lead problem. There are other cities in the state that have elevated lead levels in the water and several cities across the country that have these very same lead service lines. So then do you expect to see this in other cities and towns in the future? That's unclear. I think Newark and Flint are forcing a lot of towns to reckon with their infrastructure to take a look

at, you know, do they have lead service lines? Do we even have an inventory? I mean, a lot of towns that buy Newark water don't know if they have lead service lines or copper lines. Like a lot of these records are old. It's not clear if it's reliable. A big problem is that in a lot of these towns, these service lines are privately owned. They're owned by homeowners. So it's a question of who should pay and how are we going to pay for it? But some homes in Newark have elevated lead levels, but don't have a lead service line. So that could mean that the water is corroding lead faucets, lead solder, other lead components in your home that you may or may not know about, that you may have to get inspected. But that's really on the homeowner, right? That's not necessarily something the city can do. So what's the latest update?

Are they just in wait-and-see mode using questionable filters and drinking bottled water? There was a big announcement in the city on Monday that actually significantly expedited one of the long-term fixes. Potential light at the end of the tunnel for Newark residents who are impacted by the crisis of lead in their water. Newark Mayor Roz Baraka made a major announcement about the issue. We're actually here to announce, as was said earlier, a $120 million investment made possible by the Estes County Improvement Authority to expedite the modernization of Newark's drinking water and infrastructure at no cost to the affected homeowners. One of the fixes here is to get rid of the source of the problem, which is these old

lead pipes. Dig them up out of the ground and replace it with copper. And the city had a plan to do that for $75 million, but it was going to take eight years. And with additional funding from the county where Newark resides, they were able to get a $120 million loan. And they're going to be able to get that money up front. And what that's going to be able to do is it's going to allow the city to more quickly replace these service lines. So that narrows down the window to three years. So citywide, there should no longer be lead service lines in the next three years. And the city is also rolling out its new treatment plan, its new corrosion plan. Those new chemicals have been added to the water since May, and that's going to take six months,

eight months, up to a year to be effective. And over the next six to eight months while the new chemicals are taking effect, what are residents supposed to do? That's to be determined. So we know that the sampling plan that the state and the city are doing to figure out what is wrong, if anything, with these filters is going to take two weeks. We're not really sure what's going to happen after the city and the state figure out what's happening with the filters. A lot of that will depend on the answer. And so for the next two weeks, we know residents are going to have to rely on bottled water. And have you spoken to anyone in Newark that's had to deal with this that stands out in your mind? Yes, I spoke to one mom last week, and I think her story is really indicative of this whole journey that we've seen the city go through. I mean, her son is 10 years old now. He has elevated lead levels in his

blood. And his former school was one of the elementary schools that had its drinking water shut off in 2016 because there was elevated lead levels in the building. His home, where he lives with his mother, has lead paint. And the home also has a lead service line. Is there any way to know how that might be affecting her child? She told me that her son has a learning disability, and she's noticed that he's regressed in the last couple of years. He has elevated blood lead levels, but it's really hard to say, well, it came from the paint. It came from the school. It came from the water because it's hard to know how or when that child absorbed the contaminant. Another

mom that I've spoken to, her child was also tested and had elevated lead levels in his blood, but she had her home inspected by the city and she does not have a lead service line. So that raises the question of where is this lead coming from and what the solution to that is. Yeah, that's really tough. If you can't even trace back the source of the contaminant that you're finding in your child's blood, how do you go about trying to solve this problem? Right. And she doesn't have a lead service line. Her line is not going to be changed. I think at this point, she's relying on bottled water and waiting for the city's new treatment to take effect. And hopefully that will reduce, you know, lead levels coming out of her tap. And in terms of sort of repairing that trust, is there anything that we've learned from what happened in Flint about when people will start to believe that their water is safe to drink again.

That's a really big question for the city and for the future of Newark's water. I'm not sure. I think in Flint, we've seen some reports where people don't trust the water, and I don't know when they will. We're starting to see a little bit of that in Newark, you know, where residents aren't really sure who to believe. And the city's trying to put out information. But there's so much of a national spotlight right now on the city of Newark. And at this point, it's a little bit late, right?

Given some of the messaging that the city has put out in the past, it's sort of hard to go back. So I don't know. I don't know where that's going to leave the city has put out in the past, it's sort of hard to go back. So I don't know. I don't know where that's going to leave the city in terms of will the residents be able to trust this water in the future. I mean, you know, the water treatment will be fixed. The lead pipes will be fixed. I don't know if you could say the same thing about public trust in the water. Karen Yee is the Newark reporter for NJ Advanced Media, and her work

also appears in the Star Ledger. We reached out to the Newark mayor's office, but they hadn't gotten back to us with a comment on this story by publishing time. I'm Joss Fong, filling in for Sean Ramos' firm while he's on vacation. This is Today Explained.