DEER PARK, Texas (KTRK) -- After the ongoing problems at the ITC tank facility in Deer Park, the Galveston Bay Foundation decided to conduct its own water testing near the facility.
On Friday, the employees took to the Houston Ship Channel to conduct the tests.
"My hope is that we'll be able to see clean-up efforts that have prevented as much containment as possible from making its way into the water, and my fear is that we will see the opposite," Galveston Bay Foundation water quality manager Sarah Gossett said.
After the ITC tank fires sent chemicals into the water, the company says water results show "somewhat elevated benzene levels at the ITC facility in relation to surrounding samples,"
The company also stated that the levels were well below the surface water quality standards. Also, the samples from Friday were taken before the dike failure, so conditions may be different.
The Galveston Bay Foundation stopped at five locations near the ITC facility, and up and down the
The Rise in Lead poisoning and Toxic waterways.
"It's a good idea to test our water now. Lead is a huge concern but consider all the other toxins now in our waterways."
http://www.zetatalk.com/poleshft/p50.htm
ZetaTalk: Safe Water
Note: written on Aug 15, 1995
The Earth, in its abundance, currently provides man with what appears to be limitless fresh water. Except where man has defiantly chosen to set up housekeeping in the middle of a desert or ocean, fresh, pure water is not expected to be a problem. It rushes by in streams and rivers, pools in lakes, and if not found on the surface can almost always be found in the underground rivers and lakes. Should one be concerned about the purity of the water on the surface, one could always catch the rain which falls, unsullied, from the sky. Up until recently man's only worry about water was how to transport it and how to avoid it during times of flooding. Since the Industrial Age man has merrily poured poisons into his drinking water, both on the surface and through seepage into the ground water. Bottled water has become more than a fad.
After the cataclysms mankind's problems with his water supply will take a quantum leap. Water, from all sources, may be poisoned, with the old standby, rainwater, failing to provide potable water. During the pole shift volcanoes, old and new, will violently explode. The resulting ash will sift down from the upper atmosphere for decades, poisoning ground water. Humans driven to drink this gritty water will find more than grit between their teeth, they will find their nervous system beginning to fail them, their eye sight fading, and their digestive system intolerant of any food they may find. We are speaking here primarily of lead poisoning, which is not a problem man expects from the water nature provides. Lead settles and over eons settles down out of the way, but after a cataclysm the lead heavy mantle has been spewed out over the landscape, most of this vomit in the form of fine billowing dust.
Will the ground water not be safe? Depends. During the cataclysms the ground is heaved and jerked, and any wells or piping will be shattered. In that the ground water is as likely to carry poisons as the surface, having filtered down from the surface, what looks like pure water from underground may be, again, a slow death. Ground water also is subject to contact with the lead heavy mantle, which most often does not make it all the way to the surface during eruptions. If one cannot trust the usual water supply, what to do? Distillation processes or recycling water known to be pure are two approaches likely to provide a steady supply of water. This may seem tedious to those so used to taking fresh, pure water for granted, but those who prepare for the times ahead will not find themselves suddenly without one of life's necessities.
Man dies without air in minutes, without water in days, and without food over weeks. Bread may be the staff of life, but water is life itself!
Note: below added during the Dec 21, 2002 Live ZetaTalk IRC Session.
Our advise on distilling water to remove heavy metals such as lead presumes that volcanic ash will be falling, be included in the rain or fog, and accumulate on the ground. There are several factors to consider. First, the land may be at a site where little rain falls, outside of the volcanic drift, high so that most heavy ash has dropped before arriving, and have little problem with this. Second, heavy rainfall may outweigh the lead content, wash this way in good runoff, such that there is scarcely any accumulation or it is so diluted as to be negligible. Third, the land may be directly in volcanic ash path, from a volcano that lasts for centuries after the shift, and be unlivable for far longer than the 25 years we have given as a guide. Thus, there is simply no general statements about when ground or rain water will be OK. One must use their judgment about such matter.
All rights reserved: ZetaTalk@ZetaTalk.com
Zeta Report on USAEBN, February 1, 2016 on YouTube – Nemesis, the Sun’s dark binary twin 18.74 Sun-Pluto distances away, per the Zetas, is in the news as a discovered planetary body. But named Planet 9 instead of Nemesis and declared to be 20 Sun-Pluto distances away. The Earth’s dark twin also back in the news, as Earth 2.0. Are we being prepped for the announcement on Nibiru? What does this have to do with the lead poisoning in Flint, Michigan? Earthquakes and volcanic dust can bring lead into our drinking water, and this will increasingly become a problem. Learn to distill your drinking water, and chelate heavy metals away via diet in Parsley, Celantro, and other vegies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QVvFtZXBas&feature=youtu.be
Situational Preparedness
http://www.zetatalk.com/health/theal212.htm
TOPIC: 
Lead Poisoning
Ground water and even water from underground sources may contain Lead from volcanic dust after a pole shift. Lead in drinking water accumulates in the human body and causes damaged nerves with consequent inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements, seizures, and bizarre behavior. Mental retardation in the young and high blood pressure in adults also result. Lead in drinking water is tasteless, but Symptoms of lead poisoning include lethargy, vomiting, abdominal pain, and constipation. Lead Intake can be reduced by Diet and Farming practices. Treatment in the Aftertime is possible. Lead Testing kits are available, and a Troubled Times TEAM has been formed to explore lead testing options. A diet high in Iron and Calcium is the cure, though medicines to purge the system, such as Live Earth, called Chelation, also exist. Epsom Salts also can remove lead from the gut. Distillation of drinking water eliminates Lead, and even filtering with Coffee Grounds is effective. A KDF Filter is inexpensive and effective.
http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/16ap2011.htm
This is an immense problem. In populated areas, sewage water will mix in, or the surface water will be contaminated with sewage simply because doing it in the bushes will be the handy toilet. Numerous human diseases are spread in this way, with cholera and dysentery topping the list, though various virus infections such as hepatitis and polio can likewise be spread via human feces, living outside the body for a time. We have stressed that heavy metals will be found in groundwater due to cracks in the ground where magma has forced up, and due to volcanic ash that has washed down with the rain. Distillation resolves all these pollutants and infectious agents and should absolutely be used.
What was done in the past? There are those in the sinking zones in Indonesia who are cooking today with muddy water, as their fresh water sources have become contaminated. This is not an issue that is merely historical, something that was done in the past, as history will repeat itself. Humans survived, during past pole shifts, primarily in regions where volcanic ash was not heavy, or where fresh water emerged from aquifers where heavy metals had settled out over the econs and infectious agents died from lack of nutrition in the aquifer. It was luck, and location, location, location that allowed those humans to survive.
http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta315.htm (Zeta question re: Lead poisoning)
This has been much discussed on the Troubled Times pages as we early on warned about the danger of lead in drinking water after the shift. This will occur not just from surface water, polluted from volcanic dust, but also well water coming in contact with magma that has risen up close to the surface. It takes many decades for lead to leach out and return to a depth where it will not create problems. In the meantime, man is best advised to distill his water. Fish will not pick up lead, though it will pick up Mercury. Many plants and animals filter out lead, some better than others, so this could be researched. Should one become sick, in spite of precautions, or because they were not informed ahead of time, eating a diet high in Vitamin C and iron will help the body eliminate lead. Research these methods, as they are means even a common man without medical attention can rely upon, after the shift.
On the ZetaTalk (Troubled Times) website there are a variety of icons to familiarize yourself with. There you'll find the link to "SAFE WATER"
http://www.zetatalk.com/food/tfood01.htm
Food
Click on the icons above to go to your area of interest.
http://www.zetatalk.com/food/tfood062.htm
TOPIC: Safe Water
Surface water should be Treated by boiling it to rid it of germs and parasites and some Pollutants. Waterborne Diseases can be deadly, and Emergencies can occur suddenly. A Filter such as Katadyn, AquaPure, PUR Plus, Brittas, Amway, or PentaPure, or a Pre-Filter or Lead Trap can help, along with a Systematic approach to the problem. Reportedly, a Home-Made filter can be constructed. Ultraviolet as in Sunlight, Ozone, Oxygen, and Electricity also kills germs. An battery operated UV light such as SteriPEN can be constructed. Chlorine has its pros and Cons, but Standing removes it. Wine Treated water from Wooden Barrels kills bacteria. Containers for Storing Water, perhaps in Bulk, can leach. Hard Plastic and metal are best, though Soft Plastic reportedly works, but Copper can cause problems. Reverse Osmosis purifies water. Drinking Salt Water such as seawater can be extremely dangerous, as are other Bad Options, but Urine is potable. A Water Cone uses the heat from the Sun to distill water. Water polluted with Volcanic Ash or Forest Fire ash or DOE Dump Sites can be dangerous, so Distilling drinking water is advised. Distillation also removes Arsenic and Lead from ground water. A Distillation Process is a Simple Process involving Making Steam. Methods include an Open Teapot and Close Teapot and Coil Exchange and Full Exchange to reduce HydroCarbon. Another method is a Pressure Cooker with Parts List and Bucket Collection, with Steam Cautions. Non-steam methods like an Umbrella Tent or Cotton Cloth are also effective. Best method is the Stacked Pot with Two Pots and a Pie Pan with optional Small Parts and Simple Assembly. This method can be purchased from Sustainable Village, already assembled. Water Quality can also be tested. All Myths debunked, distillation can have a Vacuum Assist and use multiple Heat Sources. A Solar Distiller uses heat from sunlight. One can allow low Boiling Point pollutants such as Hydrocarbons to escape. Commercial Distillers are available, including Separators. Even the Ancients had distillers, and Seawater can be distilled using only the heat of the day. Energy efficient methods for purifying Brackish Water are available, with detailed instruction on a PDF File. A misc.survivalism ftp covers the issues but presumes a short term crisis.
Here you can find a Stainless Steel Water Distiller Design on this blog:
https://poleshift.ning.com/forum/topics/stainless-steel-water
What Flint Activists Are Doing To Fight Lead Poisoning In Their Water
http://globalcomment.com/what-flint-activists-are-doing-to-fight-le...
Ever since the Flint water crisis began, lead poisoning has been a top news story in national media. Most know the story of Flint’s water crisis by now. Flint was assigned an emergency manager that eliminated most democratic checks and balances in the city, including the power of the city council and mayor. The emergency manager then decided to change Flint’s water source. Changing the water source caused an erosion in the water pipes throughout the city, which in turn, caused the lead in the pipes to contaminate the water. Flint residents have been unable to drink water out of their pipes for the past two years.
Lead poisoning in Flint certainly hits young people very hard, but the entire population was poisoned.
Nearly two years after Flint starting getting its water from the Flint River, which corroded pipes and caused lead to leach into the drinking water, nobody knows exactly when the problem will be fixed.
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/how_might_flints_water_contamination_a...
How might Flint’s water contamination affect garden soils? Part 2
With the news of lead contamination in the City of Flint’s water supply, people who farm and garden in the city are questioning the safety of growing in soil that has been irrigated with contaminated water.
Zetas say: Plants actually filter heavy metals. http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta547.htm
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/bc-ndp-s...
B.C. NDP says Liberals waiting for more dead fish to test lead levels at schools
By: Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
Posted: 02/22/2016 6:12 PM | Last Modified: 02/22/2016 7:44 PM
VICTORIA - Dead salmon eggs in a northern British Columbia classroom should raise concerns about the safety of drinking water in schools, but the government appears to be downplaying the fears of parents, says Opposition New Democrat Leader John Horgan.
Elevated levels of lead above Health Canada guidelines have been found in school water systems in Kitimat and Prince Rupert, but Health Minister Terry Lake is telling parents not to worry, Horgan said Monday.
"If I were a parent, I'd be extremely concerned," he said. "We need to be looking at a whole host of schools in the northwest, where there's some of the oldest buildings in the province. If we have troubles in one, it's quite likely we're going to have troubles in all of them."
Parents of students at four Prince Rupert schools received letters from the school district last week telling them elevated levels of lead above Health Canada guidelines were found in the school water. The school district responded by installing filters on water fountains and flushing the water system each morning.
North Coast New Democrat Jennifer Rice, who represents Prince Rupert and surrounding communities, said she's received calls from parents who fear their children are at risk of lead poisoning from drinking water at school.
She said she's also heard from pregnant women with concerns about drinking water in their homes.
Horgan and Rice said the health of school drinking water is not a new issue in the northwest.
Four years ago in nearby Kitimat, a concerned teacher prompted water testing at local schools after a classroom experiment to raise salmon eggs in an aquarium ended in repeated failures. The tests found the eggs were killed by elevated levels of copper and lead in the water.
A district-wide investigation then found varied levels of lead and copper in drinking water in other Kitimat schools, but the water in Prince Rupert schools was not tested until late last year.
"The government shouldn't be turning a blind eye and waiting for fish to die in a science experiment," Horgan said.
Lake said he is meeting with Education Minister Mike Bernier to examine the water quality issue.
Blood tests taken from children in the north between 2009 and 2011 indicated no series health issues connected to the water issue, said Lake
Vindicator tests residential water at 36 Warren homes, revealing one at unsafe level, reassuring others - See more at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2016/feb/22/lead-sampling-effort-enlighte...
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Comment by Starr DiGiacomo on September 16, 2020 at 5:43pm
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http://www.thebigwobble.org/2020/09/at-least-500-hundred-drinking-w...
At least 500 hundred drinking water wells that serve up to 9 million Californians have potentially dangerous levels of a highly toxic family of chemicals: They are called forever chemicals because once they get into the environment they never degrade.
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
At least 500 hundred drinking water wells that serve up to 9 million Californians have potentially dangerous levels of a highly toxic family of chemicals and some of the worst are right here in the Bay Area. Surrounded by lush green fields, Pleasanton often makes the top ten list of desirable places to live. But a new list just out is nothing to boast about. "I was just floored," said Pleasanton resident Jill Buck when she found out her town made the top ten for dangerous drinking water.
Pleasanton relies heavily on groundwater for tap water but stopped using one of its wells last fall after state-mandated testing found it contained potentially unsafe levels of two chemicals that are part of a family called per and polyfluorinated chemicals or PFAS. "It's bioaccumulative. So it doesn't just enter your body and flush right out. It stays. And the health impacts are great," said Buck, who is also CEO of the Go Green initiative https://gogreeninitiative.org/ whose mission is to help schools create a culture of conservation.
Developed in the 1940s by Dupont, PFAS were first used to make the non-stick material in Teflon pans. Then came Scotchgard and firefighting foam. Now the chemicals are everywhere around us, from shoes to furniture, carpeting and food packaging. They are called forever chemicals because once they get into the environment they never degrade. "What characterizes this class is that the strongest chemical bond that we have is in them.
The bonds are so strong that they are not broken down," said Amy Kyle, an environmental health scientist with the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. "It's a quadruple whammy. We ban chemicals that are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic. Some of these are all three and also mobile in water. So it's not only bad, but it's going to get everywhere," said Kyle. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the scientific evidence linking PFAS exposures with harmful health effects is increasing. Some studies have shown that exposure to certain PFAS might adversely affect growth learning and behaviour of children, lower a woman's chance of getting pregnant, increase cholesterol levels, affect the immune system and increase the risk of some cancers.
Funding for much of the research came from the landmark settlement of a lawsuit against PFAS manufacturer Dupont, profiled in the critically acclaimed film, Dark Waters. It led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin testing for certain PFAS in drinking water and to issue a federal health advisory. But five years later PFAS chemicals are still not regulated. "It's not regulated in food packaging, it's not regulated when it goes up into the air, it's not regulated when it gets dumped into the wastewater, it's not regulated as a hazardous waste.
As a result, manufacturers do not have to disclose if or how the chemicals are used, and there are thousands of them. "I have to give the federal EPA an F. Because they are allowing these things to be used in ways that are letting them accumulate in the environment and not even doing the most basic step of identifying what they are and how you can measure them," said Kyle. With little federal guidance, states are stepping up.
California started requiring testing of drinking water wells for PFAS chemicals last year. Eleven wells in the Tri-Valley area contained levels high enough to trigger a notification to residents. Two of them, Pleasanton's "Well 8" and Zone 7's "Mocho 1" were among the 12 most PFAS-contaminated water sources in the state, triggering a required response from local governments. "The number one message is, even though we're finding PFAS in the source groundwater, it is not getting into people and businesses' taps," said Valerie Pryor, general manager of the Zone 7 Water Agency.
Pryor told us water from Mocho 1 is getting blended with other wells, bringing the levels of PFAS way down. "Other wells where we're able to, we run them through our reverse osmosis plant, which does remove the PFAS," said Pryor. Pryor says Zone 7 has hired a consultant to look into new filtering technologies. But it will cost. And unlike the West Virginia town that sued Dupont, there's no nearby manufacturing plant to blame and no obvious target to foot the bill.
The state has identified airports, landfills and former and active military bases as possible sources. But for now, that remains a mystery, leaving the cleanup bill most likely to local residents like Jill Buck. "We need to know where this is coming from so that it's not just a continuous cycle of taxpayers cleaning up somebody else's mess. Whoever is responsible should help pay for it. And we'd like for them to stop putting it in there," said Buck.
Congress has ordered the phase-out of PFAS in military firefighting foams by 2024. As for your non-stick Teflon pan, the Teflon has been reformulated without the two PFAS chemicals on the EPA advisory list. But other PFAS chemicals are still being used, with no requirement to disclose them. Local water officials have hired a consultant to look into new filtering technologies. But they are warning, it's going to cost.
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https://www.timesonline.com/story/news/2020/09/01/lead-aliquippa-wa...
Elevated levels of lead detected in four Aliquippa water samples
Recent Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa testing revealed high levels of lead in four homes with aging lead pipes.
Sept 1 2020
ALIQUIPPA — At least four Beaver County homeowners had elevated levels of lead in their drinking water this summer.
Testing performed by the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa between January and June revealed high levels of lead in four of 29 homes with lead service lines, or 13.8 percent of tap samples.
Nearly 70 residential homes with lead pipes were identified for testing, but not everyone agreed to participate, said MWAA General Manager Robert Bible. Areas tested included West Aliquippa and the city's Plans 6, 11 and 12 – older neighborhoods still braided with red brick roads.
Last December, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection ordered Aliquippa’s water authority to better monitor contaminant levels in residential drinking water following months of customer complaints. Residents say they’re often overcharged for brown, dirty water that smells like chlorine and causes headaches and skin issues.
The order, in part, required MWAA to test 60 sites for lead and copper every six months until complying with federal regulations. Because only 29 households agreed to participate in the voluntary round of testing, MWAA will conduct another 60 tests by Dec. 31.
Public water systems must reduce the amount of lead in water if more than 10 percent of samples have levels exceeding 15 parts per billion, according to federal regulations. The "90th percentile" value for lead based on MWAA's sampling was 49 parts per billion – significantly higher than the federal action level but possibly skewed by the small number of samples collected.
This alone is not a violation of the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act, a DEP spokesperson said, but it triggers enhanced sampling, public education and a corrosion control treatment feasibility study. Lead can enter drinking water when plumbing is corroded, sometimes by highly acidic or low mineral water, DEP said.
Anyone with confirmed or suspected lead service lines and/or interior lead plumbing is strongly urged to participate in the next round of sampling.
“There are plenty of places in the city that don’t have lead lines,” said Bible, noting this is the first time elevated levels of lead have been detected in the local water supply. “They have either plastic or copper, and have nothing to worry about. The ones, say, built in the early 1930s are going to be what we’re looking for.”
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa services nearly 7,000 households in Aliquippa and portions of Hopewell, Raccoon and Potter townships.
Community water systems in Pennsylvania are required to identify sites most likely to contain lead for testing, but MWAA had not been prioritizing these "Tier 1" sites prior to DEP’s administrative order.
Bible said customers can request free lead and copper tests, but it could take months to meet growing demand. Those with elevated levels should replace their lines and consider testing their children for lead poisoning, Bible said. If similar levels are detected in the next round of tests, the Authority will implement new corrosion control techniques at its treatment plant.
“It’s not that the lead is coming from our well, it’s actually through the plumbing in these houses,” Bible said.
One of the four homeowners whose water tested high asked for immediate pipe replacement, but Aliquippa is looking to DEP for guidance. Typically, if maintenance crews are out on a call and find a customer has lead plumbing, they replace it on the spot, Bible said.
“We can very easily replace it, and I think eventually we’re going to replace all these lead services,” Bible said. “But once we replace it, that person is no longer eligible to be sampled for state compliance. We need 60 samples, and we only had 29 this round. At some point, we’re going to be replacing it. I just don't know when.”
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http://bronx.news12.com/story/41639330/doh-high-levels-of-lead-foun...
DOH: High levels of lead found in NYC children’s blood in 2019
Updated: Jan 31, 2020 5:19 PM EST
The Department of Health says children in private and public housing tested in the city saw high levels of lead in their blood in 2019. Now, new legislation is aimed at preventing them from getting sick.
The legislation awaiting the mayor's signature calls for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to audit buildings that have the highest risk of lead poisoning.
Startling data from the DOH reported that from January to September of 2019, 564 children in Bronx private and public housing under the age of 18 showed blood lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood.
That data was compared to only 207 other cases in Manhattan between the same time frame.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say they consider a blood lead level of 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood a need for concern. They also state that studies show a lesser amount can have adverse effects on children.
Health officials in the city are urging parents of children under the age of 6 to be hyper-aware of symptoms. Some of those symptoms may be nausea, constipation, soreness, pain in the joints, fatigue or difficulty sleeping.
With many New Yorkers living in buildings built before the 1960s, lead paint in homes is a danger. This is why the City Council passed the legislation in order to get privately owned and NYCHA buildings up to code and to hold landlords accountable.
However, they say that if a child is under the age of 6 in the apartment, the investigation must be done within one year. The legislation states that a building owner can't do the investigation themselves and that it needs to be done by a third party, as well as the removal of lead paint.
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https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/11/04/new-york-city-gardens-soil-...
November 4, 2019 at 6:44 pm
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Gardening season may be over, but there could be lingering problems for those exposed to New York City’s soil.
New research is revealing major lead concerns in city gardens.
For years, Anna Baskerville has been growing vegetables inside the 138th Street community garden in the south Bronx. It’s organic, but she’s learning it still may not be so safe.
(Credit: CBS2)
“It doesn’t really surprise me because of where we live,” she said. “There’s so much pollution and other things here that something has to be done.”
A dangerous level of lead has been found in soil across all of New York City.
Dr. Anna Paltseva helped contribute to a 10-year research study by Brooklyn College and others, testing 746 soil samples, including some from many city-run community gardens and parks. The study proved the majority of the samples posed “significant risks to human life and ecological systems.”
“We found the soils are very different in different boroughs of New York. Specifically, for contaminants, they’re concentrated in some areas where there used to be lots of industry or very high-traffic areas,” Paltseva said.
The most dangerous samples were found in Brooklyn. Greenpoint came in first, followed by parts of Williamsburg, downtown Brooklyn and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Many gardeners fear if the city doesn’t do something fast, gardens could be eliminated for safety reasons.
“I think it’s possible they could take it away,” one gardener said.
Dr. Paul Mankiewicz founded the Urban Soil Institute. The organization created a cake-layering approach to bury the lead at the El Jardin Del Paraiso Park in the East Village. He’s urging the city to do this to more sites.
“It’s a neurotoxin, basically. It will suppress the development of the neuro capacity and learning capacity of children and probably make us adults stupider too,” he said.
The city says park soil is not the most commonly identified source of exposure to lead and there are no known cases of lead poisoning from it.
Experts say the best way to avoid lead exposure is to put mulch or sod down over soil.
and another:
https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/lead-contamination-widespread-in-montre...
Lead contamination widespread in Montreal: investigation
November 4, 2019 6:44PM EST
MONTREAL - The amount of lead in some Montreal tap water is higher than in Flint, Mich., where a lead poisoning scandal seized headlines in the United States, an investigation has found.
The investigation looked into water testing results over the past 15 years in Montreal and found more than 9000 cases where lead levels exceeded provincial maximum levels which limit lead concentrations to 10 parts per billion (ppb).
A duplex built in 1928 in Ahuntsic tested at 72 ppb. A wartime home in Rosemont tested at 60 ppb.
Researchers suggested the levels may be much higher than tested because municipal workers have traditionally flushed pipes for five minutes before collecting samples. When water is collected directly from the tap, lead levels tend to be much higher.
Based on the investigation, 300,000 Montrealers might have been exposed to lead in their drinking water.
Mayor Valerie Plante has vowed to test 100,000 homes for lead and speed up the replacement of lead-lined pipes immediately. Public health officials have also stressed Montreal's water is safe to drink, and the contamination is due to outdated pipes in residents' homes.
The city will foot the bill to replace outdated pipes in homes. Residents will have to pay for replaced piping, but will have 15 years to do so.
To see if your home is likely to have lead pipes, check here.
In homes that may have some lead pipes, the city recommends filtering water to limit consumption of the contaminant.
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https://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/rising-concerns-abou...
Rising concerns about lead contamination at Indianapolis schools
Free testing offered for local studentsPosted: 6:07 PM, Sep 26, 2019INDIANAPOLIS — Dozens of schools in Indianapolis have tested positive for lead-pollution in their water, according to the Kheprw Institute.
Although there is not a known safe level of lead in young children, lead poisoning can cause brain and nervous system damage.
To ensure Indianapolis kids are not at risk, the local NAACP branch, the City of Indianapolis and The Marion County Public Health Department have unveiled a lead testing initiative.
The initiative will offer free testing to students in kindergarten and first grade at the mayor's charter schools, Indianapolis Pubic Schools and Pike Township.
"This lead poisoning causes damage to the brain and the nervous system," Dr. Virginia Caine, Director of the Marion County Public Health Department, said. "So that's why you see young kids will have a developmental delay. They will have learning and behavioral problems; they may complain of abdominal pain."
If you have a kindergarten or first grader at Pike, IPS or a mayor's charter school, you will be given a consent form to fill out. If you agree to lead testing, the health department will give your child a finger prick test.
If your child tests positive for lead, the health department will inspect your home and other places to find the source of the lead and will get your child treatment.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, millions of children are exposed to lead in their homes.
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https://www.wesh.com/article/lead-found-in-school-drinking-fountain...
'Unacceptable' levels of lead found in some Flagler County schools' water
Updated: 7:33 PM EDT Aug 19, 2019
FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. —
Children at two different elementary schools in Flagler County are drinking bottled water.
Unacceptable levels of lead were found in the water at test sites in the schools.
The same sites were tested last year with no issues, and officials believe the problem will be an easy fix.
The school district is taking precautions until they get an all-clear.
School district officials in Flagler County say they immediately took action when water tests in a classroom faucet and fountain at Wadsworth Elementary School and an outdoor drinking fountain at Bunnell Elementary School came back at twice or more than twice acceptable lead levels. A retest confirmed the results.
Water at the sites had been tested the previous year with no problems, but the elementary schools are among four schools in Flagler County that were built before 1986 when lead fittings and sodders were widely used. Experts say some leaching can occur and that until they have all the answers, the schools in question will be using bottled water.
Investigators think the unacceptable levels of lead are the result of a procedural issue more than anything. When the water tests were done, it was the end of July. The water had not been run since the end of May, so for two months, it had just been sitting in the pipes.
District officials say they have ruled out the water itself as the source of the problem.
Officials say the water coming into the sites is clean, which is why they are nearly certain the contamination is from lead-based fittings in the fountains that registered high after prolonged lack of use.
They plan to flush the water at the schools in question, then test it again Tuesday.
The Health Department said lead-poisoning in water comes from prolonged use for a prolonged period of time and since the questionable water sites tested safe last year, they don't think there's any kind of health hazard.
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https://www.nj.com/essex/2019/08/feds-say-newark-needs-to-give-out-...
Lead crisis in Newark leads to distribution of bottled water, after filters fail to safeguard homes with old pipes
Updated Aug 11, 2019; Posted Aug 11, 2019Responding to reports that filters are not protecting residents from elevated lead levels in their drinking water, Newark officials on Sunday said they will distribute bottled water to households with old lead pipes after federal officials urged the city to take action “as soon as possible.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued its recommendation to Newark in a letter Friday, in the wake of recent surveys that showed the water in two of three tested homes still contained high lead levels despite the use of filters. The letter told the state’s largest city that it was “essential” to warn residents not to rely on filters.
In a joint statement issued Sunday afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy and Mayor Ras Baraka said safe drinking water was critically important and called on the federal government to help.
“As we carefully evaluate our options and the data available to us, it is important to understand that the city and state will need support and assistance from the federal government if bottled water is to be provided and distributed to impacted residents,” the statement said.
The bottled water will be distributed at four locations beginning at 3 p.m. on Monday.
Only those residents served by the city’s Pequannock water treatment plant who have received filters because they have lead service lines (pipes connecting underground water mains to homes) will be able to pick up water.
“It’s a preliminary caution, I just think people want to be cautious about it. It’s not going to hurt anybody to give out the water,” Baraka told NJ Advance Media earlier on Sunday. “We are going to do it until we figure out if the issue is the filter."
The following locations will distribute bottled water: the Newark Department of Health and Wellness at 110 William St., Bo Porter Sports Complex at 378 Lyons Ave., Boylan Street Recreation Center at 916 South Orange Ave. and the Vince Lombardi Center at 201 Bloomfield Ave.
The city has already handed out 38,000 free filters meant to protect residents from elevated lead levels in the water — a crisis Newark has been grappling with for nearly three years — but distributing bottled water marks a first.
During a press conference on Saturday, Baraka shared the preliminary results of the most recent filter tests and urged residents to flush the water for five minutes before using the filters. He said pregnant women or families with young children should use bottled water. It’s still unclear why the filters — which are nationally certified and used across the country, including the Flint, Michigan water crisis — weren’t removing lead at expected levels.
At the press conference Baraka did not mention the EPA’s request for Newark to distribute bottled water but said the city was in talks with the state and federal government on their options.
“What we were trying to do is figure out the logistics with that before we went full throttle,” he said Sunday. The EPA asked Newark to respond to its recommendation by Monday and Baraka said the city plans to formally do so.
“EPA believes that, out of an abundance of caution, residents who have lead service lines should be advised to use bottled water for drinking and cooking until the results of the filter testing are fully understood, additional sampling is performed, and a reliable solution can be implemented,” the agency said in a statement late Saturday night, following the press conference.
“We believe it is the responsibility of the city of Newark to provide such bottled water as soon as possible,” the agency wrote in its Friday letter, adding that the EPA “is prepared to take appropriate action” to ensure protection of public health should the state and city not “promptly undertake these recommended actions.”
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe previously said the state was prepared to help Newark should they decide to distribute bottled water.
The Pequannock water treatment plant, which services most of Newark except the East Ward, is run by the city and sells water to neighboring municipalities, such as Bloomfield and Belleville. Both towns also have elevated lead levels, though the EPA did not immediately suggest bottled water for surrounding municipalities.
Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia said the township would begin testing its filters. About 3,000 have been distributed. "While we are working towards the goal of no longer relying on Newark’s water system, at this point we remain a direct user of the system and thus we are always concerned whenever there is a problem with that system,” Venezia said.
Lead began leaching into the water in 2017 when the water treatment at the Pequannock system failed, causing old lead pipes to corrode into the drinking supply. While the city changed the treatment, officials in October began distributing water filters to affected residents across more than 15,000 homes with known lead services lines.
The water treatment at the Wanaque water plant, which services the East Ward and slivers of the North and South wards, remains effective, although some homes in that area have also recorded elevated lead levels.
Murphy and Baraka stressed that long-term distribution of bottled water could impact the city’s new corrosion control treatment which began in May and could take up to eight months to take full effect. The chemical treatment creates a protective layer inside old lead pipes and is one of the city’s solutions as it works to replace every lead service line.
“Residents must continue to keep city water flowing through their pipes because this is necessary to move the orthophosphate through the system and form a protective coating around the inner lining of the pipes,” Murphy and Baraka said.
A city official stressed that residents picking up bottled water can help the city by continuing to flush the water in their homes.
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which is suing the city over its handling of the lead water crisis, has long pushed the city to distribute bottled water. The group is asking a judge to mandate the city to give its most vulnerable residents bottled water or expand its filter program, including helping with installation. The hearing on their motion starts Thursday.
In court records filed in the NRDC case late Saturday night, Newark’s legal counsel said the city was evaluating the EPA’s recommendation. In the meantime, the city would tell residents through robocalls, social media and letters about flushing the water prior to filter use.
City officials said the two samples that returned with lead levels above the federal limit of 15 parts per billion were taken in extreme conditions, meaning the water was stagnant for five to 11 hours. Officials acknowledged the small sample size and assured more testing is on the way.
“We are very cautious about what’s happening, we are very concerned,” Baraka said Saturday. “This is preliminary precaution. We look forward to evaluating the next test results.”
No amount of lead is safe. The contaminant is particularly harmful for children, impacting cognition and behavior.
While it’s still unknown why the filters at two homes were not properly working, the EPA said the effectiveness of filters largely depends on how they are used, the water chemistry and the how much lead is in the water.
The PUR filters being used by the city are nationally certified to absorb no more 150 parts per billion of lead, according to the NRDC.
Read more of NJ.com’s coverage of New Jersey water issues here.
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https://jacksonheightspost.com/drinking-fountains-with-highest-leve...
Many Parks in Queens Have Lead-Contaminated Water Fountains: Study
May 28 2019
Cunningham Park, Site of Outdoor Drinking Fountain with Highest Lead Levels in Queens
Queens is likely to be the borough with the highest number of lead contaminated drinking fountains in its parks, according to the early stages of a study by the NYC Parks Department.
The Parks Dept. has identified and turned off at least 20 of the 559 drinking fountains it has tested in Queens parks this month. The fountains shut down had lead levels above the federal limit of 15 parts per billion (ppb).
The Parks Department immediately shuts down any fountain with levels above the federal limit until the levels have been corrected.
The drinking fountain in Queens with the highest levels of lead was found in the tennis courts of Fresh Meadow’s Cunningham Park at 339.20 ppb.
High levels were also found in four fountains in Forest Park in Woodhaven. Dry Harbor Playground in the park had 296 ppb, Oak Ridge had a fountain with 149 ppb, Victory Field contained 38.3 ppb, and Seuffert Bandshell had 33.3 ppb.
Other parks in Queens with concerningly high toxicity levels in their drinking fountains include Wayanda Park in Queens Village with 243.3 ppb, Astoria Park with 193 ppb, and Kissena Park in Flushing with 98.4 ppb.
Parks has tested the lead levels of 142 fountains in Brooklyn so far and shut down only one. Eighty fountains were tested in the Bronx with 2 shut down due to high lead levels. Results for all boroughs remain ongoing.
The study, which began on May 6 and remains ongoing, aims to test all 3,500-plus outdoor drinking fountains in New York City as part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s LeadFreeNYC plan.
The plan, announced on Jan 28, 2019, aims to eliminate childhood lead exposure in New York City completely.
“The only acceptable number of children exposed to lead in our city is zero. That goal is within our reach,” said the Mayor in the report that reviewed city resources that could be used to prevent childhood lead poisoning in New York’s children.
Testing will be completed by mid-June and remediation will continue through the summer.
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https://abc13.com/elevated-benzene-levels-detected-in-water-near-it...
Elevated benzene levels detected in water near ITC facility
Saturday, March 23rd, 2019 3:26PM
Houston Ship Channel.
The water was tested for chemicals and the foam used to stop the fire. The group is working with Texas A&M, which is collecting other samples further along the waterway.
"Seeing the harm that is done by people who also utilize the bay, we just want to make sure we're doing everything we can to work together to clean this up," Gossett said.
The Galveston Bay Foundation said they are continuing to monitor the situation, and will collect more water samples Saturday.
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http://www.ksro.com/2019/02/11/contaminated-water-still-plagues-lak...
Contaminated water still plagues lakeside community in Michigan
(OSCADA, Mich.) — On a December morning two years ago, Anthony Spaniola’s wife looked out the window of their lakefront cabin in the northern Michigan town of Oscada and told him it had snowed.
But the foam whipping around his property in the wind wasn’t snow.
Spaniola would later learn it was actually a chemical-laced substance that had formed on the surface of nearby Van Etten Lake. After testing the foam, state officials ultimately confirmed a connection to chemical compounds once used at a nearby Air Force base to extinguish jet-fuel fires.
Spaniola and his neighbors initially were told the foam was safe, but a month later were warned to steer clear and keep their pets and kids away from it. He sent pictures to local reporters and began reading about chemical compounds referred to as “PFAS” linked to health risks by some experts.
Spaniola has since concluded the contamination wasn’t an isolated incident.
“As I’m coming to the realization that this is a massive, widespread problem, they’re just coming back matter-of-factly like, ‘Yeah, you’re right,” he said of state officials.
Oscoda, and Michigan, are not unique. Communities around the country have discovered high levels of PFAS chemicals from military bases or manufacturing sites in water tested over the last few years.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which under President Donald Trump has rolled back a significant number of federal regulations, is expected to soon release a new national plan to address PFAS.
Whereas Trump officials often speak of government overreach and burdensome regulations, several members of Congress have said that if the EPA doesn’t set stricter limits on manufacturing chemicals like PFAS, they will push for legislation that will.
The issue is so contentious that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened to stall acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler’s nomination to become administrator if the agency doesn’t do more. Communities in Schumer’s home state of New York are also dealing with high levels of PFAS contamination.
“We have one more chance to get the federal government to take a look and put out regulations about PFOA and PFOS, but the signs don’t look good,” Schumer said at a press conference last week. “I met with the nominee, Mr. Wheeler, and I asked him to put out these regulations, and he said he’s not sure he would do it.”
The EPA has said previously it could change the official designation of some types of PFAS chemicals to “hazardous,” triggering more requirements to clean them up. But more recently, Wheeler has said he could not commit to setting mandatory limits on the chemicals when it comes to drinking water.
How a scenic lake community became contaminated
PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, can refer to hundreds of chemicals, including the kind linked to the foam on Van Etten Lake — PFOS and PFOA.
In addition to military firefighting foam, which is still used today, PFAS chemicals are used in a variety of household items like carpets, nonstick cookware and food packaging.
The chemicals are so common that recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show almost everyone in the U.S. has a measurable amount of the chemicals in their blood.
In Oscoda, authorities tracked the contamination of Van Etten Lake to Wurtsmith Air Force Base, which closed in 1993. The base, like many other Air Force installations, used a specialized foam to put out fires.
PFOS and PFOA in that foam infiltrated drinking water wells on the base, leached into the groundwater and spread to a 8-mile plume that contaminated a nearby marsh, the Au Sable River, Van Etten Lake and Lake Huron, a source of drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people.
Michigan began testing the Air Force base for PFAS and related chemicals in 2010. Two years later, a state environmental agency scientist warned of contamination, but most state and local officials were unaware of the findings until 2017, according to the state auditor’s office.
Property near Oscoda, including Spaniola’s cabin, eventually was classified as inhabiting a “zone of concern” over the chemical plume in October 2016.
It wasn’t until 2017 — seven years after the base testing and after a group of high school students visiting Van Etten Lake reported seeing the strange foam — that a Michigan task force was flown in and authorities expanded testing to nearby bodies of water.
Residents concerned
Residents are still being advised not to eat fish from the Au Sable River or eat deer hunted in the area because of concerns linked to PFAS contamination.
Those restrictions are tough in a town like Oscoda, where locals work as lifeguards in the summer and eat fish caught in the Au Sable River. Seasonal visitors and outdoor activities like hunting and fishing are part of the local economy.
Meanwhile, recent research shows exposure to PFAS can contribute to immune system disorders and, at higher levels, to kidney disease, thyroid problems and even some kinds of cancer.
The science around this class of chemicals isn’t advanced enough to link exposure to a diagnosis of a specific health problem, but toxicologist Richard DeGrandchamp said there is enough evidence to justify residents’ concerns.
“For this particular group of compounds, they insidiously attack the immune system,” said DeGrandchamp, who teaches toxicology and epidemiology at the University of Colorado and co-authored the 2012 report about the problems in Michigan. “And, unfortunately, many of our children living in the U.S. right now probably have immunocompromised immune systems.”
Cathy Wusterbarth, who helped form an advocacy group called Need Our Water, or NOW, said she worked as a lifeguard on the lake for years when she was younger and also worked on the water as a civilian employee for the Air Force.
Wusterbarth said she was diagnosed with breast cancer and rheumatoid arthritis the same year, when she was 28 — conditions she thinks are due to her exposure to PFAS-related chemicals.
Wusterbarth recently attended the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Dan Kildee, who represents Oscoda and Flint, in a bid to bring attention to the contamination. Kildee recently launched a PFAS task force to help inform members of Congress about the problem.
“We want to be a catalyst for change and to help educate,” Wusterbarth told ABC News.
Spaniola said he, too, blames his health problems on the contamination, even if he can’t prove it definitively. He said he was diagnosed with celiac disease when he was 50 and his wife has thyroid issues that the couple attributes to exposure to the chemicals. He also said both their dogs died within a year of each other, which he called suspicious.
“When those dogs go up to Oscoda, they jump in the lake and they drink like crazy from the lake,” he said. “Do I think PFAS had something to do with it? Absolutely, no doubt in my mind.”
Mark Correll, the Air Force official in charge of environmental cleanups, said he understands the frustration from residents who fear they were exposed through other sources.
“They are not unjustified in being concerned, [because] we don’t know what the health effects of PFOS and PFOA are,” said Correll, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety and Infrastructure.
The response
The Air Force first installed equipment to prevent contamination from spreading in 2015 and has since worked to upgrade systems that filter other kinds of contamination from the base to also handle PFOS and PFOA.
Air Force officials said they’ve tested private wells and public drinking water systems in the area and that no one is being exposed to PFOS or PFOA through drinking water. Only one well tested above the EPA recommendations at the time, and the Air Force has since connected that property to a public drinking water supply.
Officials from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said they blame the Air Force for not doing more to prevent contamination. Spokesman Scott Dean said in a statement to ABC News that officials are working aggressively to hold the Air Force accountable.
The office’s aim “is to see these violation notices and the actions ordered result in a full remedy for the people of Oscoda,” Dean wrote.
But the Air Force officials said they’re still going through a federal dispute resolution process with the state, and the state can’t accuse them of violating cleanup requirements while that process is still ongoing. They also said that since the Department of Defense is required to follow federal law in most cases, they can’t follow the Michigan state law unless Congress specifically waives the federal requirement.
The EPA sets a recommended drinking water limit for PFAS chemicals, which isn’t enforceable, and the agency doesn’t have any rules on the books when the chemicals are detected in groundwater or surface water like the lake.
Correll said going forward that the Department of Defense wants to emphasize PFAS response needs a “whole of government response” from the national government, including addressing health effects and looking at other ways people are exposed such as through the food supply.
“Our view is that we have a responsibility but at the same time this is a much bigger problem,” he said.
https://pfasproject.com/pfas-contamination-site-tracker/
PFAS Contamination Site Tracker
Click here to view the Northeastern SSEHRI PFAS Contamination Site ...
The PFAS research team at Northeastern University’s Social Science Environmental Health Institute (SSEHRI) is currently conducting a multi-year study on PFASs (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) as an emerging class of contaminants, while specifically investigating the social discovery surrounding episodes of contamination. As the project progresses and data is collected from contamination sites around the world, a Google document will be updated as new information becomes available and additional sites are discovered.
The PFAS Contamination Site Tracker records qualitative and quantitative data from each site in a chart, specifically examining discovery, contamination levels, government response, litigation, and health impacts. All data presented in the chart were extracted from government websites, such as state health departments or the Environmental Protection Agency, and news articles. We ask for your additions to be sent to pfasproject@gmail.com
Discovery: The chart documents the date of discovery and the source of discovery, giving specifics, when available, on where samples were initially taken and the parties responsible for sampling. Activity at a site suspected or reported to be the source of contamination is documented as well in a separate column.
Contamination Details: Five columns document specific water sampling sites that yielded positive results. PFAS is a class of chemicals that includes PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), PFOS (perfluorooctanesulfonic acid), PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) and PFHxA (perfluorohexanoic acid). PFOA and PFOS each constitute a column, as they are the most commonly found and potent PFASs at contamination sites. Other PFASs are entered if present in an additional column. When possible, a combined measure of all contaminants is recorded. All measurements are presented in parts per trilion (ppt), a.k.a. nanograms per liter (ng/L).
Government Response: The document also records government actions taken or statements given regarding a contamination event, specifically looking at water treatment and alternative water sources provided to residents. This may include installing carbon filtration systems, delivering bottled water to homes, extending a municipal line to affected homes, or purchasing water from unaffected neighboring municipalities.
Important Terminology & Abbreviations
PFC: Perfluorinated Chemicals
PFAS: Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances
PFOA: Perfluorooctanoic Acid
PFOS: Perfluorooctanesulfonic Acid
PFBA: Perfluorobutanoic Acid
PFBS: Perfluorobutanesulfonic Acid
PFDA: Perfluorodecanoic Acid
PFHpA: Perfluoroheptanoic Acid
PFHpS: Perfluoroheptanesulfonate
PFHxA: Perfluorohexanoic Acid
PFHxDA: Perfluorohexadecanoic Acid
PFHxS: Perfluorohexane Sulfonate
PFNA: Perfluorononanoic Acid
PFPeA: Perfluoro-n-pentanoic Acid
PFTeA: Perfluorotetradecanoic Acid
AFFF: Aqueous Film Forming Foam (firefighting foam)
TCE: Trichloroethylene
DES: Department of Environmental Services
DEP: Department of Environmental Protection
DEC: Department of Environmental Conservation
DoH: Department of Health
DoD: Department of Defense
EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
EPA PHA: Environmental Protection Agency Public Health Advisory
ATSDR: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
UCMR: Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule
Superfund: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
NYT: New York Times
EWG: Environmental Working Group
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